Sociology is the systematic study of society and social interaction. In order to carry out their studies, sociologists identify cultural patterns and social forces and determine how they affect individuals and groups. They also develop ways to apply their findings to the real world.
In contemporary sociology, positivism is based on four main “rules” that define what
constitutes valid knowledge and what types of questions may be reasonably asked
(Bryant 1985):
1. The rule of empiricism: We can only know about things that are actually given
in experience. We cannot validly make claims about things that are invisible,
unobservable, or supersensible like metaphysical, spiritual, or moral truths.
2. The rule of value neutrality: Scientists should remain value-neutral in their
research because it follows from the rule of empiricism that “values” have no
empirical content that would allow their validity to be scientifically tested.
3. The unity of the scientific method: All sciences have the same basic principles
and practices whether their object is natural or human.
4. Law-like statements: The type of explanation sought by scientific inquiry is
the formulation of general laws (like the law of gravity) to explain specific
phenomena (like the falling of a stone).
Much of what is referred to today as quantitative sociology fits within this paradigm
of positivism. Quantitative sociology uses statistical methods such as surveys with
large numbers of participants. Researchers analyze data using statistical techniques
to see if they can uncover patterns of human behaviour. Lawlike relationships
between variables are often posed in the form of statistical relationships or multiple
linear regression formulas that quantify the degree of influence different causal or
independent variables have on a particular outcome (or dependent variable). For
example, the degree of religiosity of an individual in Canada, measured by the
frequency of church attendance or religious practice, can be predicted by a
combination of different independent variables such as age, gender, income,
immigrant status, and region (Bibby 2012).
Structural Functionalism
Structural Functionalism also falls within the positivist tradition in sociology due
to Durkheim’s early efforts to describe the subject matter of sociology in terms of
objective social facts—“social facts must be studied as things, that is, as realities
external to the individual” (Durkheim 1895)—and to explain them in terms of their
social functions. Durkheim argued that in order to study society, sociologists have
to look beyond individuals to social facts: the laws, morals, values, religious beliefs,
customs, fashions, rituals, and all of the cultural rules that govern social life
(Durkheim 1895). Each of these social facts serves one or more functions within a
society. For example, one function of a society’s laws may be to protect society from
violence, while another is to punish criminal behaviour, while another is to preserve
public health.
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