other views of science and sociology

• other views of sociology and science

  1. popper
  2. Kuhn
  3. realism - keat and urry
• popper

  believes much of sociology is unscientific because it consists of theories that cannot be put to the test of being falsified

  
  

  e.g Marxism predicts that there will be a revolution leading to a classless society, but that it has not yet happened because of the false consciousness of the proletariat. therefore cannot be falsified.

  1. fallacy of induction
  2. falsification
• fallacy of induction


  popper argues we should reject verificationism due to fallacy of induction

  argues we can never prove a theory to be true by producing observations then verifiying them

  swan analogy - if we observe a large number of white swans, we make generalisation that all swans are white. but a single observation of a black saw ruins theory
• falsification


  popper believes instead of verificationism we should use falsification

  proving social facts wrong but when tested stands up to all attempts to disprove it