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F soc usic lecture four
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Lecture Four
Sociology Foundation in Business, Law and Social Sciences
What is Sociological Research?
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Contents
1. Review from Lecture Three
2. Difference between the natural and social
sciences
3. Studying Society Scientifically
4. Continuities and Change
5. Conclusion
6.Homework
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Review from Lecture Three
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We have learned how in the early 19th
century August Comte described sociology as
an emerging science that should adopt successful and positivist methods of the
natural sciences such as physics and chemistry.
Durkheim, Marx, Weber and other founders of sociology agreed that sociology is a
scientific subject.
However the key question is whether it is possible to achieve reliable, objective
knowledge in relation to human behaviour.
In order to explore this question further we first need to understand the
differences between natural and social sciences.
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social versus natural
Social sciences is the study of human beings, societies and the
relationships between people in society.
Natural sciences focus on things, objects, such as chemicals and
plants.
The two are different in their goal:
•Natural Sciences focus on developing universal laws i.e laws that
hold true at any place and time in the universe and operate in
perfect harmony with each other.
• The Social Sciences cannot do that because it focuses on studying
humans and human behaviour is not predictable but dynamic or
constantly changing.
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Sociology –The study of people
• In the natural sciences there is generally one right answer
◦ E.g. 2 + 2= 4
• In the social sciences there is seldom one correct answer or
solution in which all the social disciplines can agree upon
because human behaviour is difficult to predict.
• For instance let us take the example of poverty and examine how
some of the social science disciplines would explain poverty.
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Sociology Psychology Economics Political Science History Geography
Social Class Lack of knowledge Unequal
distribution of
wealth
Public
Policy
Wealthy
Families
Natural
resources
Social Policy Lack self-esteem Industry
changes
Poor social
welfare
Wars and
famine
Urbanisation
Oppression Lack of motivation Limited
Unskilled work
Conservative
political
views
Margina-
lization
gentrification
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Causes of Poverty
The table illustrates the different factors that each social science
discipline would focus on to explain the causes of poverty.
Can you think of other factors not listed that may cause poverty?
1.
2.
3.
As you can see each discipline has a unique perspective, despite
being a part of the social science family.
As a result the methods and techniques used to conduct social science
research can become difficult to determine.
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Can social scientists use the same methods of the natural
sciences or should they develop their own?
Can social scientists be 100% objective?
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Questions to be answered here?
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We discussed in lecture one how each of us interprets what we see based
on our own personal experiences , culture, etc.
We agreed that we all have a set of ideas about most things –
• Is it possible to interpret the actions of others without allowing our
pre-set ideas to influence our interpretations?
This is what it means to be objective – the freedom from personal or
institutional bias (Livesey, 2014).
In contrast, subjectivity is the inclusion of personal opinions and feelings.
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In the natural sciences a researcher is often seen as separate from
the thing he/she is studying.
For example, a chemist is not a chemical but in the social sciences
a social researcher is a person and a member of society, therefore
we cannot separate ourselves from the objects we study
•So when we study society we are effectively studying ourselves
•As such, contemporary sociologists believe that it is not possible
to adopt the exact scientific methods from the natural sciences and
apply them to behavioural or social science research.
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To study societies scientifically we need to overcome any possible concern
over the consistency of the research methods. How do we do this?
•Social scientists must:
◦ Be clear in their definitions of what they are studying
◦ Be objective as possible
◦ Follow a logical method/have a clear aim
◦ Rely on tested or proven theories
◦ Use reliable data
◦ Offer reliable and sound explanations
Social scientists must be objective in their analysis in order to ensure their
research findings are reliable.
This means they must detach themselves from their own values, beliefs
and opinions about the issue they are studying.
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How do we study society scientifically?
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Examining continuities and change in society can also present a
few issues when applying the scientific method to social research.
Positivism focuses on using methods from the natural sciences in
social research, but the natural sciences deals with objects that
generally do not change, the social sciences deals with people
who are dynamic, reflexive and self-conscious.
For example, human beings constantly interpret their own
surroundings and their own actions and the reflections that they
make do affect their sense of themselves and of others and
consequently their future actions.
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Continuities and Change
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Sociology does more than simply teach us about people, it
provides us with tools to help us study societies in a detached
way without bringing in our own personal views, beliefs and
biases.
One way of studying societies without bias is by relying on
established ideas about different aspects of society.
These established ideas have been tested to be true or
applicable to specific societies – these ideas are referred to as
theories.
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Sociological Research
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Research process in sociological research (Giddens
2015: 40) :
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Summary
• Social sciences are different from natural
sciences in two aspects:
• The goal of their studies
• Their subject matter
• In sociological research we aim to generate
valid and reliable data by following certain
procedures and principles that guarantee
objectivity.
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•Review lecture slides and prepare questions for seminar
one.
•Read for seminar one, Giddens’ chapter 2, pp.38-45 &
bottom of p.61-63 on MOLE.
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Homework
Editor's Notes
Last week we discussed how in the early 19th century August Comte described sociology as an emerging science that should adopt the successful and positivists methods of the natural sciences such as physics and chemistry. Durkheim, Marx and the other founders of sociology also thought of sociology as a scientific subject. However we need to ask ourselves whether it is possible to achieve reliable, predictive knowledge in relation to human behaviour. In order to understand the answer to this question lets first understand what is meant by the natural sciences and Social Sciences.
Have students discuss the question above amongst themselves and write down some additional causes of poverty from two or three of the social science disciplines. (5 min)
Then review student answers for the class and write their answers on the slide above.
Ask students to reflect on the two question above and write down some possible answers to be discussed in lecture. (5 min)
In lecture one we discussed how each of us interprets what we see based on our own personal experiences, with glasses tainted by our experiences, culture, etc. Since we agree that we all have a set of ideas about pretty much everything (e.g., people, cultures, countries, etc.) is it possible to interpret others actions and behaviours without allowing our pre-set ideas of them to influence our interpretations? This is what it means to be objective. Objectivity is the freedom from personal or institutional bias (Livesey, 2014). In contrast subjectivity is the inclusion of personal opinions and feelings.
In order to study societies scientifically we need to overcome any possible concern over the consistency of the research methods. To do this social scientists must: be clear in their definitions of what they are studying (e.g. youth=11-15 yrs.), be objective as possible, follow a logical method/have a clear aim, rely on tested or proven theories, use reliable data and offer reliable and sound explanations. Social scientists must be objective in their analysis in order to ensure their research findings are reliable. This means they must detach themselves from their own values, beliefs and opinions of the issue they are studying. In other words take off the glasses tainted by their experiences and see the issue as if it was the first time he/she has ever seen and heard of it without any pre-set ideas and opinions.
While examining continuities and change in society is interesting and relevant in the social sciences it does present a few issues when applying the scientific method to social research. Last week we briefly discussed Comte’s theoretical view termed positivism which focuses on using methods from the natural sciences in social research. However as we have been discussing the natural sciences deals with objects that generally do not change while social sciences deals with people that are in constant change and as researchers we cannot put limitations on people’s behaviours or limit their ability to change in order to ensure our research is reliable. Therefore, one of the main reasons why contemporary sociologists disagree with positivism is because they believe that shaping and controlling people and societies for the sake of research is impossible and unethical.
