Can sociology be value free?

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  • Can sociology be value free?
    • Interpretivist (Weber)
      • Cannot be value free
      • Should be value relevant
      • Sociologists will use their subjective feelings to identify a research topic and concepts they feel are relevant.
      • Subjective (Biased)
      • According to Weber, there is a 'meaningless infinity' of facts.
    • Positivism
      • Sociology should be totally value free
        • Comte says that sociologists should 'watch don't judge'
      • Objective view (unbiased)
      • Sociology should look at social facts, that can be recorded as quantitative data so correlations can be identified between variables
    • Values in the research process:     1. choosing which topic to research     2. getting funding        3. choosing a research method
      • 4. Operationalizing key concepts     5. interpreting findings       6. recording responses   7. selecting appropriate questions
        • 8. Selecting which findings to include in the report            9. Deciding what report will be used for             10. Deciding where report will be published
          • Values in the research process:     1. choosing which topic to research     2. getting funding        3. choosing a research method
            • 4. Operationalizing key concepts     5. interpreting findings       6. recording responses   7. selecting appropriate questions
              • 8. Selecting which findings to include in the report            9. Deciding what report will be used for             10. Deciding where report will be published
      • Postmodernism
        • There is no longer a unifying truth that we all believe in, there are just a number of truths or theories for us to pick.
        • Sociology cannot be value free
        • Cannot be objective because we are all trying to pick a theory.

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