The classicial sociologists and values

The early positivists, Karl Marx, Max Weber,

The early positivists - who are the two early positivists

Comte and Durkheim

what do Comte and Durkheim argue was not about the creation of a better sociology

subjective values or personal opinions about what is the best

what type of view do these early positivist have about the role of society

enlightment/modernist view

what is sociology’s job

to discover the truth about how society works and discover laws that will solve social problems and improve human life

finish

‘sociology will reveal ..’

one correct society

fill in

‘by uncovering laws, sociologists would be able to say _______ and with _______ _________ what is best for society

objectively

scientific certainty

Karl Marx - fill in the sentences

‘ saw himself as a _______ and believed his method of ______ ______ and _______ ________ could reveal the line of development of _______ society

scientist

historical analysis

historical materialism

what did this development involve

an evolution through different types of class based societies

what was the role of Marxist sociology

to reveal the truth of this development to the proletariat as they will be the class to end capitalism and bring a classless society (communism)

what view do early positivist Durkheim and Comte share with Marxist view Marx

science solve social problems and improve society

1) values as a guide to research - fill in

social reality is made up of a _________ ______ of facts that makes it ________ to study it in its ______ (as a whole)

meaningless infinity

impossible

totality

how do researchers know what facts to study

according to the value relevance

why are values essential to us

enables us to select which aspects of reality and developing concepts to understand these aspects

values as a guide to research - give an example

feminist - value gender equality, which leads to studying women oppression and develops concepts such as patriarchy

values as a guide of research - give ANOTHER example

Marxism - value gender equality which leads to them studying class inequality and develop concepts such as false class consciousness/exploitation

2) Data collection and hypothesis testing - what are Weber’s views

when collecting facts we must be objective and unbiased to ensure no values or prejudice get in the mix

data collective and hypothesis testing - what is an example to support Weber’s view

leading questions, reflects our answers not the interviewee

finish

‘ones the facts are gathered…’

it can be used to test a hypothesis

3) values in the interpretation of data - when do values do become important again other than for study

when it comes to interpreting the data collected

how are the facts meant to be presented and why

in a theoretical framework

so that we can understand their significance and draw conclusions from them

finish

‘our choice of theoretical framework or perspective is based on our _____’

our values

4) Values and the sociologist as a citizen - what do sociologists choose to ignore

how research findings have real effects on people