is sociology as science?

Question 1

positivists believe sociology is a science

Answer 1

• just as there are natural laws governing behaviour of the natural world so there are social laws governing human behaviour

Question 2

reality is patterned

Answer 2

• these empirical (factual) patterns can be studied through systematic observation and measurement
• so it allows sociologists to discover laws and determine how society works by using inductive reasoning verified through evidence

Question 3

positivists aim to produce scientific laws

Answer 3

• laws that are about how society works in order to predict future events and guide social policies

Question 4

scientific features of positivist sociology

Answer 4

• standardised (reliable) method so it can be verified
• data collected under controlled conditions
• quantifiable data to compare correlations
• objective and value free
• valid and authentic

Question 5

positivists believe sociology should take natural science methods as model for research

Answer 5

• this is where the investigator can tests a hypothesis in a systematic and controlled way

Question 6

positivists use quantitative data to measure patterns of behaviour

Answer 6

• e.g. suicide rates
• allows them to produce statements about relationships between facts they are investigating to discover laws of cause and effect

Question 7

positivists use methods that give maximum objectivity and detachment

Answer 7

• e.g. quantitative methods

- e.g. experiments, official statistics, questionnaire surveys and structured interviews

Question 8

interpretivism don’t believe sociology can be a science

Answer 8

• this is because these are unsuited to the study of human beings

Question 9

interpretivists; sociology is about internal meanings not external causes

Answer 9

• therefore sociology cannot be a science because science only deals with laws of cause and effect not meanings

Question 10

interpretivists; science only deals with cause and effect

Answer 10

• this is because interpretivists reject the use of natural science methods and casual explanations

Question 11

interpretivists; differences between the subject of matter of natural sciences and sociology

Answer 11

• natural science studies matter that has no consciousness since its behaviour is automatic reaction to external stimulus
• sociology studies people who have consciousness and choice and they make sense of the world by attaching meanings to it
• individuals are not puppets, they are autonomous beings who construct their social world through meanings

Question 12

interpretivists methods

Answer 12

• purpose of sociology is to uncover these meanings

- to discover the meanings people hold we need to see the world from their view using verstehen (empathy) to understand

Question 13

2 versions of interpretivism

Answer 13

1. interpretivists; we can have causal explanations but through bottom up approach than entering the research with a fixed hypothesis
2. phenomenologists and ethnomethodologists; e.g. ATKINSON reject the explanations of human behaviour since society is not a real thing ‘out there’