realism, science and sociology

realism, science and sociology

realists such as Keat and Urry (1982) stress the similarities between sociology and certain kinds of natural science in terms of the degree of control the researcher has over the variables being researched. They distinguish between open systems and closed systems.

Closed systems are those where the researcher can control and measure all the relevant variables, and thus can make precise predictions of the sort Popper advocates. The typical rm is the lab experiment, as used in the natural sciences.

Open systems are those where the researcher can’t control and measure all the relevant variables and so can’t make precise predictions. this is cuz the processes involved are too complex to measure or too large-scale to be studied in a laboratory.

Realists argue that sociologists study open systems where the processes are too complex to make exact predictions. For example, we cannot predict the crime rate precisely, because there are too many variables involved, most of which cannot be controlled, measured or identified.

underlying structures

Realists reject the positivist view that science is only concerned with observable phenomena. Keat and Urry argue that science often assumes the existence of unobservable structures.

In the realist view, this also means that interpretivists are wrong in assuming that sociology can’t be scientific. Interpretivists believe that cuz actors' meanings are in their minds and not directly observable, they can’t be studied scientifically. but, if realists are correct and science can study unobservable phenomena, then this is no barrier to studying meanings scientifically.

For realists, then, both natural and social science attempt to explain the causes of events in terms of underlying structures and processes. Although these structures are often unobservable, we can work out that they exist by observing their effects. e.g. we can’t directly see a thing called 'social class', but we can observe its effects on people's life chances.

In this view, much sociology is scientific. e.g. unlike Popper, realists regard Marxism as scientific cuz it sees underlying structures such as capitalism producing effects such as poverty.

Unlike interpretivists, therefore, realists see little difference between natural science and sociology, except that some natural scientists are able to study closed systems under laboratory conditions.

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