Value Freedom Flashcards
Is it possible and is it desirable for sociology to be value free? (introduction)
All members of society- including sociologists- have values, beliefs and opinions. Some argue that it is both possible and desirable for sociologists to keep their subjective values out of research. Others argue that staying value neutral is impossible, because sociologists are humans studying other humans. Some argue that it is desirable for sociologists to use their values to improve society.
The classical sociologists and values
For the early positivists Comte and Durkheim, sociology’s job was to discover the truth about how society worked and to improve human life. Sociologists would be able to say with scientific certainty what was best for society. Marx too saw himself as a scientist. He believed that he had discovered the truth about society’s future and the inevitability of classless society.
How does Weber distinguish between value judgements and facts?
Weber distinguishes between value judgements and facts. He argues that a value can neither be proved nor disproved by the facts- they belong to different realms. However, he still sees an essential role for values in sociological research.
What four roles does values have in sociological research according to Weber?
- Values as a guide to research: we can only select areas of study in terms of their relevance to us. For example, feminists value gender equality which leads them to study areas such as women’s oppression.
- Data collection and hypothesis testing: sociologists must be as objective as possible when actually collecting the facts (e.g. not ask leading questions)
- Values in the interpretation of data: facts need to be set in a theoretical framework to understand their significance. This is influenced by the sociologist’s values, which must therefore be stated explicitly
- Values and the sociologist as a citizen: scientists and sociologists are also citizens. They cannot avoid the moral issues their work raises or the uses it is put to by hiding behind value freedom.
What does Weber conclude from analysing the four roles of research?
Weber thus sees values as relevant when choosing what to research, when interpreting data, and in the use the findings are put to- but they must be kept out of the general process of gathering data.
Sociology cannot tell us what values or goals we should hold
But it can tell us what means we should adopt if we want to achieve certain goals that we value, and the consequences of holding those values.
Value freedom and commitment for 20th century positivists
20th century positivists argue that their own values were irrelevant to their research because science is concerned with matters of fact, not value, so sociologists should remain morally neutral.
What are Gouldner’s view towards values and sociology?
Gouldner argues that by the 1950’s, American sociologists in particular had become mere ‘spiritless technicians’ hiring themselves out to organisations such as government and the military. For Gouldner, they were dodging the moral issues that their work raised, e.g. in helping to prevent revolutions in South America.
Committed Sociology
Myrdal and Gouldner argue that sociologists should not only identify their values. They should also openly ‘take sides’, espousing the interests of actual groups. It is undesirable to be value-neutral since, without values to guide research, sociologists are merely putting their services up for sale.
Whose side are we on?
The interactionist Becker asks: if all sociology is influenced by values, ‘Whose side are we on?’
Traditionally, functionalists and positivists have taken the viewpoint of the powerful : police, psychiatrists etc. Where as Becker argues we should take the side of the underdog: criminals, mental patients etc.
Identifying with the powerless links to the methods interactionists favour, e.g. PO, which they see as revealing the meanings of these outsiders. Gouldner adopts a Marxist perspective, arguing that it is not enough to describe the underdog’s life- sociologist’s should be committed to ending their oppression. According to Gouldner, we should not be celebrating ‘the man on his back’, we should be supporting ‘the man fighting back’. He therefore criticises Becker for romanticising underdogs as misunderstood, negatively labelled, ‘exotic specimens’ of deviant behaviour.
Funding and Carers
Most research is funded by government, businesses etc., and who pays for research may control its direction and the questions it asks.
Funding bodies may prevent publication of the research if its findings prove unacceptable
Sociologists may want to further their careers. This may influence their choice of topic.
They may censor themselves for fear of harming their career.
Values, perspectives and methods
For Gouldner, all research is inevitably influenced by values. Values influence the topics that sociologists of different perspectives choose, the concepts they develop and the conclusions they reach.
Sociologists values influence choice of methods; e.g. Becker’s support for the underdog leads him to choose qualitative methods to reveal the underdog’s world. Functionalists make uncritical use of official statistics because they tend to take the side of the ‘establishment’.
Objectivity and relativism
If all perspectives involve values, are their findings just a reflection of their values, not objective facts? Relativism argues that: different groups and individuals have different views as to what is true and these reflect their own values and interests. There is no way of judging whether any view is truer than any other
Relativism and Postmodernism
Postmodernists take a relativist view- there are no ‘privileged accounts’ of society that have special access to the truth. From a relativist standpoint, there is no single absolute or objective truth. What you believe to be true, is true only for you.
Any perspective claiming that to have the truth is just a meta narrative or ‘big story’ based on values and assumptions.
Criticisms of postmodernism
Critics argue that postmodernism is itself a meta narrative about what society is like- and so we shouldn’t believe what postmodernism says either.
