Theories Topic 5 : Methodology

Question 1

Positivists about society

Answer 1

There are social facts independent of the individual which constrain / determine behaviour
= behaviour is a reaction to external forces (institutions)

They believe that social behaviour can be measured / explained OBJECTIVELY

They believe we can and should use the same methods used in natural sciences

Question 2

Hypothetical-deductive model

Answer 2

(Positivists approach)

An approach to research that begins with a theory and derives testable hypotheses from it

Begins with general assumptions / ideas and works from them to develop more particular statements

The hypotheses are then tested by analysing data and the theory is then either supported or refuted by the results

Question 3

Positivists and quantitative data + benefits

Answer 3

Positivist research involves macro research on large numbers of people
= associated with structural theories

Quantitative methods:
Official statistics
Experiments
Comparative method
Surveys
Structured questionnaires
Formal / structured interviews
Non-participant observation

Benefits of quantitative data:
Representative - can be generalised to whole of society
Reliable - research can be replicated by other researchers
Objective methods (value free) - no influence on findings
Establishes a cause-and-effect relationship of human behaviour, and predict possible future scenarios

Question 4

Comte - founder of sociology

Answer 4

Sociology should be treated as a science and should use the same methodology

External forces affect behaviour in society (cause and effect)

Behaviour must be observed in a measurable way - free from bias and value

Question 5

Durkheim - another founder of sociology

Answer 5

Social facts should be treated in the same way as natural world factors
= they exist EXTERNAL to us and influence us on a daily basis

They can be quantified and measured

Question 6

Durkheim - study of suicide

Answer 6

Examined suicide rates across Europe - he found rates were constant + certain groups in society were more affected (Protestants, unmarried, married without children)

WHY? - integration
= Durkheim believed that his research PROVED that scientific methodology was appropriate for the study of society because it shows cause and effect relationships

Question 7

Strengths of positivist approaches

Answer 7

Can establish cause and effect relationships between events

Produce quantitative data which is more objective

Preferred by governments to advise on social policy, as macro scale research allows for generalisations of different groups

Reliability - can be replicated and results are checked

Question 8

Criticisms of positivist approaches

Answer 8

Interpretivists - suggest their methods don’t produce a valid account of society

They give little opportunity for people to explain what they think and feel

Detachment of the researcher means they don’t develop the empathy needed to understand the meanings people hold

Statistics are social constructs created by the questions positivists created themselves
= EG suicide stats are a just record of coroners’
decision-making in classifying unexplained deaths

Question 9

Interpretivists, their view on society and qualitative data

Answer 9

Understanding meanings that individuals give to situations - using scientific methodology is inappropriate (society is different from the natural world)
= peoples meanings cannot be measured by quantitative methods

They adopt an inductive approach to form theories (rather than the hypothetico-deductive model)

Inductive approach - begins with a set of observations, seeking patterns in those observations, and then theorising those patterns

Question 10

Interpretivists + examples of qualitative data

Why do they prefer to use qualitative methods

Answer 10

Personal documents - diaries
Unstructured questionnaires
Unstructured interviews, focus groups / group interviews
Small scale studies
Participant observations

WHY?
Researchers should adopt VERSTEHEN (Weber)
= this is the best way to understand motives behind actions

Qualitative methods give an indepth description of meanings and values of people

The only way to gather a valid understanding of society

Question 11

Examples of interpretivist research (AO2)

Answer 11

Learning to Labour (Paul Willis)

Hippie marijuana users (Jock Young)

Question 12

Interpretivism and suicide

Answer 12

Douglas - interactionist approach - interested in meanings behind suicide and the way coroners label deaths as suicide

Suicide stats are a social construct - decision to classify a death as suicide is taken by a coroner and influenced by other social factors - produces bias in decision

Douglas - suicide verdicts are the product of negotiations between those involved (family, police) and factors such as integration influence these negotiations

Also rejects durkheim’s aim to categorise suicides in terms of their social causes - instead we must classify the death according to its actual meaning for the deceased (through qualitative methods)

Question 13

Strengths of interpretivist approach

Answer 13

Higher validity - they uncover meanings and motivations behind peoples actions

Produce qualitative data which reveals hidden meanings

Gains an insight into hard-to-reach groups

Question 14

Criticisms of interpretivist approach

Answer 14

Positivists - interpretivist methods lack reliability and are of subjective nature

Positivists - interpretivist research depends on the researcher’s own interpretations of the meanings / answers people have

Close involvement of the researcher - findings are invalid because of interviewer bias (lacks objectivity)

Hawthorne effect may change participant behaviour

Small scale nature of methods means it’s unrepresentative

Question 15

Feminist methodology : male stream research examples

Answer 15

Female police officers wear stab vests that are designed for the male body

11% of participants in studies to find a cure for HIV are female

Question 16

How do feminists criticise positivist research?

