SociologyExchange.co.uk Shared Resource
-
Upload
sociologyexchangecouk -
Category
Documents
-
view
475 -
download
0
description
Transcript of SociologyExchange.co.uk Shared Resource
IS SOCIOLOGY A SCIENCE?
Learning objectives
• Explain the difference between a natural and a social science
• Outline the three positions of the debate that sociology is a science
Most scientific Least scientific
PHYSICS
CHEMISTRY
ANATOMY
GEOLOGY
PSYCHOLOGY
SOCIOLOGY
Can you decide which of these sciences is MOST and
LEAST scientific in their methodology?
This implies that there is one form of science that applies rigorous methods
but another that is less rigorous.
HARD ANDSOFT
SCIENCES
HARD SCIENCE SOFT SCIENCE
Most Physics Chemistry Anatomy Geology Psychology Sociology Least
Auguste Compte 1798 - 1857
• POSITIVISM – – all knowledge is based on
science and scientific thought– All behaviour is subject to
general laws
• PHENOMENOLOGY – – People possess free will– All behaviour is influenced by
how we understand our situation and put meaning to it
DETERMINISTIC
INDIVIDUAL IS PASSIVE
ACTIVE
IN CONTROL
QUANTIFIABLE
QUALITATIVE
Weber
Difficulties of Studying people
So any techniques that are used must yield data that is VALID and RELIABLE
•Laboratory experiments are artificial and pose ethical issues when studying people
Field experiments are good but
difficult to repeat.
•At best sociologists can make correlations but they cant assume cause and effect
• Karl Popper –’good science’ is all about building scientific knowledge (similar to biology, physics and chemistry) by gathering data from the senses (empirical evidence) otherwise known as hypothetico-deductive reasoning
• POSITIVIST SOCIOLOGY uses this method a great deal
So What is a science?
Science is about what we KNOW to be true not
what we BELIEVE to be true.
All smelly socks attract mice
If it doesn’t then we can amend the theory or perhaps
reject it
If it does we can add more knowledge
to the theory
Hypothetico – deductive
model
Place dirty socks in a glass jar for a few
days
Operationalise
the varia
bles
Gather empirical data
Test the hyp
othesis
Knowledge of theory
is built, refined,
amended
No mice!!!!
Smelly socks DON’T
attract mice
How do we find scientific truth?
• The scientific method is NOT perfect, but it is the best method available today.
Observations
Conjecture
Hypothesis
Testing
Generalising
Theory formation
The Hypothetico deductive method uses the following stagesThe researcher must be neutral at all times to remain objective
REALISTS• Scientists are always faced with
uncontrollable variables• With all the technology in the
world we still get the weather forecast wrong, we cant see the spread of viruses or predict a tsunami.
• To this end sociologists are just as engaged in the same scientific projects where complex variables are at work.
PHENOMENOLOGISTSPeople think for themselves and have reasons for their behaviour
Sociologists shouldn’t be concerned with ‘cause and effect’ but instead looking at how people try and make sense of their world
The social world cannot be measured
objectively
3 POSITIONS
Science should be studied as a social
construct
There is always going to be unpredictability's so it is no different to
any other science
Although our methods are not quite the same as
natural sciences its close enough
quick quiz?
1. What is the realist view of social science?2. What does it mean to say that knowledge is
socially constructed?3. What is the difference between natural and
social science?4. Who was the first to consider sociology as a
social science?5. Name one difficulty that sociologists face when
carrying out research on people
Learning objectives
• Explain what is meant by a paradigm
• Outline the difference between induction and deduction methods
• Evaluate the feminists view of science
What colour are swans?
How many wheels does a car have?
What colour are swans?
The fact that a black swan exists leads to the certainty that ‘all swans are white’ as
false
White?
Logical positivism is aimed at description rather than explanation. For example ….. No amount of observing white swans can support the contention that all swans are white. The observation of a single black swan is enough to disprove the theory.
THE PROBLEMS WITH INDUCTION
Therefore we should be looking to disprove a
hypothesis.
You cant always assume that what has happened and has always happened in the past will happen in the future.
There will always be one ‘black swan’ around the corner.
Just one instance is enough to disprove a theory
“Science aims to FALSIFY not VERIFY”
FALSIFICATION
“nothing can be proved”
Carl Popper 1963
Logical positivists described what they observed in terms of natural laws, but it was not possible to disprove such laws.
FALSIFICATION AND MARXISM
• Popper rejected many sociological theories as being unscientific
• He was critical of Marxism because they failed to specify the exact circumstances of the proletariat revolution.
• Marxism cannot be falsified because ‘come the revolution’ is always being pushed further into the future.
The longer a theory has stood the test of time, and that researchers
have failed to falsify, the closer it is
to the truth.
• Instead of making theories fit the facts (induction) the deduction method suggests that facts can only be accepted through the process of falsification
Induction and Deduction
Newton started by observing physical objects
And then produced laws
Darwin started with a theoryThen went out to test it by
observation
PARADIGM
KUHN 1962
According to Khun a science should have a shared set of :
1. Assumptions
2. Scientific methods
3. Terminology
Everyone is in
agreement
PARADIGMOnce a new theory comes along a ‘shift’ occurs
The earth is flat
Its round I tell you!
There then follows a period of revolutionary science and a dominant paradigm emerges
Kuhn proposed two phases in science.
1. 'normal science‘ -one theory remains dominant despite occasional challenges by dis-confirming studies which are resolved within that theory.
2. The dis-confirming evidence then accumulates until the theory can no longer be maintained and is overthrown. This is the second phase- a revolutionary shift.
Kuhn spoke of paradigm rather than theory. A science (e.g. physics, biology) has a interconnected set of assumptions and methods.
PARADIGM
Positivism Interpretivism
SubjectivityObjectivity
Qualitative
Quantitative
Correlation
Generalisation
empirical Validity
Reliability
Causal relationship
hypothesis
operationalisationrepresentativeness
bias
Hypothetico-deductive- method of enquiry
OBJECTIVE REALITY
VERSTEHEN (Max Weber)
AUTONOMY
MEANING
External constraint