Different Types of Sociologists Flashcards
Positivists
Believe that sociology is the science of human behaviour
Interpretivist
Believe that sociology is about verstehen
What does verstehen mean?
Understanding
What type of data does a positivist like?
Reliable
Quantitative
What type of data does a interpretivist like?
Valid
Qualitative
What do positivists say that behaviour is influenced by?
External social factors
What do positivists think that sociology should be?
Scientific and should analyse ‘social facts’
What are ‘social facts’?
Things that affect behaviour and can be easily measured
What sources do positivists use?
Official statistics
Questionnaires
These are RELIABLE
What are interpretivists so called?
Interactionalists
What do interpretivists believe?
That you can only really understand human behaviour using empathy
Putting yourself in their shoes
Why don’t interpretivists like scientific methods?
They don’t tell you much about how individual people act in society
What don’t interpretivists believe?
In the existence of ‘social factors’
What sources do interpretivists use?
Participant observations and unstructured interviews to build a rapport
What is a rapport?
A mutual trust and understanding
