Sociology and Values

Sociology and Values

The three viewpoints

Value free sociology

Positivists
They argue sociology should be studied as a science (Durkheim)
Objectivity is key (personal opinions out of research)
Sociology should be like physical sciences – studying phenomena which are independent of the research
Theories can be tested, proven or falsified
Structural theorists (society is separate)
Social facts are the statistics that are obtained from surveys and these should accurately reflect the population
Personal opinions are irrelevant so long as research is well designed
E.g. Peter Saunders – home ownership research – declared his own views but research was designed to avoid this
Research is checked by repeating research

Value laden sociology

Historical Context

Gouldner
Value free is based in a particular historical context
Weber suggested sociology was value free but he had to in order to secure sociology’s status rather than it actually needed to be value free.
Traditional values were ruled to be ignored but Weber may have been saying this to avoid the government interfering

Paying for research

There is more funding for research that interested them as funding is scarce and therefore the person paying chooses what is published and therefore values of the person paying and the researcher is thus interjecting values
People won’t pay for research they have no interest in

Career trajectories

Gouldner
A researcher’s research is likely to be influenced by their desire to be ‘known’ and their ability to develop their own career rather than studying in a value free way
Values will inevitably creep into sociology
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