value freedom and commitment

• modern positivists

  unlike durkheim and comte modern positivists argue that their own values are completely irrelevant to their research because ~

  1. they wish to appear scientific - science is concerned with fact so sociologists should remain neutral
  2. social position of sociology - gouldner argues that in the 1950s american sociologists in particular became spiritless technicians who hired themselves out to businesses to solve their problems, so by rejecting their own values they promised to not criticise their employers, a view that weber directly criticised
• committed sociology

  myrdal - sociologists should not only make their values clear but take sides as it is impossible to remain value-free as it is ~

  • impossible - either the sociologist's values or the values of their employers are bound to be reflected in their work
  • undesirable - without values to guide research sociologists are merely selling their services to the highest bidder
• whose side are we on?

  becker - values are always present in society but traditionally positivists/functionalists take the viewpoint of powerful groups, and sociologists should adopt a compassionate stance on the side of powerless groups

  • this clearly links to the empathetic and qualitative research methods preferred by interpretivists
• criticisms of becker

  gouldner - rejects becker's view for being overly romantic towards these disadvantaged groups and adopts a marxist perspective

  • sociologists should be on the side of those who are fighting back against society
  • sociology should be committed to ending oppression and unmasking the ways that the powerful maintain their position
• funding and careers


  modern research is funded by thrid parties, often government departments, charities or businesses which usually control the directon and type of questions involved in a study

  • this means work is likely influenced by the payer's values
  • sociologists may wish to further their careers which might influence their choice of topic, or lead them to censor themselves to protect their career
• perspectives and methods

  different sociologists embody different assumptions and values

  • feminism - society is based on gender inequality and promotes women's righst
  • functionalism - society is harmonious and favours the status quo
  • marxism - society is conflict-ridden and works towards a classless society

  this influences the topics and methods perspectives choose, as well as the conclusions they make about their results, so all sociologists can be argued to subconsciously confirm their own biases
• objectivity and relativism

  if all perspectives apply different values that change their results, is anything true? relativism argues that ~

  • different groups and individuals have different views about what is true and sees the world in their own way
  • there is no independent way to judge if any view is more true than another

  this means that there is no one objective truth, and everything everyone believes is true for them
• relativism and postmodernism

  postmodernists hold a relativist view and reject the idea that any one account of the social world is superior to another, and any perspective that claims to have access to the truth is a meta-narrative

  • this leads to a paradox that means we shouldn't believe postmodernism, so relativism is self-defeating
  • in practice sociologists rarely go this far as there is a real world that can be observed and recorded, so theories can be established on the basis of these recorded facts

  it matters less if a theory has values and more if it is able to explain the world