Sociology as a Science
- Created by: Maddy
- Created on: 22-04-17 13:21
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- Sociology as a science
- Popper
- Argues that sociology cannot be a science because it can't be falsified
- Science is about proving things wrong. Society is far too complex for things to ever be proved wrong
- E.g. If you see all white swans but one black Swan, the statement 'all swans are white cannot be true'
- Society doesn't work like this as there are many other factors experiencing relationships
- E.g. If you see all white swans but one black Swan, the statement 'all swans are white cannot be true'
- Kuhn
- Argues sociology cannot be a science because it doesn't have one shared paradigm
- There are conflicting approaches as to how society should be approached
- Willis shows a crosover between positivist and interpretivist approaches
- Some critics argue that science isn't scientific as it doesn't have one paradigm across all natural sciences
- There are conflicting approaches as to how society should be approached
- Says Marxism cannot be a science because concepts are too complex to operationalize
- Has the potential to be a science if it developed a paradigm
- Argues sociology cannot be a science because it doesn't have one shared paradigm
- Positivists
- Thinks sociology is a science because it uses scientific methods
- The main aim of sociology should be to explain social facts
- Science can help make assumptions about the world
- Sociology should use the scientific method because it uncovers the truth about human nature
- Science can help make assumptions about the world
- What is a science?
- A science is value free and provides objective results that anyone can repeat
- The experimental method
- Observability and Repeatability
- Cause and effect relationships
- precise measurement
- controlled variables
- knowledge evolves through hypothesis testing
- The experimental method
- A science is value free and provides objective results that anyone can repeat
- Popper
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