is sociology a science Flashcards
what is a science?
empirical, testable, theoretical, objective, cumulative.
the 4 core principles of science
facts, objectivity, cause and effect, reliable method
who agrees that sociology is a science?
positivists
which sociologists are associated with it is a science?
Durkheim and Comte
comte’s theory
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
what is a “social fact”
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
the scientific method
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
Durkheim and inductive reasoning theory
“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.
how does Karl Popper criticise Durkheim
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
Durkheim suicide study
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.
conclusion of the suicide study
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
integration means…
how strong/weak individuals are as part of society
regulation means…
how much or not society controls the individual
evaluation of inductive reasoning
- 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
challenging Durkheim
- Berezovsky death distorts the data
- interpretivism say its too simplistic
- other explanations to suicide like self harm gone wrong or covering up murder
A03- Atkinson
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
who argues that sociology is NOT a science?
interpretivists
what doe interpretivists believe?
-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
why do they believe its not a science?
as we cant study humans like other sciences, we can only study society by interpreting the meanings and motives of the actors involved
Goffman’s evidence on how we socially construct the idea of a mental patient
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
Mead’s evidence
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.
what is phenomenology?
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
interpretivists approach to suicide - Douglas
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
phenomenological approach to suicide
there are 4 common-sense factors that effect coroners decision ( suicide note, indications eg hanging, location, mental illnesses) but still down to interpretation
A03 of interpretivism
what sociologists are associated with sociology MAYBE a science?
Popper and Kuhn
Poppers 3 main points
- the deductive method
- falsification
- science is an open system, its knowledge claims are based on evidence
the deductive method
rejects inductive as suggests all researchers work from a theory which they then test against the data
falsification
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
Popper and the truth
“all knowledge is provisional, temporary , capable of refutation at any moment” so there can never be absolute proof that any knowledge is true
Kuhn’s theory
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.
the 4 phases of the paradigm shifts
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
kuhn evaluation
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
the realist position
traditional view of natural science is…
that it is a closed system as scientistists study observable phenomena.
researchers control all the variables and make conclusions eg biology
traditional view of social systems is…
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
Lash and urry’s view of science
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
realist conclusion
sociology is then scientific as it studies the observable and unobservable
