is sociology a science Flashcards
(5 cards)
Positivism
Sociology IS a science
Uses quantitative data to uncover meanings and measure patterns of behaviour
Takes experimental method used in natural sciences as model for research
Macro / structural explanations for social phenomena
Positivists should employ methods that allow for maximum objectivity and detachment
Should not let own subjective feelings, values or prejudices influence how they conduct research
Objective factual reality made up of social facts that exists independently from individuals.
We can observe empirical patterns
Durkheim - real laws are discoverable and will explain these patterns - inductive reasoning / verificationism
Collected quantitative data from official statistics to gather patterns in the suicide rate between protestants and catholics. Lack of integration - social fact
interpretivism
Sociology is NOT a science
Subject matter of sociology is meaningful social action
Science only deals with laws of cause and effect and not human meaning
Interpretivists completely reject use of natural sciences methods and explanations as a model for sociology
Sociology studies people who have consciousness
Mead - human beings interpret meaning of a stimulus and then choose how to respond to it. Individuals are not puppets manipulated by supposed external social facts. They abandon detachment and objectivity. We must put ourselves in the place of the social actor to gain verstehen - weber
Interactionist - glaser and strauss - risks imposing our own view of what is important, takes bottom up approach
Phenomethodologist - garfinkel - rejects possibility of casual explanations - radically anti-structuralist view, arguing sociology is not a real thing out there.
Douglas - we must uncover meanings for those involved with the deceased rather than imposing our own meanings - use qualitative data from case studies
Atkinson - ethnomethodologist - rejects idea that external social facts determine behaviour.
popper
Rejects positivist view that distinctive feature of science is inductive reasoning
Fallacy of induction - a scientific statement is one capable of being falsified
We must be able to say what evidence would count as falsifying the statement when we come to putting it to the test
A good theory has two features
It is in principle falsifiable but when it is tested it stands up to all attempts to disprove it.
It is bold - it claims to explain a great deal
There can never be absolute proof that any knowledge is true and it must be open to criticism
Science thrives in open or liberal societies
Sociology is unscientific as it consists of theories that cannot be falsified. E.g. marx predicts that there will be a revolution leading to a classless society but this has not happened due to false class consciousness. It could still happen though.
realism
Keat and urry - distinguish between two types of system
Closed system - researchers can control and measure all relevant variables and make precise predictions of the type that popper advocates
Open system - researcher cannot do this
Reject positivist view that science is only concerned with observable phenomena. Interpretivists are wrong in assuming that sociology cannot be scientific - no barrier to studying meanings scientifically.
Natural and social science attempts to explain causes of events in terms of underlying structures.
We cannot directly see social class but we can observe effects.
Realists regard marxism as scientific as it sees underlying social structures such as capitalism producing effects such as poverty.
Realists see a lot of similarities between science and sociology.
kuhn
A paradigm is a basic framework of assumptions, principles, methods, and techniques shared by members of a given scientific community.
Those in the natural sciences are not invited to consider rival perspectives.
Scientists are rewarded for conformity to paradigm through publication.
If there is a loss of trust in the paradigm due to anomalies, scientists may formulate rival paradigms causing a scientific revolution.
Sociology is pre-paradigmatic - no agreement on fundamentals to study
Sociology could only become a science if basic agreements were resolved
Postmodernists argue that paradigms are not desirable in sociology.
