Positivism

• Sociology


  Coined by Comte, a positivist who believed we can apply the logic/methods of natural sciences to society
• Positivists


  • Favour macrostructural explanations of society, like functionalism and Marxism, as they see society/s structures as social facts that shape our behaviour patterns
• Patterns, laws & inductive reasoning

  Positivists argue that reality is patterned and we can observe these patterns, like water boiling at 100 degrees. They believe sociologists should observe, identify and measure patterns in society and then explain them using inductive reasoning to discover laws that determine how society works
• Verificationism


  Observe patterns, develop a theory to explain them, then verify the theory through further observations to claim to have discovered the truth or "laws"
• Positivists seek to find the causes of the patterns they've found by producing statements about how society works, which can be used to predict future events and guide social policies
• Objective quantitative research


  • Positivists believe sociologists should adopt the research process of natural scientists, using quantitative data to find and measure patterns of behaviour and discover laws of cause-and-effect relationships that determine behaviour. Researchers should be detached and objective, using methods like questionnaires, structured interviews and official statistics
• Durkheim's study of suicide aimed to show that sociology was a scientific discipline with its own distinct subject matter