Sociology and Science

Question 1

what do positivists believe in terms of science and sociology

Answer 1

• positivists believe it’s desirable to apply logic + methods of science to sociology
• doing so will bring objective, true knowledge
• this will be the basis of solving social problems + progress

Question 2

what is a key feature of the positivist approach

Answer 2

• reality exists outside and independently of the human mind
• nature is made up of physical observable facts such as cells and stars which are external to our minds and exist
• similarly, society is an objective factual reality made up of social facts that exists independently from inds

Question 3

what is reality for positivists

Answer 3

• reality isn’t random but is patterned and we can observe these empirical (factual) patterns through science

Question 4

outline the inductive apparoach

Answer 4

• induction involves accumulating data through careful observation
• through this we can find patterns

Question 5

outline verificationism

Answer 5

• from this, we can develop a theory
• after several verifications / confirmations of the theory, we can claim to have found the truth in the form of a general law

Question 6

what do positivists favour in research

Answer 6

• Positivists favour finding patterns, producing a general law, value free research and macro/structural explanations

Question 7

outline Positivists use of quantitative data

Answer 7

• Ps use quant data to uncover + measure behavioural patterns and their cause + effect
• this allows them to produce precise statements

Question 7

why do Positivists favour value free research

Answer 7

• researchers shouldn’t let their own subjective prejudices influence conduct of research/ analysis

Question 8

which methods do Positivists favour

Answer 8

• Ps employ methods that allow for maximum objectivity – e.g. quant methods like questionnaires, structured interviews + official stats
• these methods also produce reliable data that can be repeated

Question 9

outline Durkheim’s study of suicide

Answer 9

• he used quant data from official stats and observed there were patterns in the suicide rate
• e.g. rates for Protestants were higher than for Catholics
• these were social facts, not the product of motives from individuals. thus, suicide is caused by other social facts; forces acting upon members of society to determine their behaviour
• D claims that social facts can be explained scientifically and so is scientific

Question 9

outline natural science

Answer 9

• studies matter, which has no consciousness
• behaviour can be explained by an external stimulus

Question 10

what do interpretivist sociologists think

Answer 10

• Interpretivist sociologists critique Positivist’s scientific approach as irrelevant to the study of human beings

Question 11

what do Interpretivists say about the subject matter of sociology

Answer 11

• the subject matter of sociology is meaningful social action
• we can only understand it by interpreting the meaning + motives of individuals
• there is a fundamental difference between the subject matter of natural science + sociology

Question 11

outline sociology

Answer 11

• studies people, who have consciousness
• people make sense of the world by attaching meaning to it

Question 12

outline Int’s view of individuals

Answer 12

• individuals are not puppets on a string, manipulated by external ‘social facts’ (as Ps think), but are autonomous (independent) beings who construct their world through meanings they attach
• the job of a sociologist is to uncover these meanings

Question 13

(Interpretivists) outline verstehen and qualitative research

Answer 13

• ints argue that to discover the meanings people give to their actions, we need to take their view (verstehen/ empathetic understanding)
• thus, ints prefer qualitative methods – e.g. participant obs, personal documents + unstructured interviews, which produce valid, more personal data

Question 14

list the 2 types of interpretivism

Answer 14

• interactionists
• phenomenologists + ethnomethodologists

Question 15

outline interactionists as a type of interpretivism

Answer 15

• the believe we can have casual explanations
• rejects the P view that we should enter research with a fixed hypothesis and favours a bottom up approach of a developing hypothesis throughout observations

Question 16

outline phenomenologists + ethnomethodologists as a type of interpretivism

Answer 16

• society isn’t a real thing determining our behaviour, but social reality is simply the shared meanings/ knowledge of its members and thus exists only in people’s consciousness
• therefore, the subject matter of sociology can only be of interpretive procedure that people use to make sense of the world

Question 17

outline Douglas’ study of suicide

Answer 17

• Douglas, an interactionist, rejects the positivist idea of external social facts determining behaviour. Inds have free will and choose how to act through meaning
• to understand suicide, we must uncover its meanings for people involved, instead of imposing our meaning
• D prefers the use of qual data from suicide case studies to reveal the meanings + give a better idea of meanings behind suicide

Question 18

outline Atkinsons view of suicide

Answer 18

• like Douglas, Atkinson, a ethnomethodologist, rejects the idea that external social facts determine behaviour
• however, A argues that we can never know the real rate of suicide, since we can never know what meanings the deceased held
• the only thing we can study in suicide is the way that the living makes sense of deaths (the interpretive methods coroners use to classify deaths)

