value freedom & value laden

• values

  Beliefs, opinions and prejudices that everyone has. Influenced by the society we belong in.
• value freedom

  -sociologists should not apply their values to their research.
• positivists - yes to value freedom

  -social facts can be gathered through value freedom.

  -value freedom helps sociology be seen as a science.

  -can be objective through neutrality.

  -use quantitative & secondary data.

  -value freedom is crucial for sociological research.
• value laden

  -it is inevitable that sociologists values will be applied to research, they should be applied to research.

  -Gomm: sociologists values do interfere with many things like the research topic, funding and methodological choices

  -if sociologists do not align their values with those of the organisation funding them it is unlikely that they will release the findings or fund other research.

  -sociologists pick and analyse data based on what they see as valuable.
• committed sociology approach

  -should not try to be value free.

  -Gouldner: values guide research, values should be involved to better society.

  -Becker: should take the side of the underdog, look at the bottom of society to better society - 'voice of the oppressed'.

  -feminists: research should entirely be value based, research is based on beliefs.
• partially value free

  Weber:

  -we cannot get social facts, just value judgements.

  -cannot have value freedom in terms of topic, method choice or data analysis.

  -can have value freedom in terms of data collection.