AQA A-LEVEL SOCIOLOGY 7192/1 Paper 1 Topics in Sociology Mark Scheme With Satisfied Solutions

AQA A-LEVEL SOCIOLOGY 7192/1 Paper 1 Topics in Sociology Mark Scheme With Satisfied Solutions Positivists - assume that social realities are objective and are best studied through quantitative research methods sociology is a science and cause+effect and patterns can be detected in society and human behaviour Verificationism - the only things we can rightly claim to KNOW as true are things we can verify with 100% accuracy using logic or sensory experience. Durkheim study of suicide - He studied suicide with the aim of proving sociology was a science. He used positivist methods but some say he should have used interpretativist methods. - his choice of topic was not objective cause his friend comitted suicide prior to this research Interpretivists - Assume that social realities are subjectively constructed and are best studied through qualitative research methods humans interpret symbols and society and also CREATE society, rather then society creating them Verstenen - understanding social behavior by putting yourself in the place of others Types of interpretivism - -interactionists -phenomenologists -ethnomethodologists Popper - falsification and the fallacy of induction some sociology is NOT a science because many sociological theories cannot be falsified, eg marxism BUT sociology CAN BE scientific if hypothesis produced an be falsified Kuhn - PARADIGMS- norms and values surrounding science, telling scientists how ot think and behave- science can only exist with a shared paradigm eg gravity exists sociology is not a science cause there is no paradigm- sociologists dont have shared values and dont agree on a single theory. there is no paradigm Keat and Urry - Sociology is an open system (not all aspects can be controlled) but that doesn't make it totally unscientific because sociology recognises underlying structures and patterns eg marxism isnt unscientific because it observes 'class' and its effects on peoplecause and effect is sociology a scienve overview - -POSITIVISTS: yes it is, patterns of behaviour are like sooo scientific -INTERPRETIVISTS: no it is not, cause and effect literally dont exist in society -POPPER: it isnt always but it can be sometimes is falsifiable -KUHN- its not cause theres no paradigm -KEAT and URRY (realists)- it is a science even though its an open system cause it observes cause and effect similarly to natural sciences Weber's 4 stages of research process that are affected by values - 1- values as a guide to research eg picking the topic 2-data collection must be fully objective though 3-values in interpreting date eg feminists see willis study as sexist and marxists see it as cool idk 4-values in the way the research is publicised and presented modern positivists view on objectivity - values should be irrelevant to research because: - wanting to appear scientific cause natural science had more status and silly little sociologists wanted status too, they wanted sociology to be respectable? -social position of sociology in the mid 20th century as more conformist than in the past, not challenging authority as much so therefore abandoning values Gouldner - value free sociology is impossible and undesirable sociology SHOULD have values