Sociology as a science

• Bauman:

  • Sociology focuses on class, race + family
  • Reflecting concerns of society rather than human behaviour
• Shapin:

  • Science has a prestige = basis for knowledge
  • Growing sociology prestige led to increase funding + availablility to study
• Wallace: 4 sources of knowledge-

  • Authoritarian - accept as true
  • Mystical - insight into true nature of world (drug fuelled /religious experience ) 
  • Logico-rational - following rules of logic (work for philosophers)
  • Scientific knowledge - generating ideas + hypothesis and testing them through range of methodology
• Popper:

  • Engage in process of falsification
  • Test to see if aims are false
• Billig :

  • Methodology operates as a straightjacket + limits thought
• Harding (fem) :

  • Male scientists create malestream knowledge