Objectivity And Values Flashcards
What are values?
- Beliefs, opinions, and prejudices about right and wrong
- Ideas or beliefs thought to be valuable by the people who hold them
- Views linked to ideas of goodness
- Political positions
What is objectivity?
Having no bias or preformed ideas
Sociology CAN be research free:
- Sociologists can keep subjective values out of their research to make it scientific
- Classic positivist sociologists
Sociology CANNOT be value free:
- Value-neutral is impossible because sociologists are human too
- Committed sociology
- Becker
Do early sociologists believe sociology can or cannot be value free?
They believe it can be value free
What did Durkheim and Comte believe about value free sociology?
- Through scientific research we can uncover scientific facts about society
- You can research without values influencing it
- Scientific research can help us solve social problems
Why did Durkheim study suicide?
He wanted to prove suicide was linked to society, and it is a private and individual act
What did Durkheim base his study of suicide on?
He based his research on statistics and looked at different societies, cultures, and social groups
What did Weber say about facts and values?
Facts and values are very different
What is Weber’s research process?
- Values are a guide to research, select research topics based on value relevance to us
- Data collection and hypothesis testing- value in topic selection is good but bad in data collecting
- Values in interpretation- we all believe different theoretical framework, we should be specific about which one to avoid bias
- Values and the sociologist- sociologists should take responsibility of their research being used by the public
What did Gouldner say about value free sociology?
- It is impossible to be free from value judgement
- Anyone who claims to be value free are “gutless non-academics with free moral scruples”
What is committed sociology?
Sociologists should identities their values and openly take sides, being value neutral is un desirable
Who spoke about committed sociology?
Gouldner
What does Becker mean by “whose side are we on”?
He invites academics to reflect on their status and ask what they could do to bring around social change
What did Gouldner say about the underdog?
Acknowledging their life isn’t enough, sociologists should commit to ending their oppression
