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Positivism
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- 1What does positivism refer to ?a particular set of assumptions about how the social world or society is organised and the appropriate ways of studying it
- 2positivists are very influenced by what ??the natural sciences
- 3positivists argue that we should treat people as ???objects
- 4peoples behaviour can be directly observed, measured and counted in the same way as what ??natural phenomena such as animals, weather, volcanos and chemicals etc
- 5they therefore believe that just as there is natural laws governing the behaviour of these natural phenomena so there are social forces or laws which DURKHEIM called what ??social facts
- 6what do these social facts do ??shape and determine the social actions of peop;e, particularly with regard to our everyday experiences and life chances
- 7such laws/facts are the product of what ??of the organisation of the society in which we live
- 8the organisation of society is called what ?the social structure
- 9positivists argue that the social structure of particular societies produce social forces or laws over which people have ???little or no control
- 10From a positivists perspective, free will, indivdualism and the ability to make choices are less influential than what to shape human behaviour ??less influential than societies ability
- 11an example that society has more abiltiy to shape human behaviour is that individuals are born, take their place in society and then die but society does what ?continues on, largely undisturbed by the majority of these people's existence
- 12according to positivists individual behaviour is the product of what ??of social forces beyond the individuals control and understanding
- 13all social actions are the outcome of the way societies are ....organised
- 14positivists regard individuals as ???'the puppets of society'
- 15their behaviour is only important as part of a ???wider collective whole
- 16this means groups of people behave in very similar or _______ ways as a result of the social structurepatterned
- 17trends in human behaviour can clearly be seen and catalogued - human behaviour is therefore what ??predictable
- 18positivists take a what approach ?macro approach
- 19positivists are not particularly interested in seeing the world through what ?the eyes of the individual
- 20Functionalism, marxism and feminism tend to be positivist theories because they believe what ?that individual behaviour is less important as a subject for study than value consensus, social class and patriarchy
- 21positivist sociologists see sociology as the 'science of society' and believe that the behaviour of human beings can be what in the same way as subject matter of the natura sciencesobjectively and scientifically measured
- 22they consequently argue that sociologists should adopt the logic and methods of the natural sciences in their exploration of what ??h
- 23this approach is known as the hypothetico-deductive approach - suggests that positivist scientists and sociologists begin by what ??making ovservations about the world
- 24these observations then lead to positivists coming up with whathypotheses or conjectures
- 25what are hypothesise ?informed guesses about how and why the social situations they have observed have come about
- 26positivists argue that the sociological research methods used to test hypotheses should exhibit what features if they are to qualify as scientific ?- systematic procedure
- replicable
- objective / value-free
- representative
- justfies sociologists making generalisations - 27The research should follow systematic and logical procedures so that other social scientists can ???replicate the research
- 28replication is important in order to ensure what of the research method and process???reliability
- 29P's argue that if the research process used to test a hypothesis is reliable another sociologist should be able to do what ?repeat the research and consistently gain the same / very similar results
- 30the repeating of research aims to do what ?check and verify the scientific accuracy of the way evidence/data is gathered
- 31positivists believe that scientific research should be what ?objective or value free
- 32what does objective / value free meanthe sociologist should be neutral and not allow their personal or political values / prejudices to bias any aspect of their research method or interpretation of data
- 33wrepresentativeness
- 34P's aim to select a representative sample of that group their studying to take part in their research - representativeness means that the people who take part should be what ?alike - they should have characteristics which are typical of the larger pop being studied
- 35representativeness justifies sociologists making what ?generalisations
- 36what are generalisations ??sociologists can conclude that what is true of the sample that was actually studied is true of the wider pop to which the sample belongs
- 37positivists are keen on what type of data ??quantitative
- 38what is quantitative datadata that can be expressed in numerical form and presented in the form of graphs, tables, bar-charts etc
- 39the patterns and trends of human behaviour is demonstrated by such data can then be what ??observed and compared in order to establish correlations or links between aspects of social structures such as social class
- 40these correlations be used to help under cover cause-and-effect relationships to establish what ?social facts / social laws
- 41all sociologists strive to achieve what ?validity
- 42what is validitya concept that generally refers to whether the research findings give a true picture of what is being studied
- 43positivists argue that their approach is the most effective way of achieving - why ??because they believe that if the research is well designed then the data gathered should present an authentic or valid picture of what is being investigated
- 44positivist sociologists argue that the scientific approach that they advocate can produce what ??absolute truths or scientific laws of human behaviour that they call 'social facts / laws'
- 45early positivists argued that uncovering these social facts or laws means what ???predictions can be made about the social world and this makes possible a certain amount of social engineering to modify or change it for the better
- 46positivists believe the potential for social engineering could lead to what ?a reduction of poverty, crime or social unrest
- 47an example of social engineering - using Durkheims research positivists believe that any deviations from the expected suicide rate of society can be investigated and thus ???the cause of the problem can be identified and solved
- 48DURKHEIM - a study of suicide: he used a positivist scientific approach to investigate suicide - he examined that in the 19th century suicide stats across a no. of european countries and observed 3 trends, what are they ??1. that suicide rates remain constant and predictable over time
2. that suicide rates remain constant between societies
3. that suicide rates remain constant between social groups within the same society - 49DURKHEIM - a study of suicide: on the basis of these 3 observations, he concluded that the suicide rate was not the result of individuals using their free will and choosing to kill themselves - instead he hypothesised what ??that suicide rate was a social fact - suicidal behaviour was shaped by the nature of the society to which the individual belonged and specifically by its level of social integration and moral regulation
- 50DURKHEIM - a study of suicide: what did he argue was the main type of suicide ??'egotistic' suicide
- 51DURKHEIM - a study of suicide: what is 'egotistic' suicide ??caused by too much individualism
- 52DURKHEIM - a study of suicide: what did durkheim see as playing a big role in whether individuals were sufficiently integrated or notreligion
- 53EVAL OF POSITIVISM: most sociologists believe that the remaining objective and adopting a scientific approach free from ones own values and biases is vital for research. whos ethical guidelines implicitly encourage the type of quantitative research associated with PThe British Sociological Association's (BSA)
- 54EVAL OF POSITIVISM: what does the BSA stress about researchers ?that they need to obtain the 'informed consent' of those taking part in sociological research and that sociologists need to be clear about their detachment from and involvement in their areas of study' - both of these are easier to achieve using the
positvist method - 55EVAL OF POSITIVISM: the gov when funding sociological research projects through agencies tends to favor positivist-style research why ?as it allows for generalisations to be made
- 56EVAL OF POSITIVISM: goverments are also attracted by P research because its less likely to be what ?contaminated by the researchers own values and is more useful when drawing conclusions for gov social policies
- 57EVAL OF POSITIVISM: science still has a great status in society and is still perceived as a source of human progress - thus it is no surprise that techniques which claim to be scientific attract what ?prestige
- 58positivist research prefers the extensive use of what ?primary research methods such as social survey - which incorporates questionnaires
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- A level (research methods) Sociology Fichas sobre Positivism, creado por niamh bergin el 11/03/2018.
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- niamh bergin
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