Research Flashcards
Value Free - Yes, Durkheim
Positivists believe sociology should be value free and that it can be studied in an unbiased and objective way
should be value free all stages of the process
Argue you can use methods that involve little interviewer involvement, high in reliability and quantifiable
Would use Questionnaires and structured interviews
EVA - Can you be value free at every stage, Durkheim lost a friend to suicide influencing his decision to study that, Func also criticised for holding right wing views in general
Interpretivists say that quantitative methods have bias built into the questions and that a method like observation may be more value free
Value free - Weber
Weber argued that you should remain objective but only once you have chosen your subject as he believed that your values influence what you chose to study and are passionate about
Weber also argues that sociologists shouldn’t make value comments whether the outcome is good or bad
EVA - feminists argue sociology is not value free as it reflects male biases argue traditional sociology has been biased against women
Argue that sociology should challenge patriarchy and female inequality e.g. Oakley division of labour
Value free - Interpretivists
Argue sociology shouldn’t be value free as its meant to be subjective and therefore value freedom shouldn’t be desirable. By using qualitative methods you can never be objective. E.g. Dobash and Dobash used unstructured interviews that lasted hours so that they could fully explore why, how and what they felt like to explore the issue of Domestic violence and qualitative methods wouldn’t get that depth and give use such an understanding
EVA - Postmod believe that sociology is not free from personal values, as everyone has values that influences all decisions. The idea that value free sociology is just a meta narrative created for a purpose. Researchers should admit biases and understand they cannot be objective whatever method they use
Value Free - Kuhn
Suggests that sociology is dominated by a dominant paradigm that are popular at the time. Objective, value free sociology is challenging due to the paradigm influencing methods, questions and interpretations.
E.g. Labelling theory was very popular in the 60s and therefore shaped sociology research at the time, Whereas Postmodernism is growing in popularity due to changes in society
EVA - New right criticises sociology is not value free but rather left-wing propaganda. Criticises sociology for left wing bias and argue that it serves as a destructive force in society, exaggerating faults of capitalism and ignoring its benefits
Value Free - Gouldner
Argues that value freedom is an excuse to do morally questionable research e.g. sociologists paid by tobacco companies in order to find ways to sell more cigarettes knowing it was bad for you
Argues that sociology should protect the powerless and defend them
Science - Positivists
Comte and Durkheim argue that just like natural forces dictate science and the universe there are social laws that control and dictate society,
They call these social facts and believe sociology is about uncovering all of these facts and proving that they are at work in the world
Attempt to prove these facts through verification like science.
1) make and observation,
2) create a hypothesis
3) Collect empirical evidence, large scale quantitative data
4) If the data supports your theory then you have a social fact
As social facts are cause and effects relationships its possible to uncover these through verification and therefore sociology is a science
EVA - Society is a social construct therefore these social construct are made by us and not external forces that can be measured as they can change any time, the only thing that can be measured is that society uses common sense to create a sense of order, Ethnomethodology
Science - Interpretivists
Argue sociology isnt a science. You cant study people like a rock or a star because these people have free will and a consciousness (Water can’t choose to not boil but a person a choose to not participate in society)
Disagree with Durkheim and say that people shape society through meanings and interactions they have, rather than society shaping people
Believe that to study society you must have verstehen - an empathetic understanding that is achieved through qualitative methods that allows to find out why people think or do certain actions.
EVA - Does not allow for generalisation of data
Ignore the effect that society has on people e.g. people fear being cast as odd so they mould to societies expectations.
Science - Popper
Argues against verification, he says that its impossible for anything to be proven absolutely true (similar to post mod)
He uses the analogy of the white swan in which you may see 1000s of white swans which verification would say that all swans are white but the next day you may see a black swan
He says to use falsification therefore sociology can only be a science if it can be proved wrong e.g. Marxism predicts a revolution but it hasn’t happened yet due to false class consciousness therefore it cant be proved wrong,
EVA - Its not always clear if evidence contradicts a hypothesis
If any and every failure to fit were grounds for theory rejection all theories ought to be rejected at all times as there will always be exceptions to rules in society.
Science - Kuhn
Argues Science is a paradigm, argues that scientists will research and interpret data based on the current paradigm and if it doesn’t fit that paradigm it will be ignored
E.g. in the 50s Dr Velikovsky wrote a book challenging the paradigm but most scientists rejected and those who gave it a fair test were ridiculed
However when the amount of evidence against a dominant paradigm mounts up there is a scientific revolution and a new paradigm is formed.
