Sociology and Science

Sociology and Science

1. Scientists collect data through experiments, observation and measurements in order to test hypotheses; science values objectivity, scientific statements are based on evidence which has been collected using systematic and logical methods.

2. Different Philosophies

   • Postivists believe scientists try to uncover laws - researcher observes something and decides it needs to be explained; they then think up a hypothesis to explain the phenomenon, they then test the hypothesis with experiments (if the experiments agree with the hypothesis hen it becomes a scientific law which is universal) this is called verification.
   • Popper (1959,1963) falsification - you can't ever prove a hypothesis 100% correct but you can prove it wrong with just 1 piece of evidence.
     • e.g. "all swans are white" isn't proved correct by seeing 1 flock of white swans, you would need to see every swan in the universe, however it can be disproven with just 1 black swan.
     • isn't possible to know the absolute truth as you can never prove something correct
   • Kuhn (1962) - believed science uses an accepted body of knowledge to solve puzzles (called this normal science). he believed scientists took alot of assumptions for granted; this assumed way of looking at things is a paradigm (scientists are constrained by this paradigm)
     • for hundreds of years people thought sun revolved around the earth; this meant any astronomical observations were interpreted according to this paradigm
     • argues that big leaps of progress occur when evidence which doesn't fit the paradigm builds up to a point where it can't be ignored; then a new paradigm is created (this is called scientific revolution).
     • Paul Feyerabend (1975) - claims there are no rules of scientific method as scientists always make tweaks to theories to make them work (also disagreed with idea that scientists test hypotheses according to whether they fit observed facts as already accepted theories influence the way scientists actually observe facts).

3. is sociology scientific

   • popper - some sociological concepts aren't scientific as they can't be proved wrong, sociology can only be a science if it creates hypotheses that can be falsified.
   • Kuhn - sociology doesn't have a paradigm, there is no consensus as to what it's about and how it's done (in his view it doesn't count as a science).

4. sociology is more subjective than other sciences

   • objective knowledge is the same no matter what your viewpoint; objective methods provide facts which can be easily verified or falsified (it is also value free so no bias).
   • Subjective knowledge depends on point of view; subjective methods give data which can't be easily tested. subjective research requires interpretation (sociology more subjective than physical sciences).
   • Postmodernists like lyotard (1984) claim it's impossible to be objective at all; knowledge is something which is constructed, not discovered.

5. Positivists are objective - they think sociology should be scientific and analyse social facts (things that can be directly observed and methods) they claim social facts are external to individuals and constrain their behaviour.

   • They look for causality by using quantitative methods such as questionnaires and official statistics which are objective and reliable.

6. Interpretivists are subjective - they try to understand interaction from view of individual; they use qualitative methods to uncover meanings, motives and reasons behind behaviour and social interaction.

   • Weber said it's important to use empathy to figure out why an individual is doing what they're doing (he called this verstehen, putting yourself in the shoes of another).

7. Realists argue sociology can be scientific, divide science into 2 types.

   • Study of Closed Systems - subjects like chemistry where variables can be closely controlled and lab experiments can be done.
   • Study of open Systems - subjects like meteorology where variables are impossible to control; scientists can't make very accurate predictions or easily test them.
     • Sayer (1984) - argued that sociology is an open system and that it is too complex a system to lend itself to accurate predictions and experiments (doens't mean it isn't a science).
   • realists use both quantitative and qualitative methods; human motivations (investigated with qualitative methods) can't be directly measured, however science has a long history of researching things that can't be directly measured (e.g. blackholes).
   • science isn't defined by the collection and recording of observable data, but more about the search for the underlying cause of things (realists believe the mechanisms behind social trends are real and can be scientifically studied).
   • sociology can't be value free however researchers must try to present data in a neutral way.