Theory and methods ET

Question 1

is sociology value free

Answer 1

weber value freedom is not possible - essential in choosing what to research assessing effects and interpretation need them except for data collection
Derek phillips: data collection is a social process so bias is inevitable.

sociology being value free if impossible: paymasters values and undesirable: valueless research can’t better society
gomm; gov funding influences topic

interpretivists, cant and shouldnt try to be VF because we need it to understand social actors reasoning can’t be impartial as we all have our own thoughts

functionalism can and should be value free to be taken seriously and have an impact on policy. value research may lead to an unfair and biased society

positivism - have a desire to be scientific which is neutral / objective so sociologists should be too ; should be value free as it contaminates research if not.

Question 2

Evaluate the view that sociology can and should be a science

Answer 2

1. positivism and science. Compte science of a society. social facts. durkeim : inductive reasoning and verificationism
2. interpretivism. human actions dont have causal explanations as they’re based on social across meanings. interactionism, phenomenology (garfnikel) and ethnomethodology
3. karl popper how science grows.
   socio can be scientific but it is not. rejects vericationism - fallacy of induction, embraces falsificationsim
4. kuhn; scientific paradigm
   its not scientific because theres no consensus paradigm.filled w competing persectives e.g Conflict vs Consensus
5. realism science and sociology ; both natural and social sciences study unobservable phenomena by observing its effects e.g patriarchy vs black hole

Question 3

Evaluate the relationship between sociology and social policy

Answer 3

1. functionalism/positivism - sociologists role: provide state w/ objective info, investigate social problems. favour ‘piecemeal social engineering policies’ - one issue at a time.
   A03. marx- PSE can’t create major social change e.g poverty
2. marxism - sociologists shouldn’t work w gov. identify w the underdog and use research to draw attention to injustice and assist in the revolution
   e.g health and safety legislation shows the caring face of capitalism
   A03: social democrats believe socio research CAN cause change e.g poverty research impacts policy

3.Social democrat: Townsend: social research should make specific recs based on research so that social policy can eradicate social problems. e.g EMA to bridge inequality
A03: Marx believes capitalism must be overthrown before social policy can make a difference e.g capitalist state won’t spend to help w/c

4. The new right: create alt policies that will restore the responsibility that the welfare state has taken away to reduce peoples reliance on it e.g zero tolerance crime policies
   A03: criticised for not using sociological studies but being politically biased think tanks

Question 4

Evaluate the usefulness of marxist approaches in understanding society

Answer 4

1. Althusser structuralist marxism - social structures shape people, state performs political and ideological functions for capitalism: ISA + RSA
   A03 - Althusser discourages political activism by claiming we can’t change society
2. Humanistic neo marxism Gramsci - R/c maintain position through hegemony and winning consent. revolution is when counter hegemonic block led by organic intellectuals
   A03 - workers may see through coercion and consent but feel forced to abide
3. Marx 3 features of capitalism
4. proletariat are legally free wage slaves
5. competition between capitalists means means of production is owned by a few
6. proletariat are under appreciated
   these all create the divide
   A03: Marx ignores other conflicts between gender and ethnicity
7. Economic determinism- economic base of capitalism determines the superstructure. institutions like family and religion perform a role for capitalism
   A03: weber argues marxism ignores the role of ideas in social change e.g calvinism creating capitalism

Question 5

Evaluate the usefulness of feminist approaches in understanding society

Answer 5

1. Liberal feminism - Laws and policies create equality e.g sex discrimination. Men and women can perform both roles. Gender neutral socialising and policy creates equality
   A03- considered naive, believe obstacles to freedom are just prejudices and not deep seated structures oppressing women
2. Radical feminism -The personal is political as oppression occurs in public and private. Compulsory heterosexuality. solutions: separatism, political lesbianism, consciousness raising
   A03 - They neglect women on men or women on women violence
3. Marxist: women’s oppression is capitalism , patriarchy was created by the bourgeoisie. women are exploited in 4 ways: cheap labour, reserve army, TOS, reproduce the labour force
   A03: Doesn’t explain how women are oppressed in non capitalist societies
4. difference feminism : other feminists are essentialist e.g black women and the family go against their assumptions. other feminists = lens of white m/c women
   A03: they ignore the fact that some female experiences are universal

Question 6

Evaluate the usefulness of social action theories in explaining behaviour

Question 7

Evaluate the usefulness of functionalist approaches in understanding society

Question 8

evaluate the view that social action approaches are more useful than structural approaches in understanding society (20 Marks)

Answer 8

1. Better way to understand/research society?

Question 9

Evaluate the view that society today should be described as postmodern

Answer 9

1. Globalisation and postmodernism. world is interconnected DT Tech e.g internet, satelite. Beck global risk society - risk is manufactured not natural - crime.
   A03: ignores how globalisation magnifies inequality e.g muslim women in France

2.Marxist theory of PM. Pm arose from capitalist crisis in 1970s (recession). new way of profit = tech. Harvey describes this as flexible accumulation e.g flexible production and labour and global media maintains demand for products= overconsumption and insecurity.
A03: Harvey overstates flexibility, lots of workers still in rigid exploitative conditions

3.Baudrillard: Simulacra: ‘false reality’embedded into film +ads
e.g tabloid newspapers about fictitious soap characters. Media is the reason can’t tell between real/fake e.g insta shows luxury but its ai. no distinction between real and manufactured needs
A03: Philo and Miller: media isn’t copies of copies, reflects real world relationships.distorted reflection of real issues

4.Culture and identity are different. Diversity= choice in creating identity. Media = hyper reality w/ diff values. Society = no value consensus. Identity is destabilised so we make own through lifestyles media offers.
we don’t have power to improve society
A03: PM are wrong to assume people can distinguish between reality and media image