positivism

Question 1

Comte

Answer 1

believed the scientific study of society should be confined to collecting information about phenomena that can be objectively observed and classified. Comte argued that sociologists should not be concerned with the internal meanings, motives, feelings and emotions of individuals. Since these mental states exist only in the person’s consciousness, they cannot be observed and so they cannot be measured in any objective way.

Question 2

Durkheim 1

Answer 2

that sociologists should confine themselves to studying social facts. He argued: ‘The first and most fundamental rule is: Consider social facts as things’. This means that the belief systems, customs and institutions of society should be considered the same way as the objects and events of the natural world.

Question 3

Durkheim 2

Answer 3

A scientific law consists of a statement about the relationship between two or more phenomena which is true in all circumstances. Similarly, Comte and Durkheim believed real laws of human behaviour could be discovered. Durkheim claimed to have discovered laws of human behaviour that governed the suicide rate. According to Durkheim, the suicide rate always rose during a time of economic boom or slump, and certain people were more prone to suicide than others e.g. Protestants were more likely to commit suicide than Catholics.

Question 4

Durkheim 3

Answer 4

However, Durkheim did not believe that social facts consisted only of those things that could be directly observed or measured. To Durkheim, social facts included such phenomena as the belief systems, customs and institutions of society. Belief systems are not directly measurable or observable, since they exist in the consciousness of humans. Nevertheless, Durkheim saw them as existing over and above individual consciousness. They were not chosen by individuals and they could not be changed at will. Social facts, such as the customs of a particular profession, were external to each individual and constrained their behaviour. That is, each person had their options limited by the existence of customs and practices.

Question 5

Laboratories experiments

Answer 5

Sociologists very rarely carry out laboratory experiments even if they support the use of ‘scientific’ methods in their research. The main reason why scientists use the laboratory experiment is because it enables them to test precise predictions in exactly the way that a positivist sociologist called Popper advocates. Laboratories are controlled environments in which the researcher can manipulate the various independent variables however they wish to calculate the effects of one.

Question 6

Field experiements

Answer 6

Human behaviour cannot be observed in a natural way in a laboratory. Sociologists often use field experiments to try to emulate the natural sciences. For example, Sissons.