AQA A-LEVEL SOCIOLOGY 7192/1 Paper 1 Topics in Sociology
Mark Scheme With Satisfied Solutions
Positivists - assume that social realities are
... [Show More] objective and are best studied through
quantitative research methods
sociology is a science and cause+effect and patterns can be detected in society and
human behaviour
Verificationism - the only things we can rightly claim to KNOW as true are things we
can verify with 100% accuracy using logic or sensory experience.
Durkheim study of suicide - He studied suicide with the aim of proving sociology was a
science.
He used positivist methods but some say he should have used interpretativist
methods.
- his choice of topic was not objective cause his friend comitted suicide prior to this
research
Interpretivists - Assume that social realities are subjectively constructed and are
best studied through qualitative research methods
humans interpret symbols and society and also CREATE society, rather then society
creating them
Verstenen - understanding social behavior by putting yourself in the place of others
Types of interpretivism - -interactionists
-phenomenologists
-ethnomethodologists
Popper - falsification and the fallacy of induction
some sociology is NOT a science because many sociological theories cannot be
falsified, eg marxism
BUT sociology CAN BE scientific if hypothesis produced an be falsified
Kuhn - PARADIGMS- norms and values surrounding science, telling scientists how ot
think and behave- science can only exist with a shared paradigm eg gravity exists
sociology is not a science cause there is no paradigm- sociologists dont have shared
values and dont agree on a single theory. there is no paradigm
Keat and Urry - Sociology is an open system (not all aspects can be controlled) but
that doesn't make it totally unscientific because sociology recognises underlying
structures and patterns
eg marxism isnt unscientific because it observes 'class' and its effects on peoplecause and effect
is sociology a scienve overview - -POSITIVISTS: yes it is, patterns of behaviour are
like sooo scientific
-INTERPRETIVISTS: no it is not, cause and effect literally dont exist in society
-POPPER: it isnt always but it can be sometimes is falsifiable
-KUHN- its not cause theres no paradigm
-KEAT and URRY (realists)- it is a science even though its an open system cause it
observes cause and effect similarly to natural sciences
Weber's 4 stages of research process that are affected by values - 1- values as a
guide to research eg picking the topic
2-data collection must be fully objective though
3-values in interpreting date eg feminists see willis study as sexist and marxists see
it as cool idk
4-values in the way the research is publicised and presented
modern positivists view on objectivity - values should be irrelevant to research
because:
- wanting to appear scientific cause natural science had more status and silly little
sociologists wanted status too, they wanted sociology to be respectable?
-social position of sociology in the mid 20th century as more conformist than in the
past, not challenging authority as much so therefore abandoning values
Gouldner - value free sociology is impossible and undesirable
sociology SHOULD have values [Show Less]