Sociological Theory and Methods

Sociological Theory and Methods

1. Reliability

   • refers to the likelihood of someone who repeats the same research of the same study to get similar findings

2. Validity

   • refers to the honesty of the findings of a study ( e.g. have biases influenced the findings/ is the sample representative etc.)

3. Representative

   • Refers to the generalisability of a group of people in a sample to the general population/ target population

4. What are the 2 types of Data?

   • -Primary Data and Secondary Data
     • Primary Data is data that is collected first hand
       • Interviews
       • Questionnaires
       • Observations
       • Experiments
     • Secondary Data is data that is existing information e.g. on the internet
       • Official Statistics
       • Diaries
       • Letters
       • Memoirs
       • Emails
       • TV documentaries
       • Newspapers
   • Quantitative Data and Qualitative Data
     • Quantitative Data is numerical data
     • Qualitative Data is data that gives meaning and explanation

5. Feminist Theory

   • aims to explain the causes of gender inequalities. They believe society is patriarchal.
   • There are 3 main feminist groups
     • Liberal Feminism
       • sexist sterotypes,
     • Radical Feminism
       • world spit in 2 'sex classes'
     • Marxist Feminism
       • capitalist society

6. Action Theories

   • Unlike structuralists, action theorists say that people make their own choices, and take their own action, rather than being controlled by social structure or reacting to it.
   • The main focus of social action (or interpretivist) theories is on individual behaviour in everyday social situations
   • Action theorists claim society is constructed from people’s meanings, interpretations, behaviours and negotiations. They are micro-theories, because they look at individuals, rather than the big structures of society.
   • Action theorists argue that social order isn’t generated by institutions, but is part of everyday life. They say people want to believe that there’s order in society so they behave towards others in a way that convinces them that there is order. For example, they follow social norms, e.g. being polite to each other, not stealing from each other.
   • There are three important action theories, use the textbook to summarise two of these.
   • Social action theory
     • He said that human behaviour needs to be described on two levels:
     • The level of meaning, which looks at the subjective meanings that people attach to their actions.
     • Weber
       • tried to categorise all these different possible meanings into four types of action:
         • Instrumentally rational action is based on the most efficient means of achieving a goal, e.g. Sue builds a bridge to get across a river.
         • Value-rational action is taken because something is important for its own sake, e.g. Mary builds a bridge because she thinks bridges are beautiful.
         • Traditional action is based on habit, e.g. Mel builds a bridge because her family have always built bridges.
         • Affectual action is based on emotion, e.g. Paul builds a bridge because his wife died trying to cross the river.
         • Symbolic Interactionism;
           • belief that society is built up by interactions between people which take place on the basis of meanings held by individuals.
           • Blumer suggest interactions has 3 features:
             • People act in terms of symbols (what you see yourself as) e.g. Disability. You could see yourself as the definition for disability but after watching the Paralympics could define the disability as a positive timing
             • These meanings develop out of the interaction of an individual with others and can change during the course of interaction
             • Meanings arise from an interpretive process as people try and interpret the meanings others give to their actions by imaging themselves in their position and taking on their role
     • Ethnomethodology
       • refers to the way of studying society that looks at how we interact with society and what ideas develop out of this. It states society has no structure or order and that order is an illusion.

7. Modernity and Postmodernity

   • Modernity refers to the modern, industrial, ordered world which emerged in Western Europe in the late eighteenth century.
   • Modernists believe that we can discover truths about our society through rational thinking.
   • These theories study modernist societies, and aim to investigate the world scientifically, and explain why societies have evolved to be the way they are, and why they’re arranged in the way they are.
   • Marxism and functionalism are both modernist theories.
   • Postmodernism argues that society has progressed from modernity and the large metanarratives (such as functionalism) are not able to explain social concepts. They argue that no one theory can claim a monopoly of the truth, and all versions of the truth are true for the people who believe in them.
   • Postmodernists say that society today has moved on from the ordered world of modernity and is in a constant state of change that is unpredictable, where social structures are breaking down.
     • Globalisation:
       • Means the nation state and national difference are becoming less significant in people’s lives and the world is becoming increasingly interconnected.
       • Giddens developed the term Disembedding- when you are no longer confined to where you live or confined by time. E.g. the internet is a means of interacting with others, doing online shopping, etc.… regardless of physical location or time
       • Technological changes are displacing nation states and national identities.
     • Choice, identity and consumption
       • Postmodernists believe that nowadays there are a few of the social constraints on people identified by Structuralist approaches and that society and social structures have fragmented, weakened or ceased to exist
       • Lyotard suggests postmodern societies are characterised by growing individualism; there is now only a mass of individuals with few social bonds connecting them forming their identities through individual choices in education, health, their personal relationships, lifestyle and the consumer goods they buy.
     • Media
       • The media use to more or less reflect reality but now, media imageas dominate and distort the way in which we see the world
       • Baudrillard see’s life in the postmodern era dominated by media imagery and he calls it media saturated.

