SOCIOLOGY
QUESTION: To what extent should sociological research be scientific?
Answer:
Science is defined as knowledge that is certain, gained by systematic
study through observation and experimentation while sociology is the
systematic study dedicated to the understanding of social interaction as
people form societies. So sociological research can be scientific.
Positivists and interpretivism are two theoretical arguments with
regards to this issue, which is now a dated argument.
Positivists argue that sociology can be science therefore they tend to
adopt quantitative research methods such as experiments and close
ended questionnaires or observations to study the pattern of society.
They believe that social facts act as an external force to determine
human behavior and is seen to be governed by external force,
therefore, human behavior can be objectively rather than subjectively
observed and measured, similar to how scientist do to observe the
natural world.
Following, Researchers should approach topics with open minds and be
prepared to submit research evidence to scrutiny by other researchers,
avoiding bias. Hence the need to maintain objectivity in order to
prevent their values influencing the research findings. Positivists think
that scientific method should be used because society is an external
reality constraining an individual. A good example of one such study
would be carried out by Durkheim on ‘Suicide as a social fact’ in which
he used official statistics to investigate what causes a person to commit
suicide. He believes that sociology needs to establish social facts to be
QUESTION: To what extent should sociological research be scientific?
Answer:
Science is defined as knowledge that is certain, gained by systematic
study through observation and experimentation while sociology is the
systematic study dedicated to the understanding of social interaction as
people form societies. So sociological research can be scientific.
Positivists and interpretivism are two theoretical arguments with
regards to this issue, which is now a dated argument.
Positivists argue that sociology can be science therefore they tend to
adopt quantitative research methods such as experiments and close
ended questionnaires or observations to study the pattern of society.
They believe that social facts act as an external force to determine
human behavior and is seen to be governed by external force,
therefore, human behavior can be objectively rather than subjectively
observed and measured, similar to how scientist do to observe the
natural world.
Following, Researchers should approach topics with open minds and be
prepared to submit research evidence to scrutiny by other researchers,
avoiding bias. Hence the need to maintain objectivity in order to
prevent their values influencing the research findings. Positivists think
that scientific method should be used because society is an external
reality constraining an individual. A good example of one such study
would be carried out by Durkheim on ‘Suicide as a social fact’ in which
he used official statistics to investigate what causes a person to commit
suicide. He believes that sociology needs to establish social facts to be
