Is Sociology A Science?

?
  • Created by: FatCat3
  • Created on: 19-07-22 18:25
which sociologists see it as a science?
Durkheim and Comte (positivists)
1 of 22
what do positivists believe?
that scientific methods can be sued to study social facts and laws
2 of 22
what do interpretivists believe?
that it should not be a science as humans have an agency (unpredictable phenomena)
3 of 22
what is science based on?
empiricism
4 of 22
what does a usual scientific procedure follow?
pose a question- conduct background research- create a hypothesis- test with experiments- analyse data and form conclusions- reviewed by peers-published (^)
5 of 22
what are the arguments that sociology is a science?
positivists believe its possible to establish objective facts through scientific research methods
good sociologists follow the scientific procedure^
variables are then able to be tested to understand impact of social features
6 of 22
name the evaluations for the case for yes
-interpretivists + post modernists believe this misunderstands nature of society/ human behaviour
-popper argued that positivists failed to be scientific because it uses inductive reasoning-
7 of 22
continuing w previous card
-instead of deductive, it also only has evidence to support an argument, not counter it (falsification) ie the all white swans theory
-methods may not be valid ie key concepts are hard to operationalised, so its harder to measure
8 of 22
what are the arguments that sociology isn't a science?
interpretivists think study of human society is beyond empirical methods, and that thoughts, emotions, values, etc cant be directly observed
they argue it shouldn't try to be a science as humans aren't scientific elements, each human is-
9 of 22
continuing w previous card
unique and has an agency to make their own decisions
they believe positivists try to stop things from being real
post modernists also say s cant be scientific-
10 of 22
continuing w previous card
-as it creates meta narratives with no actual validity
11 of 22
name the evaluations for this
-if not a science, what is it, does it bring use then?
-storytelling isn't just journalism, it creates possible concepts and ideas
-Webber says. to approach it objectively, while considering subjective views
12 of 22
what are the arguments for sociology as a third way?
Kuhn says the way ppl see science isn't accurate as science isn't purely objective, there is a particular paradigm, as long as its included with radical science (mainstream science)
so he argues s isn't as mainstream as science as it-
13 of 22
continuing w previous card
-hasnt found an unifying paradigm but it could be a better science in the future
post modernists agree, ie scientists are funded by bodies for a specific interest in results
14 of 22
what is also argued and who argues it?
popper has 2 main questions:
1)what is it that distinguishes scientific knowledge from other forms of knowledge?
2)why has scientific knowledge even able to grown so quickly in a few centuries?
15 of 22
whats fallacy of induction?
fallacy- error, induction- observations to making general laws
popper differs from positivism as he reflects the views that the feature of science loves in reasoning and verficationsim, but rlly theories-
16 of 22
continuing w previous card
cant be proved by doing more tests as one observation of smthn else can disprove this (ie all white swan theory)
17 of 22
what is falsficationism and who talks about it?
a scientfifc statement is something that is capable of being falsified/ proved wrong by evidence, popper argues a good theory has 2 features;
1. when falsified, it stands up to all disproving statements-
18 of 22
continuing w previous card
-2.it is bold, covers wide variety of ideas and cases/events which have a higher chance of being falsified
19 of 22
what is the truth and who talks about it?
popper claims that there can never be full proof of anything being true, so a good theory isn't true but rather one that attempts to withhold falsification
20 of 22
what must happen in order for a theory to be falsified?
criticisms/open society;
-a theory has to be open to criticisms
-public activity
-allows for better theories to come about, which is why scientific knowledge grows quickly
21 of 22
name the evaluations
-popper thinks much s is unscientific as it consists of a theory that cannot to be put to test
+but s can be scientific if it produces hypothesis
+also popper rejects the idea of marxism, he believes the idea is still falsifiable
22 of 22

Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

what do positivists believe?

Back

that scientific methods can be sued to study social facts and laws

Card 3

Front

what do interpretivists believe?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

what is science based on?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

what does a usual scientific procedure follow?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
View more cards

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Sociology resources:

See all Sociology resources »See all Sociological theory resources »