Sociology as a Science
Sociology: AQA A Level, topic 1.2.7
Sociology as a Science
Positivists argue that sociology is a science. Interpretivists believe sociology is not a science.
Positivism
- Auguste Comte developed the theoretical perspective of positivism with regard to conducting research.
- Their belief was that society could be explained with scientific principles based on objectivity, reliability, and generalisation, which can be obtained from quantitative data.
- Positivists believe that you can acquire cause and effect relationships – when one thing occurs or changes it always provides the same result.
Induction
- Functionalist Emile Durkheim was particularly influenced by Comte and applied it to his sociological study on suicide.
- He used induction, which is the process where a researcher gathers a large sample of statistics, with the aim of finding trends and patterns that illustrate the impact of particular ‘social facts’ upon society.
The hypothetico deductive model
- Durkheim used official statistics and the Hypothetico-Deductive model in his research.
- This is when a researcher starts with a hypothesis they wish to prove correct.
Interpretivism
- Interpretivists believe that the study of human behaviour cannot be scientific as our nature is completely unreliable and our actions can have a variety of complex meanings.
Verstehen
- Interpretivists suggest that in order to get a valid understanding of the experiences of an individual, the researcher must try to understand them through abandoning the principles of objectivity by putting themselves in the place of the other – known as ‘Verstehen’.
Critical
- Interpretivists are critical of science as a discipline.
- From an interpretivist point of view, science lacks validity as a subject area and therefore sociology should distance itself from the discipline.
Postmodernism and Sociology
Positivists argue that sociology is a science. Interpretivists believe that sociology is not a science, as do postmodernists.
Postmodernists
- Postmodernists would agree with interpretivists by arguing that sociology is not a science nor should it want to be.
- This is because science is a ‘meta-narrative’ or big story that tries to generalise every individual into a catch-all theory.
Jean-Francois Lyotard
- Lyotard believes that any belief system that attempts to do this is irrelevant in today’s fragmented postmodern society as there is no accepted monopoly of the truth.
Karl Popper
- Popper also argues that sociology is not a science.
- Popper’s views are very positive of science as a discipline as he believes that it has become dominant due to its rapid growth during and after the ‘Enlightenment’.
Verificationism
- Popper disagreed with positivist researchers as he believed that ‘Verificationism’ was irrelevant to science due to what he calls the ‘fallacy of induction’.
Falsification
- Popper argued that a scientist will never set out to prove themselves and their theory correct, instead they set out to prove themselves incorrect.
- This is known as falsification.
- According to Popper the longer a theory stands without being proven incorrect the more accurate it is.
Test yourself on Sociology as a Science
Who developed the theoretical perspective of positivism with regards to conducting research?