VALUE FREEDOM

• Who says sociology should be value free?

  Positivists

  Comte, Marx and Durkheim
• why do Comte, Marx and Durkheim believe sociology is Value free?

  said sociology should aim to discover social facts about how society works. Believe society is shaped by big value systems, all meanings and values we attach to things are determined by these systems and not individuals, so sociology can study society without worrying about personal value judgement
• Who says sociology should involve values?

  Weber
• why does Weber say sociology isn’t value free?

  says there is a crucial difference between facts and the value judgements attached. says values are needed when choosing an area to study, interpreting data but values must be stated and choosing how to use findings and taking responsibility for use
• what does Weber say should be value free?

  the research process’s itself
• What can values inadvertently impact?

  research topic

  funding

  interpretations

  research method

  selecting findings
• When may sociologists compromise their values?

  a private company is funding the research

  need to agree with their manager

  to stop subconsciously selecting what they prefer
• What do positivists say about value freedom?

  sociology should study observable things such as social facts that can be recorded as quantitative data correlations between variables can be found
• Why can’t sociology be value free?

  The decision to do research is value laden, someone has to decide to do it and someone needs to fund

  its difficult to completely avoid any bias and interviewer effects
• which sociologists say sociology shouldn’t be value free?

  committed sociologists

  some Marxist feminists deliberately choose research with an end use they approve of, believe value judgements should be made
• what does Gouldner say?

  value free research is impossible and undesirable, you cannot separate value judgements from the work and sociologists should use their values to guide them morally and take responsibility for the uses of their work
• what does Becker say?

  sociologists need to take the side of the underdog in society

  it is a good thing is sociologists take sides and do committed research for the less powerful groups