Is sociology value free essay plan

Intro What is value freedom define it Locate the debate: positivists + functionalists vs interpretivists + committed sociologists

Positivists: yes to all Desire to be scientific- science is considered neutral/objective Sociologists should remain morally neutral- their job is to judge it, uncover how the social system works – laws independent of individuals – external forces Subjectivity contaminates research Weber: ideal type: he maintains that although values enter into the choice of the topic once the sociology has chosen their research they can adopt a neutral framework to carry out their research. He calls this the ideal type- a methodological model which can be applied to a subject in order to carry out value free research

Functionalists: yes to all Argued that value free sociological research was crucial because the objective knowledge that scientific sociology could be used to uncover the principles of good, ordered, integrated society Thus, research should aim to be scientific or value free because otherwise it is unlikely to be taken seriously or have impact on social policy Sees society as harmonious and has conservative values that favour the status quo This could just be seen as a way to raise the credibility of sociology not to get the best research (a03)

Interpretivists: no to all Sociology cannot and shouldn’t aim to be value free To understand the reasons of social actors we need to use subjectivity, common sense, our own view of the world, verstehen We act rather than react as conscious individuals Cannot remain impartial as we all have our own thoughts from the minute the research begins it is linked to our views It is misguided to screen our views Cannot treat individuals as matter that is studied in science – different phenomena requires different outlook

Committed sociology – goulder – domain assumptions Maintains that sociology can never be value free because we all hold domain assumptions These are views that we all have about the world eg that poverty is due to laziness It is impossible for us to detach ourselves from what we know about the world

Funding and power Most of the points referring to funding maintain that they make sociology and natural sciences unable to be value free Since the organisation that is funding the research will have vested interests which are shaped by society eg avandia Gomm: sociology is a social action carried out by real people in the real world and the real world is characterised by conflicts of interests between social groups, come of whom are more powerful than others – feminism – patriarchy