Is Sociology a Science?

Question 1

What is Science?

Answer 1

• Objective facts.
• Proves objective facts through verification.
• Value free.
• Cause and effect relationships.

Question 2

What is Value Freedom?

Answer 2

Free from researcher bias: can be measured objectively where the researcher’s opinion will not influence the results of the research.

Question 3

What do Positivists argue?

Answer 3

That sociology is a science as there are social laws that control humans in society (SOCIAL FACTS). Cause and effect.

• Proven through verification, alike to scientific facts: making an observation, making a hypothesis, collecting empirical data to verify the hypothesis, and verifying it if data supports hypothesis (verified theory).

Question 4

What do Interpretivists argue?

Answer 4

That sociology is not a science because people have consciousness and free-will.
- Individuals shape society through meaning. Achieving Verstehen is the best way to research society. (Qualitative data).

Evaluation = unreliable, ignores social structures such as class.

Question 5

What does Popper argue?

Answer 5

That sociology can sometimes be a science - it is impossible to prove something to be ‘absolutely true’.

Analogy of white swans = verification would argue that all swans are white, but you may come across a black swan.
- Prove things wrong through FALSIFICATION.

Sociology is only a science if it can be proven wrong. However, it can be scientific when it proposes hypotheses that can be falsified. E.g: Ford > comprehensive school > class inequality.

Evaluation = not always clear if evidence contradicts a hypothesis.

Question 6

What does Kuhn argue?

Answer 6

Sociologists do not have paradigmatic unity so it shouldn’t be considered scientific.

Science is a paradigm that controls what most people believe. Scientists interpret their research based on the current paradigm, will be rejected if it doesn’t fit.

• Has to be a scientific revolution where the old paradigm is replaced with the new paradigm.
  One paradigm at a time = paradigmatic unity, not scientific if multiple are operating at the same time. E.g: Dr Velikovsky = book challenging dominant paradigm, ridiculed/lost jobs.

Question 7

What do Postmodernists argue?

Answer 7

• Shouldn’t try to be a science as it’s not possible to have the objectivity that science claims it to have.

Lyotard argues that science is a meta-narrative (big story), and they are all dead in a postmodern world. No longer any meta-narratives as ideas are always changing, therefore there is no objective truth.

Science is only the dominant meta-narrative due to capitalism = trying to find new ways to control people (Seidman).