sociology theory and methods - objectivity and values in sociology.

AQA

What are the four parts of the debate?

1. Can be value free. Possible to be free from personal and political biases.

2. It should be value free - Value relevant, values should act as a guide to researchers only.

3. It can’t be value free - Value laden, Value freedom is a myth, it is impossible.

4. It should NOT be - value committed, We need to pick a side and be fully committed to the participants.

What parts of sociology might values and beliefs affect?

1. Choosing what topic to research

2. Choosing what method to use

3. How you interpret your findings

4. Decided what the report will be used for and whether to publish it.

5. Who to seek for funding.

Who believes sociology can be value free?

• Positivists.

• Just like science it is possible to remove our values.

• Sociologists have a crucial role to stay objective so we can scientifically discover what is best for society.

• e.g Durkheims suicide study.

• They argue sociology can be free from values at all stages including the choice of topic, the research design, the method, the presentation of results.

What is some evidence from Durkheim that suggests his study was not value free?

• He had lost a close friend to suicide and stated that this influenced his decision to study this topic so therefore he was not value free when making his choice of topic.

How should sociology be value relevant?

Weber.

• Sociology can not be value free but should be value relevant.

• Sociologists will use their subjective feelings to identify a research topic and the concepts they feel are relevant.

• But then they must be objective in how they conduct their research and interpret their findings.

How should data be collected to be value relevant?

Weber.

1. Values should guide the choice of topic e.g feminists value gender equality so will likely study womens oppression.

2. During data collection and hypothesis testing we must be unbiased and keep our opinions out of it. e.g we should not ask leading questions to try and get the answers we want.

3. When interpreting data our values may affect how we analyse the data we must be honest about our values so others can see if there is an unconscious bias affecting the research.

4. Values and the sociologist - Weber argues sociologists must take moral responsibility for the work they do and harm it causes like scientists. e.g Einsteins work led to the creation of the atomic bomb yet he later spoke out against the nuclear weapon.

Why can’t sociology be value free because of funding?

• Those who fund research may have an agenda, Sociologists are hired as “problem takers”.

• Gouldner - argued that sociologists used to challange authority and were “problem makers” who defined their own research problems. Instead by the 1950’s sociologists became “problem takers” hired by people to solve their research problems for them.

• Funding bodies are referred to as pay masters, and the research belongs to them so sociologists may be forced to leave their opinions behind and not rock the boat with the pay masters.

• Most research is funded by someone other then the sociologist themselves, e.g governmets, charities. businesses, etc. The research is likely to reflect the views of these organisations, and the organisations may prevent it from being published if they do not approve of the findings.

What is an impact of research being influenced by the funding?

• For example, Andrew Wakefield - a former doctor, who got funding from parents that already believed their childen had been impacted by the MMR vaccine and published a paper saying the vaccine had a connection to autism.

• This paper has since been widely discredited and he was struck off from being a doctor.

How might the sociologists career trajectory affect their research? `

Gouldner

• Believed all research was impacted by values whether it’s the researchers values or the paymasters.

• Sociologists have ambitions and career goals

• They have a desire to be published, promoted and become renowned in the field.

• They may end up censoring themselves if they feel that their being too outspoken or that their views may challenge their paymaster in a way that cists them their job or career prospects.

How might personal beliefs prevent research being value free?

Plummer.

• Often researchers are drawn to research areas that are important to them.

• Plummer has published widely on sexuality, saying “So in a sense I was actually exploring my own life side by side with exploring sociological theory.

Why would some argue sociology shouldn’t be value free?

—> Even if it could be value free it is not desirable

• Some argue sociology should not be value free because without values to guide research sociologists are simply selling their skills to the highest bidder.

• “The idea of value freedom should be abandoned” - Becker

What is value committed?

• Becker encourages sociologists to think whose side are we on?

• “If we are going to be committed, whose side are we on”

• We should actively take the side of the disadvantaged.

• Becker argues values are always present in sociology, traditionally positivists and functionalists have take the side of the overdog, instead we need to be compassionate and take the side of oppressed groups in society who are powerless and we must fight the power imbalance.

• Marxists would argue we need to take the side of those who are fighting back, trying to change society.

• Sociology should be committed to ending oppression and unmasking the ways the powerful maintain their positions.

What would value commitment believe is the only way to bring about meaningful change?

• Only if we give a voice to the deprived can we bring about meaningful social change.

• This will not be achieved by being objective.

What values do feminists, functionalists, and marxists have?

• Feminists sees society as based on gender inequality and their sociology promotes the rights of women.

• Functionalists see society as harmonious and tend to take the side of the state and those in authority, accepting official stats presented by governments as fact.

• Marxists see society as based on class inequality and their sociology aims to empower the working class and unmask the bourgeoisie’s tactics for maintaining power.