theories and methods: sociology and science

Question 1

positivism

Answer 1

a philosophy that emphasizes objective observation and scientific methods to understand social phenomena

Question 2

positivists

Answer 2

believe that society can be studied logically using the methods of the natural sciences

Question 3

why do positivists believe so?

Answer 3

doing so will bring us true, objective knowledge which will provide the basis for solving social problems and progressing

Question 4

explain a key belief of the positivist approach

Answer 4

society is an objective factual reality since it is composed of social facts (e.g. values, norms, institutions) which shape people’s behaviour

Question 5

according to positivists, explain the characteristic of reality?

Answer 5

• reality is patterned not random, so sociologists can observe these empirical patterns and accumulate data
  -this enables sociologists to discover social laws through inductive reasoning

Question 6

inductive reasoning

Answer 6

the process of accumulating systematic data through careful observation and measurement to conclude social laws

Question 7

why does this characteristic of reality enable sociology to be viewed as a science

Answer 7

• it is the job of science to observe, identify, measure and record patterns systematically
• since positivists believe reality consists of observable patterns, sociology can be studied scientifically, thereby making it a science

Question 8

verificationism

Answer 8

the process of determining whether a theory is true or not
-this makes sociology a science because it emphasizes that theories must be tested and confirmed through empirical evidence

Question 9

what can patterns be explained by?

Answer 9

social laws
-e.g. sociology can explain that educational failure is caused by material deprivation (a social fact)

Question 10

why do positivists believe sociology should take the experimental method

Answer 10

it allows the researcher to test a hypothesis in the most systematic way

Question 11

what are social laws

Answer 11

generalizations that govern human behaviour and social interactions

Question 12

what qualities should researchers have?

Answer 12

-researchers must be detached and objective

Question 13

objectivity

Answer 13

the practice of being impartial, ensuring that personal biases do not influence research to maximize the reliability of research data

Question 14

what was Durkheim’s aim?

Answer 14

aimed to demonstrate that highly personal acts such as suicide are influenced by social factors

Question 15

what did Durkheim use in his study?

Answer 15

quantitative data from official statistics

Question 16

what did Durkheim find?

Answer 16

suicide rates were higher among Protestants compared to Catholics

Question 17

what social facts were responsible for this, explain how it led to the difference in suicide rates

Answer 17

• the levels of integration and regulation
  -the disparity was explained by the communal nature of the Catholic church which emphasized community and tradition thereby cultivating a stronger sense of social cohesion

Question 18

how did Durkheim’s study establish sociology’s status as a scientific discipline?

Answer 18

by using empirical data to analyse the correlations between suicide rates and social factors, he demonstrated that social behaviour can be studied systematically like the natural sciences

Question 19

evaluate Durkheim’s stance/study

Answer 19

-interpretivist sociologists argue human action is imbued with meaning
-this cannot be fully understood through objective observation
-Durkheim’s methods oversimplify complex individual’s experiences
-thereby reducing the insight and leading us to question whether sociology can actually be studied scientifically

Question 20

interpretivism and how do interpretivists view humans?

Answer 20

-a research approach that emphasizes understanding the meanings and interpretations that people give to their social world
-they are autonomous beings who construct their own social world

Question 21

what do interpretivists belief the study of sociology is?

Answer 21

studies people who have consciousness, unlike matter

Question 22

what did Mead argue

Answer 22

people have free will: rather than responding to external stimuli, human beings interpret the meaning of a stimulus and choose how to respond

Question 23

why methods do interpretivists use and why

Answer 23

-qualitative methods
-enables verstehen so sociologists can gain more insight behind human behaviour

Question 24

what methods do interactionists prefer and why?

Answer 24

-grounded theory as explained by Glaser and Strauss
-the researchers ideas’ can emerge during the course of the research and can focus on the participants’ subjective meanings than their hypothesis