Sociology & science
- Created by: azarif
- Created on: 03-05-18 10:07
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- Sociology & Science
- Interpretivism
- The subject matter of sociology
- Purpose of sociology is to understand & interpret unobservable meanings of individual actions
- Verstehen & qualitative research
- Verstehen= having an empathetic understanding i.e. researcher puts themselves in the individual's shoes
- Researcher should be involved & produce subjective (interpret meanings of individual actions) data
- Examples of qualitative methods: participant observation, unstructured interviews & personal documents
- Strengths: qualitative methods produce in-depth & detailed data because it gives the researcher a subjective (interpreted) understanding of the actor's meanings behind actions.
- Verstehen= having an empathetic understanding i.e. researcher puts themselves in the individual's shoes
- Interpretivism & suicide
- Douglas: qualitative data i.e. case studies are preferred because it reveals individual meanings behind actions & the 'real' rate of suicide than the official statistics
- Criticism: Atkinson argues that the 'real' rate of suicide can't be known even using qualitative methods because the researcher won't be able to understand the meanings of the deceased.
- Douglas: qualitative data i.e. case studies are preferred because it reveals individual meanings behind actions & the 'real' rate of suicide than the official statistics
- The subject matter of sociology
- Positivism
- Patterns, laws & inductive reasoning
- Inductive reasoning= data based on how society works via careful observation of patterns
- Role of science is to identify patterns in reality via a systematic order
- Verificationism
- Refers to observation that confirms the truth (opposite of falsificationism)
- Objective quantitative research
- Quantitative data establishes cause-and-effect relationships to understand behaviour e.g. material deprivation is a cause of underachievement
- Strength: quantitative methods are reliable because it can be repeated to produce accurate results
- Researcher should be detached & objective, to not influence data
- Examples: questionnaires, structured interviews, official statistics, laboratory & field experiments
- Positivism & Suicide
- Durkheim observed patterns from official statistics based on suicide rates
- Suicide rates were higher for Protestants than for Catholics
- Suicide rates weren't caused by motives of individuals but by social forces e.g. integration of individuals & regulation of actions
- Result: Catholics were less likely to commit suicide because Catholicism was more successful in integrating individuals
- Suicide rates weren't caused by motives of individuals but by social forces e.g. integration of individuals & regulation of actions
- Suicide rates were higher for Protestants than for Catholics
- Comparative method (comparing official statistics on suicide between various societies & the causes)
- Criticism: official statistics on suicide rates aren't unbiased facts but are socially constructed i.e. via labelling deaths as suicides & ignores individual meanings
- Criticism: Intepretivists rejects positivist view i.e. external social forces determining individual actions. Instead, individuals have free will & can choose how to behave.
- Durkheim observed patterns from official statistics based on suicide rates
- Scientific methods are favoured because it produces correlations & objective (unbiased) data
- Patterns, laws & inductive reasoning
- Interpretivism
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