Objectivity and values

• Values in sociology

  Everyone has values, beliefs and opinions

  • possible for sociologists to keep their subjective values out of their research
  • staying value neutral is impossible > sociologists are humans studying other humans
  • desirable for sociologists to use their values to improve society
• Classical sociologists

  • Comte and Durkheim (positivist) = sociology should discover the truth about how society works and improve our lives and say with certainty what is best for society
  • Marx = saw himself as a scientist > thought he discovered truth about society's future and possibility of a classless society emerging
• Myrdal and Gouldner

  Argued sociologists shouldn't only identify their values but should openly take sides

  • undesirable to be value neutral > without using their values to guide their research, they put their services up for sale
• Value laden

  Opinions influenced research
• Value free

  Opinions haven't influenced research
• Funding and careers

  Most research is funded by the government and businesses = those paying for research may control its direction

  • may prevent publication of research if it's findings are unacceptable
  • sociologists may want to further their careers > influences choice of topic
  • may censor themselves in fear of harming their career
• Values, perspectives and methods, Gouldner

  All research is influenced by values

  • influence different perspectives they choose, concepts they develop and conclusion they reach
• Objectivity and relativism

  Relativism argues different groups and individuals have different views as to what is true, reflecting their values and interests

  • no way of judging whether any view is true
• Relativism and post modernism

  There's no priviledged accounts of society that have access to the truth

  • no objective truth, what you believe is true is true for you
  • any perspective claiming to have the truth = meta-narrative based on values/assumptions
• Durkheim's study on suicide, positivist

  Compared suicide rates between Catholics and Protestants > found less suicides amongst Catholics, and less women committed suicide than men > low levels of integration of individuals caused high rates of suicide

  • avoids artificiality, no ethical issues
  • comparative method gives less control over variables than field experiments