THEORETICAL DEBATES - Sociology as a Science Flashcards
What approach was Auguste Comte the pioneer of?
THE POSITIVIST APPROACH - He is the Founding Father of sociology and believe that sociology could be studied in the same way was the natural sciences.
What sociologist came up with the idea of Social Facts/Social Laws?
Emile Durkheim!
What are Social Facts/Social Laws?
The values, beliefs and institutions that underpin a society. These can be used to establish relationships (correlation and/or causation) between different variables.
What are the 5 components of science?
- Empiricism (based on factual evidence)
- Testable (reliable and repeatable)
- Theoretical (you can formulate a hypothesis)
- Cumulative (you can add to the data and body of information with your experiments)
- Objective
What do positivists say about sociology being considered a science? HINT: Think about Durkheim!
Sociology can and should be considered a science - Society has patterns and these can be observed and used to create social facts, which can be used to collect data and form a conclusion/a hypothesis.
What did Durkheim study when looking and researching his idea about social facts?
He studied suicide
Explain Durkheim’s study of suicide
Durkheim looked at people’s behaviour and ‘social facts’ in order to predict who is more or less likely to commit suicide –> The Room Analogy (we can predict a person’s behaviour based on their age, class, gender, ethnicity etc)
What do Interpretivists say about sociology being considered a science?
They say that sociology cannot and should not be considered a science.
Explain Interpretivists’ arguments regarding Sociology being considered a Science.
They say that, because humans are conscious beings that have agency, our actions are not reliable and we cannot predict human’s behaviour everyday. There are also too many variables with a person’s behaviour (causality - you may be unable to find a link between the cause of something and its effect)
What sociologist argues that Sociology is not a Science now, but it could be?
Popper!
What does Popper try to explain in his argument? HINT: One word!
Falsification!
Explain Popper’s Falsification argument.
Popper said that science must be falsifiable = This means that sociology is not a science right now, but it could be at a later stage; for example, when review boards try to falsify and challenge your data and it fails, this helps to reinforce your data.
Explain Popper’s ‘Swan Analogy’.
If you had a hypothesis that “all swans are white” you would find more and more supporting evidence with every white swan you found. But the critical evidence is the black swan that proves your hypothesis incorrect. ‘All swans are white’ - To falsify this, you need to go out and look for a black swan; do not count the white swans. If you do not find the black swan and you do not falsify your data, your data is verified = Inductive Reasoning whereas science should be based on deductive reasoning.
What is Deductive Reasoning?
Proving a hypothesis right or wrong; not looking to criticise it.
What was Kuhn’s argument regarding Sociology being considered a Science?
Sociology could be considered a science; at the moment, sociology is pre-scientific.
