Sociology as a science

AQA Sociology A Level Theory and methods

Auguste Comte

father of sociology + positivist

Empiricism

the view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation

Suicide Study

Emile Durkheim; those with more positive close interactions are less likely to commit suicide as they are integrated into society

Correlations

observed associations between two variables

causal explanation

A statement in social theory about why events occur that is expressed in terms of causes and effects. They correspond to associations in the empirical world.

Social Facts (Durkheim)

Durkheim's term for a group's patterns of behavior. Sociology is the science of social facts, which are "things in themselves" not reducible to other orders of human life such as - and especially - the psychological.

Marxism and science

Not scientific but claimed to be adopting a scientific approach in his work

Historical Materialism

Marxist belief that the class divisions of a society determine everything else that matters

Verstehen (Weber)

understanding social behavior by putting yourself in the place of others

Weber on Science

Used a positivistic approach and believed sociology could come up with scientific conclusions.

subjective

based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions

Objective

unbiased; not subjective

value free

the view that a sociologist's personal values or beliefs should not influence social research

Karl Popper

falsification

deductive approach

a research approach that starts with a theory, forms a hypothesis, makes empirical observations, and then analyzes the data to confirm, reject, or modify the original theory

Falsification

a form of deception that involves presenting false, fabricated information as though it were true

hypothetico-deductive method

positivist research design based on the development and systematic testing of hypotheses

Free will

the freedom and ability to choose

Determinism

The assumption that behavior is caused by heredity and environment

Kuhn

paradigms

Paradigms in Sociology

differences in these perspectives mostly have to do with the sets of assumptions about the nature of the social world on which each paradigm is based (framework or model of the world)