20 mark essay about sociology as a science from page 195 of the Napier Press AQA A-Level Sociology Book Two.
Includes the item and question in the document.
Got 17/20 marks on it overall
ITEM A
Sociologists disagree about whether or not sociology can study society using similar scientific methods
to those used by natural scientists because of significant differences between the social and natural
worlds. Some argue that whether or not sociology is a science depends on how science is defined, and
point to the way the natural sciences is similar to the social influences affecting the study of society
Applying material from Item A and your knowledge, evaluate the view that sociology, is not and cannot
be a science (20 marks)
Science produces true ‘objective’ knowledge about the world around us. Various sociologists have
different beliefs on whether sociology is or can be a science. Some sociologists, such as positivists,
believe that sociologists believe that society can be studied objectively and we can establish cause-
and-effect relationships, therefore, sociology is a science. However, many others argue that
sociology cannot be a science due to the definitions of what science is. As item A states, some
people argue that there are ‘significant differences between the social and natural worlds’ which
mean that sociology cannot be a science.
Interpretivists are a group of sociologists who believe that sociology is not and should not be a
science. Interpretivists believe that human beings have free will and we do not respond
automatically to external stimuli in the way that objects studied in the natural sciences do. When
conducting research, interpretivists want to gain verstehen rather than establish cause-and-effect
relationships which positivists want to do. Verstehen is an empathetic understanding and seeing the
world through the eyes of the individual participating in the research. They believe that to gain
verstehen we must understand an individual’s meanings behind their behaviour using qualitative
methods and this obtains true valid data. This is shown through Douglas’s research on suicide.
Douglas stated that to understand and truly study suicide we must uncover the meanings for those
involved. This demonstrates how sociology is not and cannot be a science as the methods used to
study the natural sciences aim to be detached, objective and have empirical evidence. For
interpretivists, this is not a suitable way to study society as it does not allow the researcher to truly
understand the point of view of the research participant. Douglas argues that scientific methods, e.g.
quantitative research methods, cannot be used to study suicide as you are not learning the factors
that lead to suicide but only what the coroner has classified as a suicide. This shows that using
scientific methods to study sociology phenomena would provide invalid results, therefore sociology
cannot be a science. However, the study of suicide from Durkheim would argue that that sociology is
and should be a science. Positivists, such as Durkheim, argue that sociology is made up of observable
social facts that exist outside of the individual so they can be studied. Durkheim studied the factors
that lead to suicide using quantitative data from official statistics as he found patterns within the
suicide rate, for example, suicide rates were higher amongst Protestants than Catholics. Durkheim
concluded this as a social fact which was determined by other social facts, e.g. integration.
According to science historians such as Popper, what outlines a scientific theory is a falsification.
Falsification refers to the belief that if a theory is scientific it must be able to be proved wrong and
that is what scientists should aim to do when conducting their research. Popper demonstrates
through the black swan theory, if a researcher wanted to prove that all swans were white they
should not continue to find white swans but aim to find one black swan as that would disprove their
entire theory. For Popper, a good scientific theory is one that has withstood falsification so far and
the method of falsification is what allows science to grow. Popper’s definition of science provides
evidence for the fact that sociology is and cannot be a science as many concepts in sociology are
unable to be falsified. For example, in Marxism, the idea of false class consciousness cannot be
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