Kuhn argues that as science only operates with one Paradigm at a time sociology cant be a science as multiple paradigms are operating at the same time. E.g. not all sociologists are functionalists until it gets disproved and they all become Marxists. Sociology doesn’t have paradigmatic unity so shouldn’t be considered scientific.
EVA - Popper argues that theories should be defended as they cant be considered absolutely true instead of attacking other theories. Post modernists agree that science is a meta narrative rather than being objective
Science - Post Modernism
Lyotard argues that science is a meta narrative and that meta-narratives are dead in a post modern world, as the rapid change of society means the answers are always changing. He argues that there is only subjective truth.
Seidman builds on Lyotard saying that science has only become dominant meta-narrative in the world due to its relationship with capitalism, science is not seeking new ways to protect humans and the environment but new ways to make a profit and control people.
Both Lyotard and Seidman believe that sociology shouldn’t try to be a science because it’s not possible to have objectively scientific claims and that science is negatively impacting the world
EVA - Post modernism is a meta-narrative in and of itself
Lab Experiments
Artificial environment where sociologists can control variables, can be replicated, remain objective just record findings, rarely used
Experiment group and control group
Example study - Milgram - Conducted a experiment to test authority and obedience. Asked Participants to administer a shock each time the actor got the question wrong, found that most people would administer a fatal shock to a stranger.
Strengths - Reliable, Allow to change variables and measure behaviour, uncover cause and effect behaviour, detached and objective, offer right to withdraw, informed consent, positivists.
Weakness - human behaviour is not caused by external forces so it cant be explained in terms of cause and effects (interpretivists), individuals are too complex to be tested in a lab setting, Cannot keep people for long to study them, Small sample size - low rep, Hawthorne effect, Can harm the subject
Field Experiments
Experiment carried out in the real world, Those involved usually don’t know they’re involved
Example - Rosenthal and Jacobson - Labelled some children ‘spurters’ by administering fake IQ tests to see if there was a self fulfilling prophecy, when they returned the spurters had made significant progress, Teachers had believed what they were told,
Strengths - More natural and Realistic less artificial, researcher can manipulate one or more variables to see the effect on unsuspecting subjects, Observe from afar not causing harm.
Weakness - Cannot control all variables, Field experiments are problematic as the subjects are unsuspecting, low in reliability, not representative, possible Hawthorne if they find out, you can’t gain consent and can’t withdraw
Content Analysis
not a way of collecting data but a method of interpreting it, may use primary or secondary data, two types of data analysis qual or Quan
QUANTITATIVE - looking at specific content of media and counting the frequency of certain stories, images or words, head counting.
Strengths - easy access, easy and inexpensive, reliable data, objective account, unobtrusive.
Weakness - May not always be objective as it claims as the researcher needs to select and record data accurately, Lacks detail and tells what is happening rather than explaining it, time consuming depending
QUALITATIVE - researcher interprets media messages and ideological representations, interpretivists approach, exam embedded attitudes, less objective.
Strengths - more detailed explanation, easy access, unobtrusive, ability to study processes over a long time e.g. representation in media
Weakness - difficult to analyse, subjective interpretation, more time consuming, looking for bias.
Official Statistics
Numerical data collected by the government
Methods of collection - registration e.g. marriage registration and Official surveys e.g. Consensus
Purpose = policy making
Hard Stats = more objective because they can’t be manipulated e.g. birth rate
Soft Stats = less reliable as they can be manipulated e.g. government can massage crime rate to make it look like its gone down
Crime Stats have issues throughout the process that could lead to an unreported stat, dark figure of crime,
Strengths - Cheap, Easy access, quick, names not disclosed, high in reliability, large and representative, objective
Weakness - May not have stats on certain topics, political bias, Some stats are low in validity e.g. dark figure of crime
Longitudinal
Carried out across a long period of time, various methods, look at change over time, look for trends and patterns
Observation
Examples - Participant, Covert = ‘Black like me’ dressed as a black man to try and understand the plight of black people in america.
Non-Participant, Overt = Elton Mayo investigated the Hawthorne plant, researching what changes could be made to make it more productive but whatever changes he made the workers increased productivity because they were around
