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Sociology and science Key Points • Following the Scientific Revolution in the 17th century, the natural sciences had managed by the 19th century to increase our control of nature and produce technology that improved people’s living standards. • For example, advances in engineering, transportation, medicine. • Positivist sociologists, like Durkheim believed they could copy the success of science and produce a science of society, which could be used to get rid of problems such as poverty, injustice and conflict. Key points • Positivists believe that sociology is a science and that sociologists should seek to uncover the social laws or facts (things that are objectively true) that they believe explain human behaviour. • They do this by using the logic and methods of the natural sciences. • The scientific method begins with the scientist making observations. These are measurements and the data recorded are objective (i.e. not a matter of opinion or a reflection of what the scientist wants). Key points • They then form a hypothesis to explain what’s been observed (e.g. the movement of planets). • Then they devise an experiment or make a prediction to test the hypothesis. • Depending on the outcome, the theory (explanation set out in the hypothesis) is then tentatively accepted or rejected. Key points • This method means that experiment can be replicated by other scientists and the theory can be reconfirmed. • The theory aims to identify a law. In science this is a universally applicable generalisation e.g. H20 freezes at 0⁰C or objects fall to the ground when released (in normal conditions). • The natural sciences explain things in terms of laws (of nature). Key Points • What social law did Durkheim identify in his study of suicide? • Suicide rates always rise when there is too much or too little social integration or moral regulation Key Points • Positivist sociologists use methods such as structured interviews, questionnaires and official statistics which they regard as scientific. • In what way could these methods be seen as scientific? • The researcher remains detached • They are reliable. Key Points • Positivist sociologists use the hypothetico-deductive model which stems from the natural sciences. This stresses that scientific discovery should go through a number of stages. • Stage 1 – An observation is made of social phenomena (occurrences) such as suicide • Stage 2 – A hypothesis explaining the phenomena is established. Key points • Stage 3 – Evidence is collected in a systematic, objective and reliable fashion to work out if the hypothesis is true or false. • Stage 4 – If enough data supports the hypothesis then it becomes a theory and eventually a scientific or social law. Problems • Many sociologists have criticised positivism because it has failed to identify ‘scientific’ laws (facts that can’t be disputed), despite a century of effort. Karl Popper (The Logic of Scientific Discovery 1934/1959) – philosopher of science • Popper criticises positivists for employing the hypothetico deductive model. He argues that it is not logical because instead of looking for evidence which falsifies a hypothesis it is based on collecting evidence that confirms the hypothesis. • This is wrong, scientists should look for evidence that proves the hypothesis absolutely wrong and forces them to look elsewhere. Karl Popper – philosopher of science • Popper argued that there is no such thing as absolute truth (that is undisputable). At best, we can only achieve partial truth as all knowledge is provisional and temporary. • This is because no matter how many times an experiment is conducted or a phenomenon is observed, the scientist can never be sure the same results will be obtained in the future. Karl Popper – philosopher of science • Popper illustrates this with the hypothesis ‘swans are always white.’ He notes many positivists would be happy to confirm this if they observed 999 swans as white. It would become a scientific fact and probably no further observations would be done. • Popper sees this as bad science because there is always the possibility that a black swan could come along and prove the ‘fact’ wrong. Karl Popper – philosopher of science • Popper argues we can never be conclusively right, we can only be conclusively wrong. • He argues that good science is about being rigorously sceptical and he proposed that scientific research methods should be based on the ‘principle of falsification.’ • Scientific knowledge is that which survives after rigorous testing but even then contradictory evidence could come up that proves it wrong. So we can never have real scientific truth. Karl Popper – philosopher of science • Popper was sceptical about the idea of sociology being a science since he argued that it was too theoretical and not engaged in enough testing or research. Paul Feyerabend (Against Method, 1975) – criticises Popper and Positivists • He argues that both Popper and positivists wrongly portray the scientific method as being a coldly rational and logical process. • He argues that actually many scientists cut corners – they don’t do what they say they do. Paul Feyerabend – criticises Popper and Positivists • Science is actually haphazard – there is no logic to science – the rule tends to be ‘anything goes’ with individual scientists following their own rules that are nothing like textbook models. Scientific Realism • Realists argue