Question 18

what is the postmodernist view of scientific sociology

Answer 18

• PMs argue against the idea of sociology as a science, as science is a meta narrative – just another big story – the scientific account of the world is no more valid than others and so there is no reason to adopt science as a model for sociology
• due to the several views within society, a scientific approach is dangerous as it excludes other views. Thus, scientific sociology makes false claims about the truth + is a form of domination

Question 19

what is the poststructuralist feminist view of scientific sociology

Answer 19

• PSFs agree with PMs in that scientific sociology in its quest for a single feminist theory is a form of domination as it covertly excludes different types of women

Question 19

outline Popper’s fallacy of induction

Answer 19

• we should reject verificationism due to ‘the fallacy (error) of induction’
• induction is the process of moving from the observation of something to arrive at a general statement/ law

Question 20

outline Popper’s view of falsificationism

Answer 20

• falsificationism is a principle; ‘a scientific statement is capable of being falsified by evidence

Question 21

what 2 features should a good theory have in Popper’s opinion

Answer 21

• it is falsifiable in principle, but when tested, it stands all attempts to disprove it
• it is bold and makes big generalisations that can be possibly falsified

Question 21

outline Popper’s view of truth

Answer 21

• Popper: all knowledge is provisional, temporary + capable of refutation at any moment
• there can never be absolute proof that any knowledge is true
• a good theory isn’t necessarily a true theory, but one that has withstood attempts to falsify it so far

Question 22

outline Popper’s concept of criticism and the open society

Answer 22

• for a theory to be falsifiable, it must be open to criticism by other theorists
• P views science as a public activity which is why scientific knowledge grows so rapidly
• science thrives in open societies - ones that believe in free speech + the right to challenge accepted ideas
• in contrast, closed societies are dominated by an official belief system which stifles the growth of science as they cant be falsified

Question 23

outline Popper’s implications for sociology

Answer 23

• Popper believes that sociology is unscientific because its theories cannot be falsified
• e.g. Marxism predicts a revolution, and that it hasn’t happened yet bc of the false class consciousness. this prediction cant be falsified - Marxism is correct whether a revolution happens or not
• however, P believes sociology can be scientific because it produces hypotheses that in principle can be falsified

Question 24

outline kuhn’s concept of paradigms

Answer 24

• it provides a basic framework of assumptions, principles, methods and techniques – it is a set of norms/ a culture as it tells scientists + their scientific communities how they should act
• scientists’ conformity to the paradigms is rewarded with publication of their research/ career success, whilst non- conformity may result in a lack of career success
• Kuhn believes science cannot exist without shared paradigms

Question 25

outline Kuhn’s concept of normal science

Answer 25

• most of the time, paradigms go unquestioned and scientists do ‘normal science’
• in normal science, scientists do puzzle solving (filling in the missing details from the paradigms defined broad terms)
• scientists know what the end point should be + their job is to obtain the known to fit the narrative

Question 26

outline scientific revolutions

Answer 26

• not all puzzle solving is successful and occasionally, scientists discover things that go against the accepted narrative of paradigms
• as these anomalies grow, confidence in paradigms decreases, leading to a crisis – previous foundations are now in question
• scientists begin to form rival paradigms (the start of a scientific revolution). Eventually one adapted paradigm becomes the most accepted by the science community, allowing normal science to resume
• in Kuhns view, scientists are conformists who unquestionably accept paradigms – apart from during scientific revolutions

Question 27

outline the implications for sociology in terms of paradigms

Answer 27

• sociology is pre-paradigmatic/ pre-scientific as its divided into competing perspectives; there is no shared paradigm
• Kuhn believes sociology can only be a science if they resolve disagreements; although many argue this would be impossible for sociology

Question 28

what do Postmodernists think about paradigms in sociology

Answer 28

• PMs argue a paradigm wouldn’t be desirable in sociology as its very similar to a meta-narrative which silences minority voices

Question 29

outline the realist view of science

Answer 29

• realists like Keat and Urry stress the similarities between sociology and kinds of science in terms of the degree of control the researcher has over the variables

Question 30

outline the realist concept of a closed system

Answer 30

• a system where the researcher can control/ measure all relevant variables and so can make precise predictions
• the typical research method for this is lab experiments

Question 30

outline the realist concept of a closed system

Answer 30

• systems where the researcher cant control + measure all relevant variables and so cant make precise predictions
• realists argue sociologists study open systems where the processes are too complex to completely predict. E.g. we cant predict crime rates as there are too many variables involved

Question 31

outline the realist concept of underlying structures

Answer 31

• realists reject the positivist view that science is only concerned with observable phenomena
• it also means interpretivists are incorrect in assuming that sociology cant be scientific as Rs think sociology can be studied scientifically – which interpretivists think is the barrier to scientific sociology
• Rs think both natural + social science attempt to explain the causes of events in terms of underlying structures + processes, thus realists believe sociology is scientific