Objectivity and Values

Question 1

Early positivists

Answer 1

● Modernist view of the role of sociology for society
● Sociology’s jobs was to discover the truth about how society works - Social problems and human life could be improved
● crucial role of determining what’s best for society

Question 2

Karl Marx

Answer 2

● Conducted historical analysis and delivered development of human society could be made clear
● Involved an evolution through a series of different types of class-based society in which alienation and exploitation exists - revealing truth of the role of class
● Believed this approach would lead to scientific revolution (overthrow capitalism)

Question 3

Weber - role of objectivity and values

Answer 3

● Essential roles for values in society
○ Desire to appear scientific - select specific facts and study these based on values
○ Data collection and hypothesis testing - process of collecting facts must be objective and unbiased as possible accepted
○ Values in interpretation of data - facts need to be contextualised within a theoretical framework so understood
○ Values and the sociologist as a citizen - must not be ignorant of or seek to ignore moral and political issues raised by their work. Moral responsibility to avoid harm

Question 4

Modern positivists

Answer 4

● Own values irrelevant to their research due to:
○ Desire to be scientific - should remain morally neutral release facts not make moral judgements
○ Social position of sociology - Gouldner by 1950s sociologists were ‘spiritless technicians’ hired to solve problems leaving the values behind not in position to criticise those who paid them

Question 5

Committed sociology

Answer 5

● Myrdal - values are a part of society and sociologists should state their values and ‘take sides’ in the interest of groups
● Value free sociology is:
○ Impossible - values will shape sociological research
○ Undesirable - values needed so sociologists don’t sell their services to higher bidder who pay represent powerless against powerful

Question 6

Sides

Answer 6

● Sociologists must takes sides if sociology is influenced by values
● Becker (Interactionist) - values always present in sociology unlike positivists and functionalists who support powerful (overdogs)
● Instead of seeing things from perspectives sociologists should adopt compassionate stance and take side of underdog e.g criminals, mental patients
● Less known about these groups story needs to be told to redress balance
● Emphasizing and identifying with less powerful informs the research methods interactionists have chosen

Question 7

Funding and careers

Answer 7

● Most sociological research is funded by someone other than sociologists themselves
● Funding body typically dictates direction of research e.g types of questions
● So sociologists work likely to embody values and interests of paymasters
● May wish to further careers and reputations which influence choice of topic and may censor themselves in fear of repercussions if they are outspoken

Question 8

Perspectives and methods

Answer 8

● Each perspective has its own assumptions and values of what society should look like
● Perspective is reflected in research undertaken
● Link between methods and their value-stance e.g interactionists prefer qualitative methods as fits desire to emphasize underdogs
○ Feminism - society based on gender inequality promotes rights of women
○ Functionalism - society as harmonious conservative values favour status quo
○ Marxism - society as conflict-ridden strives for classless society

Question 9

Objectivity and realism

Answer 9

● Realism is stance that there is no absolute objective truth
● What you believe is true, is true to you
● Realism argues that
○ Different groups have different views of what is true - shaped by own concepts
○ No independent way of judging if one thing is truer than another

Question 10

relativism and postmodernism

Answer 10

● Postmodernists take relative view of knowledge
● All sociological perspectives are meta-narratives all imbued with values and assumptions thereofre none can claim to be true
● Postmodernism can be accused of being one big meta-narrative itself as it claims to be telling the truth but itself relative
● Relativism - self-defeating because it claims to be telling truth whilst claiming no perspective can be true
● Sociologists acknowledge that there is a factual world that exists out there
● Once facts are recorded they can be used to judge the values of theories