The classical sociologists and values

who are the early positivist

Comte and Durkheim

how did the early positivists think a better sociology could be created

not through a matter of subjective values or personal opinions about what was ‘best’

what view did the early positives have about sociology

they shared the enlightenment or modernist view of the role of sociology

what did the early positivists think sociology’s job was

as the science of society, sociology’s job was to discover the truth about how society works, uncovering the laws that govern its proper functioning

in the early positivists view what would scientific sociology reveal

the one correct society giving sociologists a crucial role

according to early positivists what would discovering the truth about how society works allow

sociologists would be able to say objectively and with scientific certainty what was really best for society- they would be able to prescribe how things ought to be

how did comte (early positivist) regard sociology

as the ‘queen of the sciences’ ans saw sociologists as latter-day priests of a new scientific religion of truth

what is the debate on Karl Marx

if he was a positivist or not

how did Karl Marx see himself

as a scientists and that he believed his method of historical analysis, historic materialism, could reveal the line of development of human society .

what did Karl Marx believe his developments could lead to

an evolution through a series of different types of class-based society, leading ultimately to a future classless communist society, in which exploitation, alienation and poverty would be ended, and each individual would be free to reach their own potential

what was the role of Marx’s sociology

to reveal the truth of the development (previous card), especially to the proletariat’s since they would be the class to overthrow capitalism and herald the birth of communists society.

what does marx take for granted

the value of the ideal communist society and argues that his scientific approach will show us how to reach it.

how is Marx simialr to Comte and Durkeim

he also sees science as helping to ‘deliver’ the good society

how are Comte, Durkeim and Marx all similar

Marx, Durkeim and Comte made no distinction between the facts as revealed by science and the values that we should hold- since they believed that science could tell us what these values should be.

how does Max Weber differ from Comte, Durkeim and Marx

Max Weber makes a sharp distinction between value judgements and facts and he argues that we cannot derive one from the other

whats an example of Webers view that there is a distinction between judgements and facts

research might show that divorcees are more likely to commit suicide, however, this fact does not demonstrate the truth of the value judgement that we should make divorce harder to obtain.

there is nothing about the fact that that logically compels us to accept the value. e.g. we might argue it should be made harder to get married instead or that people have every right to commit suicide

what can a value be in Webers view

a value can be neither proved nor disproved by the facts: they belong to different realms

what did Weber see essential value in despite making a sharp distinction between facts and values

for values in sociological research.

how can we divide Webers views into stages of the research process

1. values as a guide to research

2. data collection and hypothesis testing

3. values in the interpretation of data

4. values and the sociologist as a citizen

where did Weber get the idea of values as a guide to research from

phenomenology- that social reality is made up of a ‘meaningless infinity’ of facts that make it impossible to study in its totality. thus the best researcher can do is to select certain facts and study these

in webers view how should be choose what facts to study

we can only select them in terms of what we regard as important based on our own values- in other words their value relevance to us

what are values essential for when using them as a guide to research

essential in enabling us to select which aspects of reality to study and in developing concepts with which to understand these aspects.

whats an example of using values to enable us to select which aspect of reality to study

feminists value gender equality and this leads them to study women’s oppression and to develop concepts such as patriarchy with which to understand it.

why is step 2 (data collection and hypothesis testing) important

while values are essential in selecting what to study, in Webers view we must be as objective and unbiased as possible when we are actually collecting the facts, keeping our values and prejudices out of the process.

whats an example of objective data collecting and hypothesis testing (step 2)

e.g. we should not ask leading questions designed to give the answers that we want to hear: our questions should aim to get respondents to give us their view, not our own

what can we do once we have gathered the facts (step 2)

use them to test a hypothesis where we must keep our values out of the process so the hypothesis can stand or fall solely on whether or not it fits the observed facts

in the 3rd step of Webers research process why do values become important again

values become important again when we come to interpret the data we have collected

in the 3rd step of Webers research process why do facts need to be set in a theoretical framework

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

in webers view what are our choice of theoretical framework influenced by

our values- thus, we must be explicit about them, spelling out our values so that others can see if unconscious bias is present in our interpretation of our data

why might sociologist chose to ignore the uses to which their work is put (weber step 4)

they may argue there job is to merely conduct objective research and discover the facts; it is for the politicians or public to decide what use to make of their findings

why does Weber reject the view that sociologists job is to merely conduct research and ignore the uses to which their work is put

he argues that scientists and sociologist are also human beings and citizens and they must not dodge the moral and political issues their work raises by hiding behind words like ‘objectivity’ or ‘value freedom’

what does Weber thus argue sociologists should take responsibility for

moral responsibility for the harm their research may do

whats an example of taking moral responsibility for research

Einstein’s theories helped make the atomic bomb possible but he still spoke out against nuclear weapons

summarise Webers arguments

Weber sees values and relevant to the sociologists in choosing what to research, in interpreting the data collected and in deciding the use to which the findings should be put. by contrast, the sociologists values must be kept out of the actual process of fact gathering.