Sociology as a science

Question 1

Which two methods should be considered when looking at the debate of soc as a science?

Answer 1

Positivism and Interpretivism

Question 2

Which positivist looks at scientific knowledge?

Answer 2

Karl Popper

Question 3

How did popper distinguish between the two?

Answer 3

Defined scientific knowledge as that which can be ‘falsified’
> what knowledge or scientific facts are created today may be disproven tomorrow

Question 3

What did Popper want to do?

Answer 3

Distinguish the difference between the common sense and religious knowledge with that of scientific knowledge

Question 4

What does falsification mean for scientific knowledge?

Answer 4

All scientific knowledge is only temporary, those that can withstand vigorous falsification will be a lot closer to the truth
- can only occur when precise predictions are made

Question 5

Who defines scientific methods by paradigms and scientific revolution?

Answer 5

Kuhn

Question 6

What do paradigms do?

Answer 6

Forms the framework in which all future scientific research is conducted, a blueprint in which to hold methods and research against
- any info or data from outside of it will be dismissed until there’s too much to ignore leading to a scientific revolution

Question 7

What does Kuhn’s approach assume?

Answer 7

Sociology is pre-scientific as there’s many paradigms that shape the interest of the research
EG: Marxism, functionalism and feminism
- not desirable for soc to reach this goal as its the debate between such perspectives that forms the foundations of what’s soc

Question 8

Why is Kuhn criticised?

Answer 8

Anderson and 2 others argue he underestimates the disagreement which occurs between scientists and question Kuhn’s relevance to sociology

Question 9

What did Durkheim do?

Answer 9

Published Le suicide in 1897
- presented a sociological study of suicide, concluded suicide can have origins in social causes
- shown individuals aren’t 100% free, patterns of behavior can be predicted thus studied as a science

Question 10

What were the typologies of suicide?

Answer 10

• Anomic
• Altruistic
• Egoistic
• Fatalistic

Question 11

What is meant by Anomic suicide?

Answer 11

An extreme response by a person experiencing anomie
- sense of disconnection and a feeling of not belonging resulting from weakened social cohesion

Question 12

When does altruistic suicide occur?

Answer 12

When people are so strongly integrated into social experiences and society itself that they will commit suicide in an effort to achieve collective goals

Question 13

What is meant by altruistic suicide?

Answer 13

Often a result of excessive regulation of individual by social forces that a person may be moved to suicide for the benefit of a cause or for society at large
EG: Japanese kamikaze pilots of WW2

Question 14

When does anomic suicide occur?

Answer 14

During periods of serious social, economic or political upheaval resulting in quick and extreme changes to society and everyday life

Question 15

What is meant by egoistic suicide?

Answer 15

A profound response executed by people who feel totally detached from society
- people are typically integrated into society by work roles, family ties, community and other social roles
- when these roles are weakened through retirement or loss of family and friends, the likelihood of egoistic suicide increases

Question 16

What is meant by fatalistic suicide?

Answer 16

Occurs under conditions of extreme social regulation resulting in oppressive conditions and a denial of the self and of agency
- a person may elect to die rather than continuing to endure oppression

Question 17

Who looked at logics?

Answer 17

Kaplan

Question 18

What did Kaplan do?

Answer 18

Distinguished between reconstructed logics and logics in use
- reconstructed logics are the methods in which scientists claim to be using
- Logics in use are the actual methods used

Question 19

Who supports Kaplans point?

Answer 19

Michael Lynch

Question 20

What did michael lynch do?

Answer 20

Observed scientists studying rat brains
- They ignored slides that contradicted their theories, dismissing them as procedure errors

Question 21

What does this point about logics mean for science?

Answer 21

Cannot obtain any objectivity and in practice is manifested by careful selection of which data confirms their theories
> even scientists cannot be objective

Question 22

How does the interpretivist approach affect the method they use?

Answer 22

Use qualitative methods as they provide greater, in depth info about the meaning such actors create on their behavior

Question 22

What are the different branches to interpretivist thought?

Answer 22

• Weber
• Symbolic interactionism
• Phenomenology
• Ethnomethodology

Question 22

What is the interpretivist approach to sociology as a science?

Answer 22

Sociology isnt a science, very different from natural science
- sociologists study human beings which move and think freely compared to scientists that study inanimate objects

Question 22

Why is verstehen key according to weber?

Answer 22

• Helps to uncover personal meanings and motives individuals give to their own actions
• Crucial to understanding how social structures changed over time

Question 23

Whats weber’s view to sociology as a science?

Answer 23

Sees sociology as the study of social action
- Requires verstehen (empathy/understanding) to understand why people behave in particular ways

Question 23

What’s an example of weber and verstehen?

Answer 23

In his study of The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism
- attempted to understand why Calvinists reinvested their money and became early capitalists

Question 23

What did weber believe?

Answer 23

Could make generalizations about types of motive people had and that these general motivations were influenced by the wider society
- half way between structure and action theory

Question 24

What is phenomenology?

Answer 24

Studies the structures of conscious experience from a 1st person pov
- stems from idea that someones perception of reality is constructed
- requires a conscious mind

Question 25

Who was the founder of phenomenology?

Answer 25

Edmund Husserl

Question 26

What did Husserl argue?

Answer 26

To answer the question of how we can appreciate phenomena in the world, we need to understand the experience of consciousness

Question 27

What’s a study for phenomenology?

Answer 27

Douglas studied concepts of suicide and found that there were different motivations for committing suicide
- suggests the purpose of comitting suicide is determined via conscious mind

Question 28

What is an ethnomethodology based around?

Answer 28

• Society is considered a social construct on an individual basis - cannot be studied objectivity
• sociologist job to uncover the ‘rules’ in everyday interactions that people unknowingly use to construct their reality

Question 29

Who talks about the etcetera principle?

Answer 29

Garfinkle

Question 30

What is the etcetera principle?

Answer 30

Process by which information can be skipped over in conversations

Question 31

What else does Garfinkle discuss?

Answer 31

The benefits a ‘shared identity’ brings to a conversation and the relative value of indexicality (ability to draw meaning from the context in which people are placed)
- verbal interaction (primary method) is a means of constructing your world

Question 32

Who talks about indexicality?

Answer 32

Turner

Question 33

How does Turner describe indexicality?

Answer 33

Hearer’s ability to make out what is meant from what is said

Question 34

Whose study supports indexicality?

Answer 34

Atkinson’s study of coroner’s reports (suicide) supports the idea of indexicality as suicide were identification using the coroners own construction of reality

Question 35

What do interactionists say?

Answer 35

Becker argues we should take the side of the underdog (criminals, mental patients etc)
- opposed to functionalists and positivists viewpoint of the powerful (police etc)

Question 36

How does the interactionist viewpoint link to their methods used?

Answer 36

Often favour methods like Participant Observation due to identifying with the powerless

Question 37

Who criticizes Becker?

Answer 37

Gouldner

Question 37

What does Goulder say?

Answer 37

Criticizes romanticizing underdogs and instead takes a Marxist perspective
- argued that its not enough to describe the underdog’s life
- sociologists should be committed to ending their oppression
- shouldn’t be celebrating ‘the man on his back’, we should be supporting ‘the man fighting back’

Question 38

What did Giddens develop as middle ground?

Answer 38

An approach that combines both structural (positivist) and social action (interpretivist)
- Called Structuration theory

Question 39

What does Giddens recognise?

Answer 39

The influences that structures have on individuals whilst understanding the meanings in which they attach to them and their choice of accepting or rejecting an institution
- sociologists must understand the motivations/actions of individuals before understanding how structures exist