Sociology and science Flashcards
What do positivists say about sociology and science?
its desirable to apply the methods of science to the study of society.
What is verificationism?
Proving a theory to be true
What data do positivists use?
Quantitative data
What does objective mean?
Research should not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts.
Give an example of scientific positivist research:
Durkheim’s research on suicide
Why according to Durkheim was his research scientific?
He claimed that his research gave social facts, which could be explained scientifically.
What do Interpretativists believe about sociology and science?
Don’t believe it is or should be a science
Why is sociology not a science according to interpretivists?
because science only deals with laws of cause and not human meanings.
What is the fundamental difference between sociology and science according to interpretavists.?
Science - Studies matter, which has no choice of its behaviour
Sociology - Studies people, who have choice
What is Verstehen?
Putting ourselves in the place of the actor.
Give an example of interpretivism research that rejects science?
Douglas’ research on suicide
What did Douglas do differently to Durkheim on his research?
used qualitative data
What three researchers do you need to know?
Popper
Kuhn
Keat and Urry
What is the fallacy of induction?
We can never prove a theory is true just by producing more observations that verify it.
What example did Popper give for the fallacy of induction?
White swans and black swans
