Theory and Methods

Theory and Methods

1. Is Sociology a science?

   • Sociology has sought scientific status but has been criticised by natural scientists for over 100yrs,who claim that sociology does not contain all the criteria and components of science.
   • What is a science?
     • 'Science' translates to knowledge; the definition of science is: knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially those obtained and tested through scientific method and concerned with the physical world.
       • Science in late modernity
         • Beck: would question is science is a desirable level, science is viewed in late/reflexive modernity as a source of risk.
       • Postmodernists: the period itself when science was being questioned, postmodernists challenge the idea that rationality, truth and science are bound together. Scientists have merely replaced Priests for the expert role and are the source of truth.
         • Human minds are effected by culture, language, to such an extent that the actual nature of things may be unknowable.
         • Lyotard: rejects the idea of science in relation to sociology; argues that knowledge can be constructed by people and that it is not something fixed and waiting to be discovered. This rejects the idea of science which is understood to be testable and objective.
     • There are 5 parts to science:
       • Empirical: central concept evidence that is observable by the senses
       • Testable: tested and revisited for verification and falsification
       • Theoretical: uncovers casual relationships between phenomena
       • Cumulative: builds up on previous knowledge
       • Objective: blocks out personal prejudice and political views
   • Is positivism scientific?
     • Positivists believe their method of studying IS scientific they use the same methodology and ideas of natural scientists.
     • Comte said only observable facts are acceptable evidence in sociology, and they must be objectively measured and quantified in order to identify relationships.
     • Durkheim believed all social facts should be considered as 'things' so they can be measured or quantified and analysed like science. Cause and effect relationships could be established leading to theories explaining relationships. He states people do not act in terms of their own beliefs but are directed by social external factors. Therefore social facts can be studied using scientific methodology.
     • Many sociologists argue that social facts such as beliefs cannot be treated as 'things' as they are part of human consciousness.
   • Is Interpretevism scientific?
     • Weber believed that things that exist in space are merely appearances and have no independent existence from our thoughts, the social world cannot be described without investigating how individuals use language and symbols to construct what social practices mean. The social world becomes the creation of purposeful actions and conscious agents.
     • Human behaviour is taken to be meaningful and worthy of study beyond empiricism. Interpretivists see thoughts and ideas as social and mental constructs so we cannot fully understand the world due to individual viewpoints.
     • Reality is far too complicated for numbers and quantitative analysis to be made, qualitative methods are essential for full understanding of social reality.
   • Popper
     • Kuhn