8. Sociology and Science

   • Science uses experiments and observation to test theories. Scientific methods are objective (unbiased viewpoint) and gather empirical (observable) evidence using systematic, logical methods.
   • Popper said that some sociological concepts weren’t scientific as they couldn’t possibly be proved wrong. Sociology could only be a science if it made hypotheses which could be falsified.
   • Features of Poppers scientific method.
     • 1) Hypothesis Formation
     • 2) Falsifying
     • 3) The Use of Empirical Evidence
     • 4) Replication
     • 5) The Accumulation of Evidence
     • 6) Prediction
     • 7) Theory of Formation
     • 8) Scrutiny
   • Kuhn believed that science uses an accepted body of knowledge to solve puzzles. He called this ‘normal science’. He thought that scientists based their ideas on assumptions or ‘paradigms’.
   • Kuhn argues that scientific progress occurs when evidence which doesn’t fit the paradigm and this builds up to the point where it can’t be ignored. Then, scientists come up with a new paradigm. This process is called scientific revolution. Kuhn argues that sociology doesn’t have a paradigm - there isn’t a consensus as to what it’s about and how it’s done. So in his view, it doesn’t count as a science.
   • Realists believe that sociology can be scientific, they divide science into two types:
     • Open systems: Sayer (1984), a realist, argued that sociology is the scientific study of an open system. Society, like the weather, is too complex a system to lend itself to accurate predictions and experiments, but that doesn’t mean sociology’s not a science. Realists use qualitative and quantitative methods. They argue that sociology can’t be entirely value-free, but researchers must try to collect and present data in a clear and neutral way.
     • Closed systems: this relates to the natural sciences where the researcher can control all of the potential causal factors.
   • Positivists think sociology should be scientific and analyse social facts (things that can be directly observed and measured). They use quantitative methods like questionnaires and official statistics, which are objective and reliable.

9. Features of Positivism in Sociology

   • Positivists argue that sociology should be a science and that this is made possible by following the scientific approach using the hypothetical deductive method.
   • Direct Observation and the use of quantitative, statistical methods of data collection should be used to study society.
   • This positivist’s view consists of the following
     • A view that human behaviour is a response to observable social facts
     • Research focuses on the search for the social causes of events in society.
     • The focus of sociology is on the study of social institutions and the social structure as a whole, not on the individual, as it is these external structures which shape and mould individuals.
   • Interpretivist sociologists (or interactionists) try to understand human behaviour from the point of view of the individual. They use qualitative methods that uncover the meanings, motives and reasons behind human behaviour and social interaction. They often empathise with others to figure out why an individual is doing what they’re doing (“Verstehen”).

10. Can sociology be scientific? The five objectives sociology must strive for to be scientific:

    • 1) Value Freedom
    • 2) Objectivity
    • 3) The use of Systematic Research
    • 4) The Careful Analysis and Evaluation of Data and Hypothesis in the Light of Evidence and Logical Argument
    • Findings should be Open to Inspection, Critism, Debate and Testing by Other Researchers

