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THEORIES: DEBATES (1) - IS SOCIOLOGY A SCIENCE? // IS SOCIOLOGY VALUE…

- - - - closed - researcher can control + measure all variables, so can make precise predictions; research typically done in lab
      - open - researcher cannot control + measure all variables, so cannot make precise predictions; processes involved are too complex/ large-scale to be studied in lab
- - - - WEBER: subject choice is based on what's important to us, so values are therefore essential in helping us to select which aspects of society to study
    - - sociologists may choose topics that further their reputations, or censor themselves out of fear that topics they researched may harm their career or cost their job
    - - funding can come from the gov, businesses, voluntary orgs; the body who pays controls the direction it takes and the questions asked
      - the sociologists work then reflects the values + interests of the paymaster
    - - different perspectives only focus on one way to interpret the structure of society, which then influence their conclusion, e.g. marxists, making their research value laden
    - - interpretivists prefer qualitative methods as it provides verstehen, and they also usually do research on micro scales
  - - - GOULDNER: it isn't possible/ desirable to keep values out of research as...
        
        impossible: the sociologists own values or the paymaster's is bound to be reflected in their work
        
        without values sociologists would just be selling their work to the highest payer
    - - BECKER: sociologists should use their values and be compassionate towards the underdogs as they can be given a voice so a hidden side of social reality can probe social change
    - - research should be driven by a desire to change + improve the world for the more disadvantaged
      - without values like fems and marxs show in their research, research would otherwise lack passion + conviction
  - - - science is about facts, not values so sociologists should be morally neutral and only focus on establishing truth about behaviour, not judge it
      - COMTE & DURKHEIM: to create a better society was to discover the truth about how society works
    - - social facts should be separated from researchers' values + studied in a detached + objective way
      - by using scientific method theories can be tested using data that can be replicated through other research, establish causes + uncover laws of human society + make predictions
    - - positivists prefer quantitative methods as they find social behaviour is more easily measurable
      - positivists prefer large scale macro research as they study on a general scale for studying social structures and their impact on behaviour