is sociology a science?

Question 1

what features does sociology share with natural sciences?

Answer 1

• sociological problems- they look for a theory and reach conclusions that prove this
• hypothesis and planning
• re-tests
• statistics and facts

Question 2

what do social facts allow us to do but what is the problem w this?

Answer 2

allow us to predict what is happening in society

howvever, this is difficult to operationalise and agree upon the definition of a concept

Question 3

Karl Popper- falsification

Answer 3

falsification= someone trying to disprove what someone else has proven

• falsification is required, when you try to disprove something and you can’t, that means it’s factual and scientific, reinforcing the research rather than verification
• this is rigorous science rather than verification by peer review

Question 4

hypothetico-deductive

Answer 4

starting with a hypothesis and then finding evidence for it (Popper)

Question 5

inductive

Answer 5

starting with evidence and then finding a hypothesis or explanation that fits it (Durkheim)
-this is more scientific than hypothetical-deductive methods

Question 6

why is sociology NOT a science?

Answer 6

• open systems, even lab experiments aren’t 100% an artificial environment and this doesn’t work for people
• empirical observation is hard because it is up to assumptions
• interpretivist
• subjective
• individuals have agency and free will- people are changeable and difficult impacting the validity- hawthorne effect also.
• institutions are socially constructed
• cultural relativism
• postmodern society changes very fast
• not everyone is the same- CAGE- which makes testing them hard
• ethics- people matter

Question 7

why SHOULDN’T sociology be a science?

Answer 7

• no verstehen
• no interactionsism and small scale approaches
• conflict sociologists want to know quantitatively

Question 8

realism- the middle view

Answer 8

you can’t study and observe social structures in an empirical way but you can study the effects of structures on people, like you can see a tree blowing in the wind but not the wind itself

Question 9

Sayer

Answer 9

natural science is not always studied in a closed system but is still considered a science!

Question 10

Thomas Kuhn and paradigms (it could be a science, but is not yet!)

Answer 10

• scientists operate within a body of existing knowledge
• even sociological paradigms change (theory groups)

Question 11

paradigm

Answer 11

an existing framework of knowledge to use as a point of reference

Question 12

what are some features of science?

Answer 12

• empirical
• testable
• theoretical
• objective
• cumulative (the body of knowledge expands)

Question 13

what is the postmodernist argument on this debate?

Answer 13

• science dominated the modern world, but now science no longer has the monopoly on truth because knowledge and information are characterised by diversity

Question 14

Kaplan (it is not and will never be!)

Answer 14

• shifting a paradigm is very difficult because a lot of research is small scale
• science is flawed because the research could be innacurate
• pressure to pulbish, values and ethics, career progression and ambition, agenda of the fudning body all impact its truthfulness