positivism Flashcards
what do positivists believe?
they believe the natural world is governed by universal laws so they dont think you should investigate individuals or small groups
complete the sentance
positivists stress the need for evidence to be ……… & ….. ….
positivists stress the need for evidence to be objective and value free
what did Compte believe?
key individual
he believed sociology should be studied the same way as natural science and value free experiements should be conducted to find out more
positivists look for causation
what is causation?
causation is the relationship between causes and results
suicide study
durkheim
his study
key individual
he studied suicide and approached it as a social fact - he was trying to find the once cause for suicide by using measurable methods (universal law of suicide)
what do positivists believe causes events and how to investigate
positivists believe that all events are caused by the/an underlying structure so to understand the even they need to investigate the structure
in order to find out universal laws sata has to be….
value free
what data do positivists like and why?
quantative data
because it doesnt investigate the individual
what is quantative data and examples
numerical data eg numerical survey, experiment
why do positivists value quantative data
they value quantative data because numbers are objective fact
what is a social fact
a social fact is a restraint on your behvaiour eg queues , it is exturnal and applies to everyone
