YR2 DEBATE: sociology / science Flashcards
In the sociology / science debate, how many perspectives do we look at? Who are they?
5
-Positivists
-Interpretivists
-Karl Popper - Falsificationism
-Thomas Kuhn - Paradigm Shifts
-Realists
What does each perspective argue? Scientific / not scientific ?
Positivists - YES can be a science
Realists - YES can be a science
Interpretivists - NO cant be a science
Karl popper - NO cant be a science
Thomas Kuhn - NO cant be a science
Summarise the positivists main points for why sociology can be a science
-sees the world as full of testable realities
-can use verificationism to test their beliefs
-use quantitative methods to gather empirical data, similar to science
What is verificationism?
collecting data to prove your theories right
give an example of a positivist sociologist
Durkheim
Summarise the Interpretivists main points for why sociology cannot be a science
-sociology should focus on understanding the subjective meanings + motives behind human actions
-it studies people who have free will + consciousness + attach personal meanings to things.
-humans respond in different ways and thus society is different to natural sciences
give an example of an interpretivist sociologist
Mead
what concept does Karl Popper introduce and what does it mean?
falsificationism - collecting data to attempt to prove theories wrong
summarise karl popper’s main points for why sociology is not a science
-criticises the positivists reliance on verificationism + introduces falsificationism
-for a theory to be scientific, it must be testable + falsifiable
- thus not suited for sociology - EG we cannot properly put Marxism up to the test.
what is a paradigm ?
a framework of principles, ideas + methods that govern a community. EG: scientists have a shared agreement about the nature of gravity = paradigm
summarise Thomas Kuhn’s main points for why sociology is not a science
-science evolves through revolutionary changes in fundamental changes : paradigm shifts.
-for example, scientists have a shared agreement about the nature of gravity = accepted paradigm
-sociology is in a pre-science stage, lacking a unified paradigm
-Sociology can’t be recognised as a science as it has so many competing perspectives
What two types of systems do realists distinguish between?
open + closed systems
Define open and closed systems in terms of the sociology / science debate.
OPEN system - where variables CANNOT be controlled and precise predictions CANNOT be made
CLOSED system - where variables CAN be controlled and precise predictions CAN be made
give an example of a closed system , unrelated to sociology.
a meteorologist cannot normally predict the weather 100%, but it is still scientific.
summarise the realists main points for why sociology can be a science
-sociology can be scientific by focusing on the underlying structures + processes that govern social phenomena, even if not directly observable.
-science does study unobservable stuff like the inner workings of a black hole. This is not a barrier for the scientific community, so why cant sociology be a science?
