AQA A-LEVEL SOCIOLOGY 7192 Paper 1 And 2 (2 Versions)
Topics in Sociology Mark Scheme With Satisfied Solutions
Positivists - assume that social
... [Show More] realities are 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 [Show Less]