defining sociology as a science

Question 1

POPPER; sociology is not a science

Answer 1

• good science is about proving hypothesis wrong

- scientists can never be right because they can only be wrong since there is no such ‘truth’

Question 2

POPPER; conjecture and refutation is the true scientific model

Answer 2

• scientist form the conjecture (hypothesis) based on observation then looks fro evidence to prove it wrong

Question 3

POPPER; reject views from positivist sociology e.g. Marxism

Answer 3

• functionalism and marxism are too theoretical and rarely engage in scientific research proving themselves wrong
• marxism make predictions about the future which Popper says are unscientific since you cant prove the future wrong

Question 4

POPPER; reject positivist view that science is based on verificationism

Answer 4

• this is the idea we can prove a theory true by gathering evidence that supports it
• instead falsification is the idea that a statement is capable of being falsified by evidence

Question 5

POPPER; a good theory has..

Answer 5

• principle is falsifiable but when tested it stands up to all attempts to disapprove it
• explains a great deal

Question 6

POPPER; all knowledge is provisional

Answer 6

• they can never be absolute proof that any knowledge is true (a theory can only appear true if it has withstood attempts of falsifying it)
• for a theory to be falsifiable it must be open to criticism so its flaws can be exposed and develop better

Question 7

implications for sociology

Answer 7

• sociology is unscientific because the theories couldn’t be falsified
• FEYERABEND; popper and positivists exaggerate the notion of scientific logic since scientific logic is a myth
• KAPLAN; scientific discovery only happen through luck/miracles, imagination and guesses not logic

Question 8

KUHN; scientific paradigms (theories)

Answer 8

• the paradigm defines what science is and provides them with a set of shared basic assumptions/principles
• scientists are socialised into a shared paradigm through education and training
• science cant exists without a shared paradigm, w/out one there will only be one perspective

Question 9

KUHN; normal science

Answer 9

• paradigm goes unquestioned and scientists do ‘puzzle solving’ which allows the scientific community to accumulate knowledge

Question 10

KUHN; anomalies

Answer 10

• scientists obtain findings contrary to those predicted by the paradigm
• if too many anomalies are found, confidence in paradigm decline

Question 11

KUHN; crisis

Answer 11

• science enters a period of crisis and scientists begin to formulate rival paradigms

Question 12

KUHN; scientific revolution

Answer 12

• one paradigm wins out and becomes accepted by scientific community allowing normal science to resume but with a new set of basic assumptions

Question 13

criticism of kuhn’s paradigm

Answer 13

• sociology could only become a science if disagreement were resolved
• postmodernists argue that a paradigm is not desirable in sociology due to being similar to a meta narrative