11. Sociological Theory and Methods

    • Classical Sociologists disagree about values in sociology. Values are general beliefs about what’s important in life, and what is right or wrong. There is much debate in sociology as to whether it is possible to study society in a value-free, objective way.
    • There are three main positions in the ‘values debate’
      • Sociology should be and can be value-free
      • Sociology cannot be value-free
      • Sociology should not be value-free, even if it were possible.
    • What is value freedom?
      • The idea that the beliefs and prejudices of researcher should not influence the way research is carried out and the evidence interpreted
    • Why do some sociologists believe that sociology should be value-free?
      • Some sociologists believe that sociology should be value free in order to give the subject the status and authority that would enable it to be regarded as a source of impartial, objective information natural sciences were. This could provide facts that might be used to influence social policy and improve the world
    • Why can sociology be value-free?
      • Because it could be objective and this is because researchers can separate facts and their values and this through studying social facts and using empirical data
    • Why is value-freedom not possible?
      • It is impossible for any natural or social scientist to avoid the influence of values completely. For example, their academic training, or perspective have they have learnt interpreting and evaluating evidence their assumption about society and their beliefs about society, and their beliefs about what are important or unimportant areas to study are all sources of values.
      • Sociological research- like research in the natural sciences – does not consist of facts that ‘speak for themselves’. ‘Facts’ whether they take quantitative or qualitative forms are not meaningful in themselves.
    • What are the assumptions of positivists and interpretivists with regard to value freedom?
      • Positivists:
        • Believe society exists as an objective reality, with social structures moulding and constraining individual behaviour.
        • This leads positivists to search for the causes of social behaviour by the collection of quantitative data which they regard as reliable because it is untainted by the values of the researcher and can be replicated and checked by other researchers
      • Interpretivists
        • Believe society is socially constructed by the actions of individuals who act in the ways they do because of the meanings and interpretations they give to their behaviour.
        • The only way of discovering these meanings and producing valid data is to collect qualitative data through close involvements with those being researched, and by a process of subjective interpretation of what those meanings and interpretations are.

12. Why shouldn’t sociology be value free?

    • Goudner
      • Argues it is not possible to be free from value judgements in sociology because (like mentioned “Why is value-freedom not possible?”) a person’s academic training, or perspective they have learnt interpreting and evaluating evidence, their assumption about society and their beliefs about society, and their beliefs about what are important or unimportant areas to study are all sources of values.
      • Gounder argues that value freedom is a value laden concept. It is, he argues a little more than a convenient ideology that serves the career interests of sociologists who will take funding from any one and sell their research to the highest bidders and avoid making any moral responsibility for the uses or consequences of their research.
      • Goudner argues that being value free and not taking sides supports the powerful and an unequal society
      • Overall he argues that sociologists should not even try to be value free but that there should be a clear value commitment in sociology, with public responsibility for – and value-commitment to- improving the lives of the downtrodden, the exploited and the oppressed in an unequal society, and taking their sides against the powerful groups in society who are the sources of their oppression.
    • Becker
      • Echoed Gounders view. That sociologists should be committed to social change for improvement and take responsibility for their moral implications. He argues that sociology involves siding with the underdogs and seeing what life is like from their points of view and giving societies most deprived a voice through such research and thereby hopefully leading to social change.
    • Postmodernists
      • Suggest that subjectivity and value freedom debate simply reflects the values and assumptions of competing sociologists. Postmodernists say that there is no objective truth and that all forms of knowledge are social constructions, all involve values, none are more objective or valuable than others, and are all equally valid.
      • The assertion of the importance of value- free knowledge is simply an attempt by some groups who may have more power than others to establish their interpretation as the only true or valid approach to studying society. Sociology, whether or not it claims to be value free, is just another metanarrative claiming its knowledge and understanding of the world is better than other forms if knowledge
    • As sociology can never be value-free there are ways in which sociologists can deal with the issue of values.
      • Once sociological judgements have been made to select a topic of research sociologists should collect their data in a systematic way, with an open mind.
      • Sociologists should examine the ethics of research and take responsibility for their research.
      • Researchers should be open and clear about their own values, to allow others to scrutinize their work and check these.

