Sociology Education - (Theory & Methods) Sociology & Science

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Argument 1: Positivism
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what is the general argument for positivism?
Sociology can and should be considered a science.
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what is their belief?
logic, methods and procedures of natural sciences (biology) can be applied to study of society.
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what do they state human behaviour is a response to?
external factors - agencies of socialisation.
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what did Comte argue?
application of natural science methodology to study of society, based on empirical evidence and objectivity produce a "positive science of society".
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what does Comte say "positive science of society" show?
human behaviour is governed by the laws of cause/effect in same way as behaviour of objects in the natural world.
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what did Durkheim say should be treated the same way as objects and processes of scientific world?
social facts, institutions, beliefs and values of society.
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what did he say about these social facts?
can be objectively measured, quantified and statistically analysed = correlational and causation relationships can be drawn.
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what does correlational and causation relationships lead to?
scientific theories and explanations of society.
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what did Durkheim say about society?
can be measured in same way as the natural world.
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what was Durkheim's study called?
Le Suicide.
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what did he find from his research?
suicide rates differ on cultures - something in society must cause this.
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what did he find a link between?
suicide and other social facts - religion and location.
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how did he find links between these social facts?
used scientific methods eventually created a "real law" about society.
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what did Durkheim say his study showed?
using scientific methods in sociology is appropriate.
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Argument 2: Interpretivism
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what is the general argument for interpretivism?
sociology cannot and shouldn't be considered a science.
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what do interpretivists argue?
sociology cannot be a science same way as natural sciences or in way that positivists suggest.
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what do they argue that people do not do?
respond to external factors (suggested by positivist), they interest/ give meaning to a situation before responding.
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what is impossible to do because of this?
predict human behaviour or establish cause/effect can merely make correlations.
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what is meanings and the unobservable?
sociology is about internal meanings not external causes.
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what is ethics?
you can't study humans like we would objects.
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what is methodology?
versterhen, qualitative methods, high validity
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Argument 3: Falsification
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what is the general argument for falsification?
sociology could be considered a science.
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what does Popper suggest?
no hypothesis can ever be 100% proven true, a hypothesis can easily be proven false.
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what does Popper reject?
idea of verification.
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what does Popper argue that researchers should try and aim for?
falsify hypothesis, more a hypothesis stands up to this = considered to be a "scientific truth".
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what does Popper suggest about sociological theories not be scientific?
can't actually be falsified by empirical research, only become scientific when it produces falsifiable hypotheses.
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what does this therefore mean?
scientific statement sone that in principle is capable of being falsified/ science is a public activity (open to criticism).
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what is sociology often unscientific?
it consists of theories that are difficult to test - Marx's prediction of revolution, its not worthless as it may become testable later.
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Argument 4: Paradigms
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what is the general argument for paradigms?
sociology could be considered a science.
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Kuhn - what are paradigms shared by?
members of a given scientific community and defines what their science is.
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what is paradigms a framework of?
assumptions/principles/methods within which members of that community work.
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Kuhn - what can science not exist without?
paradigms, however until there's a general consensus on a single paradigm there will only be rival schools of thought, not science as such.
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Kuhn - what is scientific revolution?
when new evidence becomes so numerous that it overthrows the existing paradigms.
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Kuhn - what is sociology currently?
pre-paradigmatic and therefore pre-scientific.
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what is there to much of in sociology?
competing theories and contradictions within theories for a single paradigm to exist but that doesn't mean it won't happen.
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Evaluation AO3
Interpretivism = Weber - meanings and the unobservable.
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Argument 5: Realism
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what is the general argument for realism?
it could be: detentions of science are incorrect.
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what do Urrey and Keat stress that there are similarities between?
sociology and certain kinds of natural science in terms of the degree of control the researcher has over the variables.
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what is the closed system?
all the variables can be controlled and measured (Popper).
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what is the open system?
all the variables cannot be controlled, making predictions more difficult (sociology).
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what do realists argue that sociologists study?
open systems where the processes are too complex to make exact predictions.
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what do both natural and social science attempt?
explain the causes of events in terms of underlying structures and processes = much sociology is scientific.
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Evaluation AO3
Positivism = Comte/ Verefication - further research will provide the theory correct.
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Argument 6: Postmodernism
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what is the general argument for postmodernists?
there is no such things as objective science.
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what is metanarratives?
science tries to provide an absolute truth, there isn't one.
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why has science failed to improve society?
global warming, anti-biotic resistant superbugs.
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what is fragmentation?
pointless to try and find a wider cause of behaviour due to collapse of social structures such as class.
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what is objectivity and value freedom?
pretensions that are unjustifiable as all truths are equally valid.
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Evaluation AO3
Positivists = Durkheim
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

what is the general argument for positivism?

Back

Sociology can and should be considered a science.

Card 3

Front

what is their belief?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

what do they state human behaviour is a response to?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

what did Comte argue?

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Preview of the front of card 5
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