Sociology and Values Flashcards

1
Q

outline the Early Positivists

A
  • Comte + Durkheim: share the Enlightenment/ Modernist view of the role of sociology - as the science of society, sociology is meant to discover the truth about how society works, uncovering the laws that govern its functioning
  • they believe scientific sociology would reveal the once correct society
  • by giving sociologists a crucial role of discovering the truth about society, sociologists would be able to say - objectively and with certainty - what was best for society
  • Comte: named sociology as the ‘queen of the sciences’
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2
Q

outline Karl Marx’s view of the sociologists + values

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  • whether Karl Marx was a positivist or not, he saw himself as a scientist - he believed his method of historical analysis, historical materialism could reveal the development of society
  • this development involved; an evolution through several class-based societies, ultimately leading to a future classless communist society, in which exploitation, alienation + poverty would end + each individual would be free of B rule
  • thus, Marx’s sociology accurately predicts this development of society
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3
Q

outline Max Weber’s view of the sociologists + values

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  • unlike Marx, Durkheim and Comte, Weber made a distinction between value judgements and the facts - we cannot just derive one from the other
  • e.g: research shows that divorcees are more likely to commit suicide - however this doesn’t demonstrate the truth of the value judgement that we should make divorces harder to obtain - we may argue it should be harder to obtain marriages, or that everyone ha their own right to commit suicide
  • value judgments can neither be proved or disproved by facts
  • BUT, Weber still saw an essential role for values in sociological research
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4
Q

outline values as a guide to research

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  • Weber: took the idea from phenomenology that social reality is made up of a ‘meaningless infinity’ of facts that make it impossible to study completely
  • Weber says we can only select the facts to study in terms of what we regard as important based on our own values/ their ‘value relevance’ to us
  • values are thus essential in allowing us to select which aspects of reality to study + developing concepts to understand these aspects
  • e.g. Feminists: value gender equality and so they study W’s oppression + develop concepts such as patriarchy to understand it
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5
Q

outline data collection and hypothesis testing

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  • while values are essential in choosing what to study, Weber says we must be objective + unbiased when actually collecting facts + keep our values and prejudices out of the process
  • e.g. we shouldn’t ask leading questions designed to give answers we want to hear - Qs should aim to get respondents to give us their view - not our own
  • once facts are gathered, we can use them to test a hypothesis, in which it must be based solely on if it fits the observe facts
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6
Q

outline values in the interpretation of data

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  • values again, like in choosing the aspect to study, become important when interpreting the collected data
  • facts need to be set in a theoretical framework so we can understand them in their significance + draw conclusions
  • Weber: our choice of theoretical framework/ perspective is influenced by our values - we must be explicit in spelling out our values so that others can see if unconscious bias is present in our interpretation of data
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7
Q

outline values and sociologists as a citizen

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  • research findings often have real effects on peoples lives, but sociologists + scientists tend to ignore the uses to which their work is put
  • they argue their job is just to conduct objective research + discover facts - its for the politicians/ public to decide what use to make of their findings
  • Weber rejects this view: scientists + soc are also humans + citizens, they mustn’t dodge moral + political issues their work raises by hiding behind words like objectivity - they must take moral responsibility for the harm their research can cause
  • e.g. Einstein’s theories helped make the atomic bomb possible - yet he also spoke out against nuclear weapons
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8
Q

outline the Modern Positivist view on use of values in sociology

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  • argues that their own values were irrelevant to their research due to;
    1) the desire to appear scientific
    2) the social position of sociology
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8
Q

outline committed sociology

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  • some positivists, such as Gouldner + Mydral, argue for a committed sociology - in which sociologists (S) shouldn’t only spell out their values (as Weber argues), they should also ‘take sides’ by involving themselves in the values + interests of a particular individual/ group
  • committed Ss argues that its neither possible/ desirable to keep values our of research
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8
Q

outline the Modern Positivist view of the social position of sociology

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  • Gouldner: by the 1950s, American sociologists has become mere ‘spiritless technicians’;
  • earlier in the century, sociology had been a critical discipline, often challenging accepted authority
  • by the 50s, sociologists were no longer ‘problem makers’ who defined their own research problems - they were ‘problem takers’ who were hired to take on + solve issues of organisations such as businesses + military
  • Goulder: by leaving their own values behind, sociologists were making a ‘gentleman’s promise’ that they wouldn’t rock the boat by criticising their payers
  • the view that sociologists own values are irrelevant is criticised by Weber when he said sociologists must take moral responsibility for the effects of their work
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8
Q

outline the Modern Positivist view of the desire to appear scientific

A
  • science is concerned with facts, not value - sociologists should remain morally neutral as their job is to establish the truth about people’s behaviour - not to judge it
  • critics: argue that this reflects the desire to make sociology respectable - science has a high prestige in modern society, so mimicking its ways would raise the subject’s status + earn respectability
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8
Q