Answer 16

Excludes women / issues of concern for women:
Mies - positivist research produces a male view of life and ignores experiences of women (EG when examining work, unpaid domestic work is ignored)

Treats women as extensions of men:
The findings from research on men are generalised to women, despite the differences and inequalities women face

Uses male stream methods to research experiences of women:
EG structured interviews - detachment is an aspect of power relationships which are a feature of male stream sociology
Oakley - women cannot open up

Question 17

Why are feminists more aligned with interpretivist methods when researching the lives of women?

Answer 17

Verstehen is needed to explore women’s lives

Unstructured, informal interviews - provides valid, in-depth accounts of women’s lives

Encourages them to open up (as the researcher isn’t dominating)

Question 18

Feminist methodology - Anne Oakley AO2

Answer 18

Studied first time motherhood and the experience of being a mother

Used unstructured interviews - equal relationship

Oakley shared her own experiences of motherhood to relate to the participants
= this helped them feel at ease, which drew out their feelings

Produced valid and detailed data about their lives

Question 19

Mies - feminist methodology must have what 7 things

Answer 19

Conscious partiality - researchers should positively identify with women they study

View from below - researcher must understand the women, not be above them

Action research - researcher should be active in women’s struggle

Changing status quo - challenging patriarchy, getting involved

Raising consciousness

Individual and social history

Collectivising experience - women must work together

Question 20

Postmodernist methodology

Answer 20

Sociological research is a social construct

Society - fluid, no single reality - world is ambiguous, no subcultures, no social roles
= cannot create order when none exists

Objectivity is a myth

Relativism - everything is in relation to time, space and culture
= there is no absolute truth - we see things through our own lens

Defamiliarisation - we should see the social world as fragmented, fluid and irrational

No one person is right

Question 21

Who says sociology SHOULD be value free

Answer 21

Comte and Durkheim

Objectivity is key - more valid

These facts can then influence social policy

Question 22

Sociology CAN be value-free

Answer 22

Positivists
Society is made up of social facts that exist independently to us and can be separated from the values of the researcher

They can be studied in the same objective way as natural sciences are

Quantitative data, hypothetico-deductive method to test theories

Durkheim did this in his study of suicide / Marx did this in his studies of capitalism
= AO3 - but didn’t they have values?

Question 23

Sociology CANNOT be value-free

Answer 23

Interpretivists favour qualitative methods to research society - their research is open to interpretation and is subjective

Values allow interpretivists to gain insight into the rationale behind behaviour

Weber - rejects value freedom:
Sociologists are human and they must not avoid the moral issues their work raises

Values are RELEVANT - when choosing what to research, when interpreting data etc.
= however, values must be kept out of the actual process of gathering data

Research is based on the researcher’s assumptions – so how can it be value free?
= Marxists see society as unfairly divided and see social change as necessary – their methods will try to prove this

The ASSUMPTIONS of all sociologists – which are subjective – guide their selection of topic, the questions to be asked, the research methods used

Question 24

Sociology SHOULD NOT be value-free, even if it were possible

Gouldner

Answer 24

Gouldner - sociologists should not try to be value-free, but value committed.
= They have a responsibility to improve the lives of others, especially those oppressed.

1950s - sociologists had started to ‘hire themselves out’ to govts to take on and solve their problems
= began working without values – selling themselves to protect their careers

Gouldner - by leaving their own values behind, sociologists were making a promise that they would not criticise their paymasters.

Because sociologists were simply hired, they saw their own values as irrelevant to their work

Question 25

Sociology SHOULD NOT be value-free, even if it were possible

Becker

Answer 25

Becker - sociology is influenced by values and this drives sociologists to take sides

Becker - sociology has a responsibility to support the underdog – the criminal, the mental health patient etc.
= little is known about these groups and a new dimension of social reality can be uncovered

This is achieved by identifying WITH them through using qualitative methods which can reveal the meanings of these marginalised groups.

Question 26

Postmodernists : it is impossible for sociology to be value free

Answer 26

Lyotard and Baudrillard - the value-freedom debate simply reflects the values of competing sociologists

Contemporary society, metanarratives are no longer valid - the researcher and participants will have individual narratives and hence subjective opinions that need to be heard

Remaining value-free is not desirable as it does not allow for the different viewpoints to be presented through research.

Question 27

What do positivists say about sociology being a science?

Answer 27

Sociology IS a science and SHOULD be

Comte - behaviour is governed by laws of cause and effect in the same way as the natural world

Social facts constrain behaviour (EG class is a social fact - it shapes the way you act)

Human behaviour is a response to observable social facts, and can be explained in terms of cause-and-effect relationships

Research should focus on the social causes of events (EG durkheim’s suicide study)

Focus of sociology is to study social institutions as society shapes the individual

Question 28

Evaluation of the positivist view that sociology is a science

Answer 28

You cannot predict human behaviour

Artificiality - sociology wants to study society in its normal state - not in labs

Ethical issues - humans don’t want to be observed in labs

Hawthorne effect - the presence of a researcher means participant behaviour may change

Validity - can we trust the answers given to us by people

Empirical observation - not all social phenomena are observable and quantifiable - eg the meanings people have for their behaviour

Question 29

What do interpretivists say about sociology being a science?