13. Sociology and Social Policy

    • Giddens claims the study of sociology gives four practical benefits;
      • An understanding of the world.
      • A heightened awareness of the needs of individual groups.
      • An assessment of what works (evidence-based policy).
      • An increased personal knowledge of ourselves and others.
    • Social policy is the area of Government that tries to solve social problems or achieve other goals that are seen as important e.g. pensions, health, education, etc.
      • Social problems differ from sociological problems, a sociological problem is any theoretical or social issue that needs explaining even if it is not a current social problem. Sociological research has linked social problems with wider social factors and has indicated the need for social policies to tackle these problems. Sociology has therefore contributed to the formation of social policies adopted by national and local government agencies and voluntary agencies.
        • The 9 ways in which sociology contributes to social policy.
          • 1 Providing an Awareness of Cultural Differences
          • 2 Providing self- awareness and understanding
          • 3 Changing assumptions
          • 4 Providing a theoretical framework
          • 5 Providing practical professional knowledge
          • 6 Identifying Social Problems
          • 7 Providing the Evidence
          • 8 Identifying the Unintended Consequences of Policies
          • 9 Assessing the Results
          • Most research into social policy issues is carried out by government agencies such as the departments for education and health, but some is done by charities, such as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and university departments.
          • Weber believed that sociology shouldn’t make value judgements. It shouldn’t tell policy-makers how to fix society. Sociological research can tell decision-makers whether a particular policy is likely to have the desired result, and the social cost of the policy, but the policy-maker should come up with the policy first, and then the researchers find evidence. However others believe that policy should come after evidence gathering, not before because only evidence which backs up the policy may be found and other evidence ignored.
          • Postmodernists adopt a position that a sociology should not be involved in social policy research because sociology has no contribution to make to social policy-making, and the discussion between sociologists about whether or not they should involve themselves in such research is irrelevant. This is because they argue sociology provides only interpretations of the world, rather than universal truths or firm evidence on which social policy should be based.
          • Bauman and May (2001) suggest all sociology does is provide a commentary on social life, but it does not possess a monopoly of wisdom in understanding society, nor is its interpretation the only one. All sociologists do is provide their own interpretations, which are no better than any others.
          • There is no simple or obvious answer to the 2 contrasting points of view considered above, but perhaps improvement of human lives is more likely to be achieved, as Marsland put it above, by sociologists risking getting their hands dirty by becoming involved in policy making than by shouting or hissing from the sidelines. Certainly, as long as sociological research, whether applied to social policy or not, aspires to the 5 principles (Avoiding personal values, influencing the data collection process, keeping an open mind, using systematic research to collect evidence, carefully analyzing and evaluating data and hypotheses in the light of evidence, and opening up finding to inspection, critism and testing by other researchers) then it should retain high research value of potential use to social policy makers, whether or not they choose to use it.
          • Marxists think sociology is too close to the capitalist system to make a difference to society. They suggest that sociological study is a tool used to justify unjust social policy, and that research is controlled by ruling-class interests, which prevents it from being used to change the system.
          • Feminists disagree about the influence of sociology on gender inequality. Liberal feminists believe that sociological research has been beneficial and has influenced governments, improving women’s lives. However, radical feminists argue that liberal feminist sociology can’t make much difference to the lives of women because society is inherently patriarchal. They believe that patriarchal society must be dismantled before women’s lives can ever be improved. Socialist feminists claim that social policy oppresses women, as it undervalues women’s labor and assumes they will take part in work and housework.
          • Some factors can weaken the link between sociology and social policy. Firstly, governments often seek to implement social policy that’s popular with the electorate. Therefore some groups in society may be marginalised because they don’t vote in large numbers. Governments must also consider the financial implications of any policies they introduce. If a policy is too expensive it may not be implemented. If a sociological problem is also a social problem, the research will be useful for policy-makers. But if it’s not also a social problem, the research won’t be relevant to policy-makers.

14. Conflict Structuralism

    • The ruiling class (the 'bourgeoisie')
    • The working class (the 'proletariat')
    • Economic determinism - refers to the economic base which determines the superstructure (the institutions in society e.g. religion, the education system)
    • Superstructure of Society Model
      • Top: Family, religion, law, politics, media, education, ideology
      • Middle: Means and relations of productions
      • Bottom: Economic base
    • What is the job of the superstructure according to Marxist?
      • It is to legitimize the position of the ruiling class and institutions are set up to stop the working class gaining power. This creates a false consciousness of the working class
    • What did Marx say the only way for the proletariat (the working class) to recognise how they have been oppressed?
      • Marx argues that revolution was the only way for the proletariat (the working class) to recognise how they have been oppressed, and that a socialist/communist society would then emerge
    • Summary of Gramsci theories
      • Marxism is about economy. Humanistic Marxism is about people. Gramsci's concept of hegemony placed much more emphasises than Marx did on the rate of ideas (ideology) rather than the economy in maintaining ruling class power and influencing people’s behaviour

15. Structuralist Marxism

    • Althusser argued that the structure of capitalist society consists of 3 levels. Althusser believed that capitalism would be over thrown when these three structures contradicted one another.
    • The 3 levels of capitalist society
      • 1) The economic level (consist of the economy and production of material goods)
      • 2) The political level (consists of institutions that control people)
      • 3) The ideological level (concerned with ideas, beliefs and values which are controlled through media, education and religion)