early positivists

• Comte & Durkheim


  -the job of the sociologists is to discover the 'truth' about society

  > to improve human life

  -principles of objectivity & value freedom allows the sociologist to say what's best for society with scientific certainty
• Marx


  -believed his methods had led him to discover the truth about society's future

  -and the inevitability of a communist revolution
• Weber


  -argues social facts cannot tell us how society should be improved

  -values can > they're very important
• roles of values in research 


  Weber
• role of values when choosing what to research - Weber


  -select facts in terms of what we regard as important

  -based on own values (value relevance)
• role of values when using data collection & hypothesis testing -Weber


  -must be objective & unbiased

  -not ask leading questions
• role of values in interpretation of data - Weber

  -facts set in theoretical framework so we can understand significance & draw conclusions

  -theoretical framework is influenced by values

  -so must be explicit about it, spelling out our values
• role of values in reflecting on consequences of research - Weber


  -mustn't dodge moral & political issues their work raises by hiding behind words such as 'objectivity' & 'value freedom'

  -take moral responsibility for harm their research may do