Subjectivity, objectivity and value freedom. Flashcards
What is Ontology ?
The philosophical study of human existence.
What are 2 facts of ontology ?
Are there social facts out there to be discovered ? Are there only social constructs ?
What is Epistemology ?
The philosophy of knowledge.
What are epistemologists interested in ?
How and whether we know things.
What are the two things at the heart of the debate between positivism and interpretivism ?
Social facts and social constructs.
What do positivists believe ?
That it is possible to establish social facts through objective research and scientific research ?
What do interpretivists believe ?
That whilst facts about human behaviour cannot be established, subjective interpretations of behaviour can take place.
What is phenomenology ?
Is developed around symbolic interactionism and the idea that society is made up by people, not the other way around.
What do phenomenologists believe that social phenomena are ?
Social constructs.
What is an example of phenomenologists ?
Atkinson’s study of suicide - concluded that suicide is not a social fact but a conclusion reached by a coroner who had to collect various pieces of evidence to reach their conclusion.
What type of research do phenomenologists use and why ?
Qualitative research as it has strong validity and offers verstehen (to understand) rather than focusing on reliability and trying to generalise society.
What do positivists believe about sociology ?
That it can establish social facts concepts and institutions in society that are both objectively and scientifically reliable.
What must a researcher have to do in order to be objective ?
Not let personal bias / views / values to get in the way of their research, analysis or findings.
What do some question about some believing sociology to be objective ?
it cannot be entirely objective as researchers values and views are likely to affect their choice of topic.
What did Weber argue ?
That sociologists should consider the subjective views of their subjects but that they should keep their research, analysis and conclusion objective.
What do postmodernists argue about objectivity ?
That it is impossible at all stages of research and that all research ends up being subjective.
What do many sociologists argue that sociology needs to be (objectivity and subjectivity) ?
That research needs to be objective.
What are interpretivist sociologists interested in when they are doing their research and why ?
The subjective and interpretations of their subjects.
What do interpretivist sociologists believe about social facts ?
That it is impossible to objectively establish social facts.
What is reflexivity ?
The act of researchers constantly reflecting the extent to which their are impacting on their research and findings.
What do some interpretivists and postmodernists believe / argue about reflexivity ?
That researchers are not able to be entirely objective because they are as much a part of society as the subjects of the research.
They believe that the researcher should acknowledge their bias and values that could influence their interpretations and analysis.
What is value freedom ?
The ability of researchers to keep their own opinions / personal biases out of their research.
What do positivists believe that sociology should be in terms of value freedom ?
That it should all be value free at all stages (entirely objective)
What is the balancing act of Weber’s theory ?
The idea that subjects have values and so their subjective views should be heard, however the researchers personal views should be kept out of their research and analysis as it is not their role to make judgements about their subjects.
