Topic 3: Sociology and Science.

Question 1

What is meant by the term science?

Answer 1

• It’s a set of principles that tell us how to produce valid knowledge.
• It aims to base laws and theories on objective facts gained through observing phenomena.

Question 2

The Scientific Method.

Answer 2

• Something is scientific when it uses empiricism (knowledge gained from actually experiencing/observing something).
• And objectivity: where the research does not involve opinions, or bias or prejudice.

Question 3

What is empiricism?

Answer 3

Knowledge gained from actually experiencing and/or observing something.

Question 4

What is objectivity?

Answer 4

Where the research does not involve opinions, or bias, or prejudice.

Question 5

How do you come up with empirical knowledge?

Answer 5

• To come up with empirical knowledge, experiments are carried out to test relationships between variables.
• Theories and laws that are tested over and over again by replication become accepted as scientific knowledge.

Question 6

Positivism - sociology is a science.

Answer 6

• Argument that it’s possible and desirable for sociology to be a science.
• This is known as the positivist view which sees sociology as the study of social facts.
• It’s associated with Durkheim, who argued through his comparative study of suicide, it’s both possible and desirable for sociology to be a science.
• It argues that objectivity it possible if carefully planned research takes place.
• Positivists assume people’s behaviour is shaped by social forces and is therefore observable and measurable.
• Argues that sociology should use quantitative methods and data, which rely on observable (empirical) evidence, with an emphasis on reliable data - experiments and official statistics.
• Cause and effect relationships should be established, making it possible to establish correlations between variables.

Question 7

What positivists use?

Answer 7

Positivists use inductive reasoning or verificationism. This is the idea that we can prove a theory true by gathering evidence to support it.

Question 8

Karl Popper.

Answer 8

• Popper rejects view that science is based on verificationism.
• Instead, what makes science unique is the opposite (falsificationism)
• Falsificationism - the idea that a statement is scientific if it’s capable of being falsified (disproved by the evidence).
• A good theory is one that when tested stands up to all attempts to disprove it.
• All knowledge is provisional - a theory that appears true is one that has withstood attempts to falsify so far.

Question 9

What does ‘to falsify’ mean?

Answer 9

This means to attempt to prove an idea or hypothesis wrong.

Question 10

The fallacy of induction/the analogy of the swans.

Answer 10

• To illustrate why inductive reasoning is unscientific, Popper uses the example of swans.
• Having observed a large number of swans, all of which were white, we might make the generalisations all swans are white.
• We can easily verify this by finding more white swans because there are plenty more out there. But no matter how many swans we observe, we cannot prove all swans are white because a single observation of a black swan destroys the theory.

Question 11

Deductive method.

Answer 11

• This starts with a theory.
• Then the theory is bombarded with challenges to its hypothesis in order to see if it stands up to its claims.
• This is falsificationism.

Question 12

Inductive method.

Answer 12

• This starts with a theory.
• Then finds loads of evidence to prove itself right.
• This is verificationism.

Question 13

Interpretivism - sociology is not a science.

Answer 13

• Don’t believe sociology should adopt the logic and methods of natural sciences, as they are unsuited to the study of human beings.
• For interpretivists, sociology is about people’s internal meanings not external causes.
• Therefore, sociology cannot be a science because science only deals with cause and effect, not meanings.
• The natural sciences study matter, which as no consciousness. It’s behaviour is an automatic reaction to external stimulus - matter doesn’t choose to act.
• Sociology studies people who have consciousness and free will. Individuals are not puppets manipulated by external social facts but autonomous beings who construct their world through the meanings they give to it.
• To discover the meanings people hold, we need to see the world from their viewpoint, what Weber calls ‘verstehen’ (empirical understanding).

Question 14

Kuhn - evaluating the case for no.

Answer 14

• Kuhn argues normal science exists within a particular framework or view of the world which is known as paradigm.
• The paradigm that a scientist works within will shape the way they approach their research, the questions they might ask as well as informing assumptions about the world around them.
• However, over time, challenging evidence builds and then there is a scientific revolution which results in a change in the paradigm. Because of these ideas, Kuhn argues that sociology is ‘pre-paradigmatic’ as there are simply too many competing ideas. Sociology is a young science as it does not have a unifying paradigm.

Question 15

What is a paradigm?

Answer 15

A framework of concepts and theories within a particular subject, a world view which shaped the way sociologists do their research.

Question 16

Evaluation - criticisms:

Answer 16

• Postmodernists are critical of science, claiming that large, overarching sets of answers are no longer appropriate or desirable within contemporary society. They claim rather that there are competing sets of truths rather than one.
• Beck also argues that science has not always managed to resolve social problems and points to the risks that have actually been introduced through scientific advances e.g. global warming.