Is Sociology a science? Flashcards
What 2 arguments are there in favour of sociology being a science?
- positivism
- Keat & Urry - “open science”
What 4 arguments are there against sociology being a science?
- interpretivism
- postmodernism
- Popper and Falsification
- Kuhn and Paradigms
What is the positivists and interpretivist definition of science?
Natural sciences are based on verificationism and inductive reasoning. Scientists should use objective methods to uncover facts about the working of the world
What is inductive reasoning?
Accumulating data in order to build up knowledge of the world
What is verificationism?
Developing a theory which can be proven correct with evidence
According to positivists, can sociology be a science according to their definition?
Durkheim states sociology can be scientific because humans are patterned and predictable. We are controlled by wider social forces.
Quantifiable and detached methods should be used such as questionnaires. This makes them reliable and able to make correlations between the data
According to interpretivists, can sociology be a science according to their definition?
Sociology cannot be scientific. They do not believe that we are patterned and predictable, instead we are constantly observing the world around us via symbols.
Natural sciences study matter whereas humans have free will and consciousness making them able to exercise their own choices
What methods do interpretivists like which makes sociology unscientific?
Stress the importance of personal methods. Qualitative methods which include unstructured interviews. Need to achieve verstehen (empathetic understanding) in order to understand the world
What is the Postmodern view on science?
They regard science as a meta-narrative which seeks to explain how the world works. Scientific ideas have no more validity than non-scientific ideas because all knowledge is relative.
Science has a monopoly over the truth which can have dangerous consequences for the world. Theories regarding black people and women
What is a meta-narrative (postmodernism)
A big story that seeks to explain how the world works
What does relativity mean according to postmodernists?
What is true for one may not be true for another
According to postmodernists, can sociology be a science according to their definition?
If sociology is a science, it will have further problems for our world. For example, Marx who called himself a scientists led to the death of millions in East Europe. Therefore, it is undesirable for sociology to be a science. Instead it should focus on offering people different interpretations about how the world works rather than trying to change its structure.
What was Popper’s view on science and falsification?
Raised concerns over the fact scientific theories that should be proved correct. Instead, all knowledge is temporary meaning scientific theories in the past have gone on to be proven wrong. i.e. creationism and the world is flat
Science should adopt the falsification principle instead meaning theories should try to prove their theory wrong instead of correct
If it stands this, the theory will “probably” be correct
According to Popper, should sociology be a science according to his definition?
Sociological ideas cannot be fully tested as sociologists are unwilling to accept criticism. Marx predicted the working class would eventually overthrow capitalism. He also stated the proletariat would exist in a state of false-class conciousness. His theory therefore cannot be proved correct as it covers all grounds
What was Kuhs definition of science?
Current day scientists are restricted by paradigms. Scientists are encouraged to believe paradigms to be true and theorise more about them. Therefore science is not as objective as positivsts stress as science is a socially contructed body of knowledge.
Paradigms will, however, be challenged and a new paradigm will emerge. This is known as a paradigm shift
