Sociology as a Science

The definition of Sociology itself refers to the systematic study of societies and human populations. There have been many debates about whether sociology is a science and influential sociologists such as Durkheim have attempted to demonstrate it as such. However with the numerous amounts of conflicting approaches that developed in the way sociology was studied have not led it to this classification. It is believed the earlier sociologists adapted methods that were regarded as more scientific, however the influence of Weber’s ideologies lead to further debates. For example interpretivists like Douglas regard individuals as choosing their behaviour not merely acting out what is expected by them due to official statistics.

DURKHIEM (Positivism and Suicide Verification) – Taking a positivist approach to the study suicide between Catholic and Protestants helped observed direct patterns. Used official statistics to explain it’s a social fact that if you are a Catholic, you are more likely to commit suicide than a Protestant. Why? Because of the rate of social integration intertwined with both religions. (For Science)

KARL POPPER (FALSIFICATION) – The philosophical scientist’s notes that what makes science unique is that it’s that it’s governed by the principles of falsifications which mean all knowledge can be tested and disproved. In case of his explanation of all swans’ being white, a single observation of a black swan would destroy this theory. Thus knowledge is temporary and provisional not necessarily fixed.
Looking at the case of sociology as a science, the subject itself has adapted to various methods and styles over the years. New methodological approaches to studies have revealed flaws in previous dominant methods of study proving better for evaluating certain situations and opportunities for research. This is why it makes it a subject where the research methods are falsifiable supporting it as a science. (For Science)


DOUGLAS (Interpretivism and Suicide) – Disagree with the sociological model being placed as a natural science. He argues that “social facts” don’t necessarily have to determine behaviour but rather individuals have free will to choose how they act out the basis of their meanings. (Against it as a Science)

THOMAS KUHN (Scientific Paradigms) – His studies revealed that science follows the rules of a Paradigm. A paradigm is a set of shared beliefs that provide a basic framework of assumptions, principles and methods used to obtain data. This is because it tells scientists what and how they should perform a study. It’s hard to have a subject that has many conflicting agreements without a shared agreement to be declared as a science.
For example, different type of sociologists such as positivists and interpretivists favour different types of methods. Depending on what perspective they view society and support according to Mydral’s theory of committed sociology will largely contribute to the way they study it. (Argue against it, as a Science.)

KEAT AND URRY (REALISM- OPEN AND CLOSED SYSTEMS) – Similar to Horton’s studies of open and closed systems, Realists Keat and Urry explain that sociologists study open systems where the processes are far too complex to make exact predictions. In their explanation, they stated predicting the crime rate is impossible as there are too many variables involve which are too complex to measure. (Argue against it as a Science.)
Using methods such as experiments favoured by positivists would attempt to study a closed system where variables are controlled and known. However society is far too complex to study it through the variables noted by the researcher. There are so many variables to explore and one person may interpret such variables differently or in a different manner.