is sociology a science

Question 1

what is a science?

Answer 1

empirical, testable, theoretical, objective, cumulative.

Question 2

the 4 core principles of science

Answer 2

facts, objectivity, cause and effect, reliable method

Question 3

who agrees that sociology is a science?

Answer 3

positivists

Question 4

which sociologists are associated with it is a science?

Answer 4

Durkheim and Comte

Question 5

comte’s theory

Answer 5

invented “social physics” and a “new science of humanity” and believed that our behaviour is directed by the observable and material world which exists independently of the mind. the external world is made up of social facts

Question 6

what is a “social fact”

Answer 6

they are things such as institutions, norms and values which exists external to the individual and constrain the. it is possible to establish social facts by using scientific methods

Question 7

the scientific method

Answer 7

1- pose a question
2- conduct background research
3- create a hypothesis
4- test with experiments
5- analyse data and reach a conclusion
6- peer review then publish

Question 8

Durkheim and inductive reasoning theory

Answer 8

“real laws are discoverable” so we can discover laws that determine how society works. for example, make an observation the recognise/analyse then draw a conclusion.

Question 9

how does Karl Popper criticise Durkheim

Answer 9

he argued the scientific method depends on falsability. positivists tend to use inductive but if want to be scientists then should use deductive reasoning- black swan analogy

Question 10

Durkheim suicide study

Answer 10

it was designed to establish that sociology is a science by using quantitative data he observed the suicide rates. he looked beyond the individual act and towards social factors. he believed that if he could prove that suicide has social causes, this would establish science as a genuine scientific discipline.

Question 11

conclusion of the suicide study

Answer 11

concluded that suicide was not from the product of motives but social facts were responsible. suicide is a result of the relationship between the type of social structuring and the individual

Question 12

integration means…

Answer 12

how strong/weak individuals are as part of society

Question 13

regulation means…

Answer 13

how much or not society controls the individual

Question 14

evaluation of inductive reasoning

Answer 14

• very limited, your logic can be sound but can be proven incorrect by further explanation
• analysis: can use knowledge to develop policies etc like if you know MD causes educational failure

Question 15

challenging Durkheim

Answer 15

• Berezovsky death distorts the data
• interpretivism say its too simplistic
• other explanations to suicide like self harm gone wrong or covering up murder

Question 16

A03- Atkinson

Answer 16

phenomenology is developed around symbolic interactionalism and the idea that society is made up of people.
social phenomena are social constructs
eg Atkinson’s study of suicide- suicide is not a social fact that can be objectively revealed in death stats but rather a conclusion reached by a coroner

Question 17

who argues that sociology is NOT a science?

Answer 17

interpretivists

Question 18

what doe interpretivists believe?

Answer 18

-humans have agency: we choose how to react
-reality and knowledge are socially constructed
- the meaningfulness of research findings is dependant on the interpretation of it

Question 19

why do they believe its not a science?

Answer 19

as we cant study humans like other sciences, we can only study society by interpreting the meanings and motives of the actors involved

Question 20

Goffman’s evidence on how we socially construct the idea of a mental patient

Answer 20

humans have freewill and consciousness which is not in the realm of science. sociology looks at the unobservable science does so the facts are a social construction which we have given meaning to

Question 21

Mead’s evidence

Answer 21

the shifting from the i to the me is dependant on the context of conscious mental processes. our behaviour is not based on drives but is based on interpreting other peoples signs which is not in the realm of science.

Question 22

what is phenomenology?

Answer 22

developed around symbolic interactionalism and the idea that society is made up of people rather than the other way around. its a social construct
- car analogy

Question 23

interpretivists approach to suicide - Douglas

Answer 23

suicide stats are based on the coroners decision so his verdict is based on interpretation so suicide is not an objective fact but social construct

Question 24

phenomenological approach to suicide

Answer 24

there are 4 common-sense factors that effect coroners decision ( suicide note, indications eg hanging, location, mental illnesses) but still down to interpretation

Question 25

A03 of interpretivism

Question 26

what sociologists are associated with sociology MAYBE a science?

Answer 26

Popper and Kuhn

Question 27

Poppers 3 main points

Answer 27

• the deductive method
• falsification
• science is an open system, its knowledge claims are based on evidence

Question 28

the deductive method

Answer 28

rejects inductive as suggests all researchers work from a theory which they then test against the data

Question 29

falsification

Answer 29

popper rejects verification as argues no matter how many findings confirm a theory you cannot discount the possibility of a different finding so researchers have to attempt to falsify theory

Question 30

Popper and the truth

Answer 30

“all knowledge is provisional, temporary , capable of refutation at any moment” so there can never be absolute proof that any knowledge is true

Question 31

Kuhn’s theory

Answer 31

science is based upon paradigm shifts or a collection of knowledge about certain phenomena. kuhn suggests that in the natural sciences, knowledge evolves through a set of paradigm shifts.

Question 32

the 4 phases of the paradigm shifts

Answer 32

1- pre science: period before a scientific consensus so constant debate over fundamentals
2- normal science: paradigm is established which lays foundations so anomalies
are tolerated and uncritical
3- crisis: shift occurs so anomalies become serious
3- revolution: new paradigm

Question 33

kuhn evaluation

Answer 33

Lakatos rejects the view that normal science is dominated by one single paradigm instead sees it as a development of science as history
sociology’s history of competing perspectives align with the view of the history of science

Question 34

the realist position

Question 35

traditional view of natural science is…

Answer 35

that it is a closed system as scientistists study observable phenomena.
researchers control all the variables and make conclusions eg biology

Question 36

traditional view of social systems is…

Answer 36

that it is an open system as social processes are too complex phenomena so difficult to make predictions as humans gave free will. very little sociology takes place in a lab. eg metrologist cannot 100% predict weather

Question 37

Lash and urry’s view of science

Answer 37

science is both open and closed eg the weather is often predicted on the basis of unknown variables so positivists are incorrect that it looks at all observable phenomena

Question 38

realist conclusion

Answer 38

sociology is then scientific as it studies the observable and unobservable