Sociology and Science

Question 1

Factors for sociology as a science?

Answer 1

• Positivits believe it is possible to establish objective facts through scientific research methods
• Durkheim’s Suicide study illustrates the positivist view of science as it is based on objective facts which are not influenced by personal beliefs of the researcher. To be scientific, you should only study what you observe as it is unscientific to study people’s emotion
• Sayer suggests that there are two types of science, closed systems which are physics and chemistry and those which operate in open systems. They work in systems where you cannot control all of the variables and they recognise unpredictability. Open systems try to find underlying structures which cannot be directly observed. Sociology can be scientific in the way that meterology is scientific but not the way that closed systems can be. Quantitative sociology can reveal hidden structures and make broad predictions without directly being able to see the class structure

Question 2

Factors for why sociology is not a science?

Answer 2

• Interpretivits and post modernists argue that they cannot understand the nature of society and human behaviour the same way science is understood
• Interpretivists reject the view that sociology can be scientific because they believe reality is social reality which is different to natural reality meaning we need to understand meanings
• Kuhn argues scientific knowledge is also socially constructed. We tend to see scientists as objective which is evolving gradually and developing existing theories however he disagreed as knowledge is limited by paradigms. This is a basic world-view which provides a framework for thinking about the world which includes basic assumptions which limits the kind of questions asked. Scientists build their careers working within the dominant paradigm ignoring any evidence which does not fit with the general framework therefore those who ignore are marginalised and not taken seriously. Rogue scientisits do engage in alternative research which then contradicts existing paradigms then becoming the new dominant paradigm. There are a number of competing paradigms within science and it based of who is in power
• Eg. Sutton and fossil fuels which was dismissed but now accepted
• Bloor argued that we should study the processes through scientific knowledge is constructed rather than accepting scientific methods as superior

Question 3

What do post modernists argue about sociology as a science?

Answer 3

• The scientific world and idea of scientific sociology evolved from enlightenment and modernity where there was one truth
• Rorty argues that scientists have replaced priests as the source of truth as we want experts to explain the world to us
• Lyotard critises the view that science stands apart from the natural world. Language shapes the way we think about the world so scientific language may open our eyes to some truths but closes our eyes to others