Sociology as a Science

Natural Sciences  Biology and Chemistry are probably the first subjects which spring to mind when considering “what is science”  Natural sciences such as these aim to base laws and theories on objective facts  These facts are obtained by investigating observable phenomena  Natural sciences also depend on empiricism and objectivity, using experiments and statistics to test the relationship between variables

Sociology as a Science  Sociology is known as a social science  Some sociologists argue that society can be studied in an objective and empirical way  Early Positivists argued that the study of society could lead to the control and improvement of society  Comte argued that Sociology could be based on the methodology of the Natural Sciences  This would result in a “positive science of society” revealing “invariable laws”

Positivism  Comte referred to Sociology as the “queen of sciences” and the most complex form of science to develop  Durkheim argued that Sociology could be as objective as the natural sciences  Durkheim proposed the study of “social facts” – social phenomenon that are external, objective and constraining

Positivism  An example would be law as it exists independently of an individual and yet shapes their actions  Durkheim argued that Sociologists should “treat social facts as things” and deal with them as if they were actually real  They should be regarded as having an objective existence, constructing concepts such as “anomie” that represent social things

Karl Popper - Falsification  Rather than the emphasis on proving hypotheses in science, Popper proposed the concept of “falsification”  Scientists are human beings and there is a temptation to find support for their hypotheses and ignore results that disprove it  Valid science must aim to refute hypotheses and therefore assume that theories are generally true until disproved  Popper believed that through falsification, Sociology could be accepted as a science

 According to Popper, Sociologists must use testable hypotheses  Popper rejects Marxism because of concepts such as “false consciousness” that cannot be tested or falsified  He claimed that Marxism was a “pseudo science”  Popper takes a DEDUCTIVE approach  Positivists use an INDUCTIVE approach  Jot down what each phrase means

Evaluation  Popper’s views could be criticised as Scientists would argue that hypotheses can be verified with evidence rather than refuted  Science works on particular assumptions that cannot be falsified, e.g. cause and effect  Popper and positivist thinkers may be criticised as having an idealised view of scientific enquiry,  e.g. can true objectivity ever be achieved when studying society? Being a member of a society must bring subjectivity  Can social facts be studied as external forces?  Interpretivists would argue that humans are not passive subjects of external forces – they interact with and shape their society  To compare Sociology with natural sciences may be innappropriate as the subject matter is very different