that the definition of science used by positivism is inadequate because of its emphasis on finding an observable cause and effect. • Andrew Sayer (Method in Social Science, 1984 and Realism and Social Science, 2000) argues that many sciences theorize about the existence of phenomena which are difficult or impossible to observe, detect and therefore predict. Scientific Realism • Examples of open sciences – sciences concerned with things we cannot see or observe directly include physics, seismology, meteorology and astronomy. Sayer argues that open sciences are often unable to predict how the phenomena they are studying will behave eg scientist cannot predict when an earthquake will occur so controlling variables is impossible. • In other words, sciences cannot really set up experiments or make predictions in ways that will allow the scientist to have all of the factors under their control. Scientific Realism • From a Realist position, sociology can be seen as scientific because it is largely concerned with studying underlying social structures and processes, which are largely unobservable but can be measured by examining their effects. • So for example social class as a social and economic force cannot be observed but its effects on social behaviour can be measured. In this sense sociology is an open science. Scientific Realism • How do you think that a sociologist studying the effects of class on voting patterns could measure class? • How do you think a sociologist studying the effects of social class on educational achievement could measure it? Science and paradigms – Thomas Kuhn • Thomas Kuhn (1962) – argues that scientists are not as open minded as positivists claim. • He rejects the idea that they are constantly making and testing hypotheses, arguing instead that they are concerned mainly with solving problems defined as important by other scientists. Science and paradigms – Thomas Kuhn • Scientists generally accept what earlier generation scientists have said about what the natural world is like. Instead of questioning these assumptions, they take these assumptions as correct and work within a particular paradigmatic context. Science and paradigms – Thomas Kuhn • Dominant paradigms which shape the way scientists understand and view the world, tell them what their priorities should be, the key questions are, what what counts as legitimate evidence, how to approach specific problems and what scientific method to adopt. • Kuhn argues that scientific progress occurs when as time passes more and more evidence which does not fit the paradigm appears. In the end contradictory evidence is so overwhelming that a ‘scientific revolution’ occurs and a new paradigm is established. Science and paradigms – Thomas Kuhn • Example Galileo – challenged dominant paradigm in early astronomy which stated that the earth was the centre of the universe and the sun revolved around it. Scientists had simply accepted this as truth and did not test it • When Galileo presented evidence to the contrary suggesting that actually the earth actually revolved around the sun he was imprisoned and his data suppressed. Is Sociology a science using Kuhn’s ideas? • If you apply Kuhn’s ideas to the discipline of sociology do you think he would see it as a science? • Kuhn’s ideas would suggest that sociology is not a science because it is doubtful if there has been one paradigm dominant at any one time. • Sociology has long been characterised by competing theories and even within these there is disagreement. Interpretivism and science • What do you think Interpretivists would argue about whether sociology is a science and why? • Interpretivists do not believe that sociology is a science. Interpretivists and science • You cannot experiment and test on human beings as you can on natural matter like plants in a laboratory. • Humans are active conscious beings, not static objects, who are aware of what is going on around them, they react to it in different ways and behaviour cannot be predicted in lawlike ways. Interpretivism and science • The focus of sociological research should not be on identifying social facts or laws but it should be on understanding the interpretations and meanings that individuals attach to particular social interactions. • Interpretivists favour research methods that help sociologists to understand why people behave as they do, the meanings behind social action. They support the use of qualitative ethnographic methods and emphasise Verstehen and validity. Interpretivism and science • Positivist scientific methods are criticized as they inevitably result in the sociologist’s view of the world being imposed on the research subjects. Postmodernism and science • Postmodernists reject the view that there exists any absolute and universal truth or knowledge. As science is built on this idea they reject it. • They especially criticise science because it claims to be objective but they argue that in reality scientific knowledge is simply controlled by powerful groups who use science to control our way of thinking. Postmodernism and science • Postmodernists argue that Positivists should abandon their search for ultimate truths because there is no such thing. • They support a more pluralistic approach to scientific enquiry supporting the use of a range of different research methods to capture and analyse the many different interpretations of reality that postmodernists claim are found in postmodern society.