outline Gouldner’s view of value-free sociology

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  • as a committed sociologist, Gouldner argues value-free sociology is;
    1) impossible: as whether the sociologist’s own values, or those of their payers, are bound to be reflected in their work
    2) undesirable: as without values to guide research, Ss are merely selling their services to the highest bidder
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9
Q

outline Howard Becker’s view on the use of values in sociology

A
  • Becker asks, ‘Whose side are we on?’
  • he argues values are always present in sociology, but traditionally, Positivists + Functionalists tend to they take the viewpoint of powerful groups - e.g. police, psychiatrists etc
  • B argues Ss should adopt the view of ‘underdogs’ - e.g. criminals, mental patients - as less is known about these groups + their stories need to be told to redress the balance, which can reveal a hidden side of social reality
  • the emphasis by Goffman for identifying + empathising with the powerless links to the research methods favoured by Interactionists (qualitative like participant observation) which reveal the meanings of ‘outsiders’
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9
Q

what is the debate surrounding taking sides

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  • if all sociology is influenced by values, this means a sociologist must inevitably take sides
  • by not choosing a side, the sociologist is taking the side of the more powerful against the less powerful
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9
Q

outline an example of Becker’s view on sociology

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  • by empathizing with a mental patient, we can reveal the hidden rationality of behaviours that the psychiatrist thinks of as irrational
  • the Interactionist, Goffman, argues that to describe the situation of the mental patient fully, we have to take their side - we must be biased in favour of the patient + against the psychiatrist
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10
Q

what is Gouldner’s opinion on Becker’s view

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  • Gouldner criticizes Becker for taking a romantic + sentimental approach to disadvantaged groups - Becker is only concerned with ‘outsiders’ - the misunderstood, negatively labelled, etc
  • Gouldner takes a Marxist perspective: Ss should take the side of those who are ‘fighting back’ - the political radicals struggling to change society
  • sociology shouldn’t confine itself to describing the viewpoint of the underdog - should be committed to ending oppression by unmasking how the powerful maintains their position
11
Q

outline funding in relation to values

A
  • most sociological research is funded by external bodies - e.g. Gov departments, businesses, voluntary organisations
  • the payer of the research can control its direction + questions asked and not asked
  • thus the S is likely to embody the values + interests of their paymasters - e.g. funding bodies can block publication of research if its findings are unacceptable
12
Q

outline careers in relation to values

A
  • Ss may wish to further their career + reputations, which can influence their choice of topic (topics of current relevancy), research questions + their interpretations of findings
  • some may censor themselves for fear that being too outspoken will harm their career prospects/ cost them their job
  • Gouldner: all research is inevitably influenced by values
13
Q

outline perspectives and methods

A
  • diff sociological perspectives can be seen as embodying diff assumptions + values about how society is/ should be
  • these assumptions + values influence the topics that Ss choose to research, the concepts they develop + conclusions they reach
  • e.g. Functionalists concludes that inequality is beneficial for society, whereas M concludes that it produces class based exploitation
  • also a link between Ss methods + their value-stance - e.g. Interactionists’ preference for qual methods fits with their desire to empathise with the underdog, as this method gives them intel into the actors meanings - they have selected methods that produces supporting evidence for their views
14
Q

outline 3 examples of different sociological perspectives

A
  • Feminism: sees society as based on gender inequality + promotes the rights of women
  • Functionalism: sees society as harmonious + espouses conservative values that favour the status quo
  • Marxism: sees society as conflict-ridden + strives for a classless society
15
Q

outline objectivity and realism

A
  • if all perspectives involve values, their findings are just a reflection of their values, rather than a true picture of society
  • there would be no way of deciding which theory is true - this idea is known as Relativism. which argues;
  • diff groups, cultures, individuals - including sociologists, have diff views of the truth as they see the world in their own way
  • there is no independent way of judging if a view is truer than any other
  • Relativism goes further to say that there is no absolute or objective truth - just multiple truths from different people + their views
16
Q

outline relativism and postmodernism

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  • Postmodernists take a relativist view of knowledge, by rejecting the idea that any account of the world is superior than any other - there are no ‘privileged accounts’ that have special access to the truth
  • any perspective that claims to have the truth, such as Marxism, is just a meta-narrative
  • all knowledge is based on values + assumptions and thus no perspective has any special claims to be true
16
Q

outline a criticism of the Postmodernist - Relativist view

A
  • the PM view that all sociology theories are meta-narratives and there is no one truth must apply to PM
  • this leads to the paradoxical conclusion that we shouldn’t believe what PM says either
  • relativism is self defeating - it claims to be telling us something true, whilst also telling us that no one can tell us what is true