Objectivity

Question 1

What is value freedom, objectivity and neutrality ?

Answer 1

1. Value freedom = devised by positivists, science should be studied in an objective way and should conduct detached research
2. Objectivity = free from bias
3. neutrality = remaining impartial

Question 2

What are the objectivity theories and who were they by ?

Answer 2

1. Objectivity is impossible (Weber)
2. Objectivity is undesirable (Gouldner)
3. Good sociologists should take sides (Myrdal)
4. Sociologists conform to a research perspective
5. All knowledge is relative (postmodernists)

Question 3

Objectivity is impossible

Answer 3

• Weber
• Objectivity is not possible for three reasons :
  1. Sociologists study things they are personally interested in (crime, patriarchy etc)
  2. Most sociologists are affiliated with a research perspective (functionalism, feminism etc which shapes their preferred methods)
  3. How a sociologist interprets data will be influenced by their values (inequalities in class achievement could be explained in multiple different ways)

Question 4

Objectivity is undesirable

Answer 4

• Gouldner
• Objectivity is undesirable as sociologists who use the subject as a step up in to professional research have become spiritless technicians
• Sociologists have lost the passion for the subject and are just gathering money for their paymaster (in return for data)
• Early sociologists were problem makers and now they are problem takers eg early feminists used their position to challenge the status quo and bring about change but now they just work on behalf of those in power which has dampened the spirit of sociology

Question 5

Good sociologists should take sides

Answer 5

• Myrdal
• Argues sociologists should go out of their way to dedicate their research and theory development to particular groups
• Also advocated by Becker who believes their job is to side with the underdogs of society
• Goffman conducente a covert observation in to a mental health asylum where patients were stripped of their personal identity (mortification of self)
• They then became institutionalised in the routine of the asylum which prevented them from recovering from mental illnesses
• His findings highlighted the dehumanising way people were treated in an attempt to bringing about change in mental health facilities

Question 6

The world view will shape your research (impossible to remain value free)

Answer 6

• It is impossible to remain value free in sociology as it is rooted in the researchers perspective of the world (eg marxists study issues relating to class and oppression and feminist will pay attention to gender inequality and the subordination of women
• Theorists will pick methods which help them to develop theories which conform to their world view
• For example functionalists use quantitative methods which will demonstrate patterns to support their positivist stance

Question 7

Objectivity doesn’t exist as all knowledge is relative

Answer 7

• Post modernists claim that objectivity doesn’t exist and instead claim that all knowledge is relative (means different things to different people)
• What people accept to be true changes over time eg in the past it was believed women were not mentally equipped to take on responsibilities like voting yet today in the UK there are equal voting rights
• What people believe to be true varies across social groups, cultures and countries eg In Saudi Arabia women are still seen as secondary to men
• There is no such thing as objective truth as the world is made up of different perspectives
• Any knowledge that claims to hold the truth is just a meta narrative (big story)