Answer 29

Humans DON’T respond to external forces
= instead people interpret situations before responding

It is IMPOSSIBLE to predict human behaviour / establish cause-and-effect relationships through quantitative data

We must discover the meanings people give to situations through Verstehen (through qualitative data)

Social facts are social constructions - they have no reality outside the meaning given to them by people

Objectivity is not possible - values are involved and they form part of the research process

Question 30

AO3 of interpretivist view of sociology not being a science

Answer 30

Their research lacks reliability and is too small scale to provide solutions to social problems

Question 31

What do realists say about sociology being a science?

Answer 31

Sociology IS a science

Sayer - there are 2 types of science:
Closed system (limited number of controlled variables - positivists like this)
Open system (things we can’t see directly [underlying structures] like meteorology)

Sayer - sociology can be scientific in an open system not a closed system
= in an open system we are unable to predict how what we study is going to behave, but we can try
= we can’t see structures like class, but we can discover them by their effects (observing lifestyles or looking for patterns)

Question 32

Realist examples of sociology as a science in an open system

Answer 32

Sociologists cannot predict that crime rates with increase, but they can explore its impact on society

Sociologists cannot directly explore material deprivation (we can’t tangibly see class structure) but they can explore its effect on educational achievement

Question 33

How do realists criticise positivists and interpretivists ?

Answer 33

Criticise interpretivists who argue we can’t predict human behaviour and shouldn’t copy natural scientific methods

Criticise positivists who argue we MUST observe social causes of human behaviour

Realists - the open system of society shows we can observe the unobservable by exploring its effects on society
= human behaviour takes place in open systems - we can’t entirely predict it but we can explain it in terms of underlying structures

So, sociology is scientific as it explores society through an open system, which the natural sciences do too

Question 34

AO3 of realist view on sociology as a science

Answer 34

Positivists - science is only concerned with observable phenomena (using a closed system). You must be able to control the variables

Question 35

Popper

Answer 35

Sociology is NOT a science (now) but CAN be (in the future)

Instead of trying to prove theories, scientists should falsify theories using the hyptheico-deductive method

Question 36

Why is sociology not a science NOW according to Popper

Answer 36

Sociological theories cannot be falsified

For a theory to be falsified, it must operate in an open belief system (open to criticism)
= Marxism and feminism are closed belief systems so can’t operate in a science

Sociology can only be a science if it produces a hypothesis that could be falsified through empirical research

Question 37

AO3 of popper

Answer 37

The inductive method is better as it allows for questions and answers to be achieved that the hypothetico-deductive method may not produce
= open to many interpretations of evidence

Other sociologists utilise the principle of falsification as part of the hypothetico-deductive model
= EG Rosenthal and Jacobson

Question 38

What does Kuhn say about sociology being a science?

Answer 38

Sociology is NOT a science but CAN be

Science operates in its own paradigm (a framework of concepts which states how the natural world operates)

Sociology doesn’t operate in one single paradigm as natural sciences do
= there are many theories adopted by sociologists and all have distinct views of society

History of natural sciences - has gone through a series of paradigm shifts (old thinking replaced by new thinking)

Sociology can only be scientific if these different views didn’t exist
= each view has their own paradigm which is highly subjective

Sociology must be objective in order to be scientific. There must be one single ideology
= conclusion: sociology is pre-paradigmatic

Question 39

AO3 of Kuhn

Answer 39

Having multiple paradigms is a consistent feature of the scientific world and this approach gives sociology and advantage in trying to systematically analyse human behaviour

Question 40

What question would social constructionists pose

Answer 40

Is science even a science?

Kaplan: scientists do not always follow formal methods when conducting research
= calls this ‘logic in use’ - there is no guarantee that they actually follow the rules of science they may claim to support

AO2:
1998 - Editor of British medical journal said that only 5% of articles reached minimum standards of scientific soundness
= many scientists just re-run experiments until the desired result is obtained

Use social constructionists to criticise positivists’ objective argument - because not even science is objective (a research institution funded by government wont produce research that will contradict government’s position)

Question 41

Postmodernist view on sociology as a science

Answer 41

Science is a metanarrative - tries to explain everything

Science has failed and created many problems - sociology shouldn’t follow this

Research itself is a social construction

It is pointless trying to find the causes of behaviour - CAGE has diminished in importance. Society is chaotic - you can’t observe and quantify it like positivists say

Claims of objectivity / value freedom are just their ways of trying to say their view is superior