theoretical methodology

Question 1

what is positivism

Answer 1

comte
1800’s
- social human behaviour should be researched by adopting the same principles applies to the natural sciences

• objective research to achieve objective truth

aim to find objective social facts free from interpretation and bias - natural science methods produce this

Question 2

positivism and social

Answer 2

believe that there’s causal laws that explains relationships between social phenomena

durkheim - used positivist methodology - social fact is a social phenomena that exists outside of an individual but can actually shape, change or constrain behaviour
- believed that in social world ‘real laws are discoverable’

Question 3

positivists and use of hypothesis

Answer 3

hypothetico-inductive method - researcher is finding information about world - as knowledge grows - sees a set of patterns - confirms theory into the form of a general law

hypothetico-deductive method - scientific approach - drawing up initial hypothesis and testing in order to falsify hypothesis through empirical and measurable evidence from systematic observation of data

Question 4

positivists and validity

Answer 4

use of detachments eg experiments, official stats - objective, value-freedom and quantitative data

Question 5

what is interpretivism

Answer 5

sociology cannot and should not be studied scientifically

sociology cannot be scientific - cannot apply predictive principles to studying human behaviour

Mead - human being interpret meaning of stimulus then choose how to respond

Question 6

interpretivism and verstehen

Answer 6

interpretivist methodollogy - researcher in place of group being researched

weber - verstehen - important for the researcher to put themselves in the shoes of those being studied

provide researcher with clear understanding of what motivates behaviours

Question 7

interpretivism and reliability and validity

Answer 7

research usually on small scale and cannot be generalised
reliability low

high in validity - qualitative data, observing behaviour first hand, depth and quality of data, verstehen

Question 8

feminist methodology

Answer 8

should not be studied scientifically - mainstream sociology - male stream - researching only men, ignoring women’s issues, neglecting sex and gender as variables

radical feminists - men and women have different experiences and construct their knowledge from different starting points

feminists - official stats - represent state patriarchy

elchler - non-sexist research methods - sexism can appear directly or indirectly - androcentricity - overgeneralisation - gender insensitivity - language of research

ann oakely - feminist approach to interviewing - willing to answer questions and provide helpful information

Question 9

realist methodology

Answer 9

can be studied scientifically

keat & urry and sayer - similarities between sociology and natural sciences - made up of open and closed systems

closed systems - researcher can control all the relevant variables - create precise predictions - lab experiments

open systems - cannot control and measure all variables eg weather - used where processes are too complex to make accurate predicts of behaviour - too many variables involved

Question 10

realism and science

Answer 10

we may not be able to directly observe and measure sociological concepts such as false-consciousness and anomie

science can be used to study unobservable phenomena

realists attempt to use the natural sciences and the social sciences to explain underlying causes of events by looking into structures and processes