Objectivity and values in sociology

Question 1

The early positivists

Answer 1

Durkheim and Comte believed that making
society better doesn’t lie in subjective
values/personal opinions on what’s ‘best’.
* The argue that sociology is the science of
society that discovers the truth about how
society works/laws about its functioning- we
should use this knowledge to fix social
problems.
* It’s debated as to whether Marx was a positivist, but we do know that he saw himself as a
scientist, and believed he could reveal the line of development of human society via historical
analysis and materialism.
* This development was a series of class-based societies that would eventually evolve us to be
class-free communist societies where there’s no exploitation, alienation and poverty.
* The role of Marx’s sociology is therefore to scientifically reveal the truth of this development
to the proletariat, as they would be the class to overthrow capitalism and start communist
society.

Question 2

1. Values as a guide to research:

Answer 2

• Social reality is made up of a meaningless infinity of
  facts, meaning it’s impossible to study it as a whole.
• Therefore, we should only study select areas in terms
  of their value relevance to our own values or research.

Question 3

2. Data collection & hypothesis testing:

Answer 3

Though values are essential to picking what to study,
Weber argues we must be as objective and unbiased as
possible when actually collecting facts.

*This means keeping our own values out of research,
like not asking leading questions. Values must also be
kept out while using the gathered facts to test the
hypothesis.

Question 4

3. Values in the interpretation of data:

Answer 4

Values become important when we need to interpret
the data collected.
* The facts have to put in a theoretical framework in
order to draw conclusions and understand their
significance.
* Weber argues that our choice of theoretical framework
is influenced by our values, so we need to make the
values very clear so other researchers can decide if
there is unconscious bias in our interpretation.

Question 5

4. Values & the sociologist as a citizen:

Answer 5

Sociologists are also citizens, so they can’t dodge
moral/political issues their work raises by hiding
behind objectivity and value freedom.

Question 6

Weber

Answer 6

Marx, Comte and Durkheim don’t
distinguish between facts revealed by
science and values we should hold because
they believed science would tell us these
values.
* However- Weber distinguishes between the
two, and says we can’t derive one from the
other.
* EG- research may show divorcees as more
likely to commit suicide, but this fact doesn’t
show the truth of the value judgement that
we should make getting a divorce harder.
This is because we can argue/accept other
values, like making marriage harder, or that
people have the right to kill themselves.
Weber’s view therefore shows that no value
judgements are ‘proven’ by an established

facts.