Auguste Comte
father of sociology + positivist
Empiricism
the view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation
Suicide Study
Emile Durkheim; those with more positive close interactions are less likely to commit suicide as they are integrated into society
Correlations
observed associations between two variables
causal explanation
A statement in social theory about why events occur that is expressed in terms of causes and effects. They correspond to associations in the empirical world.
Social Facts (Durkheim)
Durkheim's term for a group's patterns of behavior. Sociology is the science of social facts, which are "things in themselves" not reducible to other orders of human life such as - and especially - the psychological.
Marxism and science
Not scientific but claimed to be adopting a scientific approach in his work
Historical Materialism
Marxist belief that the class divisions of a society determine everything else that matters
Verstehen (Weber)
understanding social behavior by putting yourself in the place of others
Weber on Science
Used a positivistic approach and believed sociology could come up with scientific conclusions.
subjective
based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions
Objective
unbiased; not subjective
value free
the view that a sociologist's personal values or beliefs should not influence social research
Karl Popper
falsification
deductive approach
a research approach that starts with a theory, forms a hypothesis, makes empirical observations, and then analyzes the data to confirm, reject, or modify the original theory
Falsification
a form of deception that involves presenting false, fabricated information as though it were true
hypothetico-deductive method
positivist research design based on the development and systematic testing of hypotheses
Free will
the freedom and ability to choose
Determinism
The assumption that behavior is caused by heredity and environment
Kuhn
paradigms
Paradigms in Sociology
differences in these perspectives mostly have to do with the sets of assumptions about the nature of the social world on which each paradigm is based (framework or model of the world)