Is Sociology a Science

Question 1

Is soc a science - Age of Enlightenment

Answer 1

• Soc developed from enlightenment
- move away from religion
- promoted science + logic to understand world

Question 2

Is soc a science - Sociology + Science - Durkheim/Marx

Answer 2

• Believed we can use scientific methods to understand soc
- can eradicate social ills

Question 3

Is soc a science - How is sociology a science? - Compte

Answer 3

• Variationism (scientific methods) to determine social laws
1) Observation –> see something think forms social laws
2) Hypothesis –> proposes explanation
3) Data Collection
4) Deduction from data
5) Produce theory/law

Question 4

Is soc a science - Why sociology isn’t a science - Interpretivists

Answer 4

• Humans are unpredictable + have free will - don’t conform to laws
• Humans are conscious + respond to stimuli differently

Question 5

Is soc a science - Sociology as a science - Objectivity

Answer 5

• Positivists believe can detach feelings + opinions from research

Question 6

Is soc a science - Sociology isn’t a science- Versthen - Weber

Answer 6

• Isn’t objective
- can’t seperare feelings from research
- all naturally have empathy = subjective

Question 7

Is soc a science - Sociology isn’t a science - Karl Popper - Falsification

Answer 7

• Scientific theories can be proven wrong
• Sociology has many theories that can’t be falsified
- Marxists predict revolution will destroy capitalism
- revolution hasn’t happen yet - can’t prove wrong

Question 8

Is soc a science - Sociology isn’t a science - Kuhn - Paridyms

Answer 8

• Paridym = Shared belief all agree with
• Sociology doesn’t have paridyms - Functionalists + Marxists disagree with each other
• Science has paridyms - all believe in gravity + evolution
• Growth occurs outside of science

Question 9

Is soc a science - Postmodernist - Lyotard + Foucault

Answer 9

• Lyotard –> no truth, can’t discover reality
- science is a meta-narrative –> stories to convince us world has order + meaning when it doesn’t
• Foucault –> Is a danger to sciences monopoly on truth
- science gives some groups more power + used to justify historical horrors (racism + war)

Question 10

Is soc a science - Interactionists - Glaser + Strauss

Answer 10

• Argue risks impossing our own views of importance rather than taking actors view
- results in distorted reality
• Grounded Theory
- No fixed hypothesis, ideas emerge from observation + used later to produce testable hypothesis

Question 11

Is soc a science - Phenomenoloists + Erhnomethodologists - Garfinkel

Answer 11

• Soc isn’t real thing determining our actions
• Social reality is shared meaning
• Soc only exists in people’s consciousness

Question 12

Is soc a science - Feminism - Foucault

Answer 12

• Trying to find single scientific theory is form of domination
• Excludes many groups of women
• Quantitative scientific methods are oppressive + don’t capture reality of women’s experience