Research and sociological theory
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- Created by: Tom
- Created on: 14-04-14 15:18
science uses experiments+observation to test theor
science uses experiments+observation to test theories
- Science collects data through experiments, observation and measurment in order to test hypothesis
- Science values objectivity(unbiased view). Scientific statements are based on evidence collected using systematic, logical methods.
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different philosophies of science
Logical Positivists - scientists search for scientific laws
- researcher observes something and decides it needs to be explained
- researcher creates hypothesis to explain thenomenon
- hypothesis tested by experiments
- if experiment agrees with hypothesis then scientific law created
Popper(1959,63) - experiments should try to prove hypothesis wrong - falsification
- you can't ever prove a hypothesis correct, but you can prove it wrong with just one piece of contradictory evidence
- it wasn't possible to know absolute truth, because you can't prove things are correct
Thomas Khun(1962) - disagreed with logical positivists and Popper
- science uses an accepted body of knowledge to solve puzzles. "normal science"
- scientists took a lot of assumptions about the world for granted. Assumed way of looking at the world is a "paradigm". Scientists are constrained by the paradigm they take for granted
- big leaps in science come about when evidence which doesn't fit the paradigm builds up to where it can't be ignored. Then new paradigm invented. Scientific revolution(Higgs Boson)
- Paul Feyeraband(1975) - there aren't any hard and fast rules of scientific method. Scientists "tweak" their methods to make them work. Already accepted theories influence the ways scientists actually observe facts.
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is sociology scientific?
- Auguste Comte(1798-1857) founding father, said sociology is a science. Sociology should be used to develop a rational theory of society.
- Popper said some sociological concepts weren't scientific as they couldn't be proven wrong. Sociology is only a science if hypothesis could be falsified
- Kuhn - Sociology doesn't have a paradigm - no consensus about what it is and how it's done. it isn't a science.
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Sociology more subjective than traditional science
- objective knowledge is the same no matter what your p.o.v. Objective methods provide facts that can be verified or falsified. Objective research is value free.
- Subjective knowledge - depends on your p.o.v. Subjective methods give data that can't be easily tested. Subjective research requires interpretation
- Sociology is more subjective than natural sciences
- Lyotard(1984) - It's impossible to be objective at all
- Lyotard - knowledge is something people construct, not something discovered
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positivist sociology - as objective as possible
- Positivists think sociology should be scientific and analyse facts. Social facts = things that can be directly observed and measured. Social facts are external, and constrain behaviour
- Look for correlations in data, and cause and effect relationships. They used quantitative methods like questionnaires and official statistics, which are objective and reliable.
- Interpretivist sociologists(interactionists) say sociology doesn't suit scientific methods. Try to understand behaviour from p.o.v of individual, using methods that discover meanings, motives, and reasons behind behaviour.
- Weber said it's important to use empathy to figure out why an individual is doing what they are doing. Called this "verstehen"
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can research be value free?
- value free research = no judgements about good/bad
- researcher's own beliefs are not allowed to get in the way. No leading questions etc.
- for value freedom to work, researcher must interpret all data objectively
- end use of research shouldn't matter. Research should provide knowledge, how it is used shouldn't worry the researcher
- Positivists -Quantitative methods more value free than qualitative
- Qualitative methods mean researcher more involved, more risk of attitudes and feeling will influence respondents
- Quantitative methods allow rsearcher less opportunity to influence + allow researcher to keep distance
- Sociology can't be value free
- decision to research is value-laden. Research for state or business most likely to get funding.
- difficult to avoid bias
- Fems + Marx deliberately choose research which has an end-use they approve of. Sociology should make value judgements and suggest ways it could be better
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