Sociology

'Sociology cannot and should not be a science.' To what extent do sociological arguments and evidence support this view? (33 Marks)

Since the beginning of the 19th century, Sociologists have attempted to establish Sociology as a science. They were deeply influenced by Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, and the effects it had on the decline of Religion in the Victorian era.

Firstly, Positivists, such as Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim, believe that Sociology can be a science. Positivist Sociologists believe that human behaviour in society is governed by discoverable social laws. They believe that behaviour reacts to social matters that are external, for instance, Religion, Education and the Media. They believe society is real; and it still exists when humans change and evolve.

Like Natural Laws, Structuralists believe social forces can be analysed in the same way through scientific methods. Although experimental methods are not used by Positivists, for practical and ethical issues, Positivists can follow the logic of Natural science research, for example, quantitative, objective-free research. This leads Positivists to use methods such as statistics and social surveys. An example of Positivist Sociology is Durkheim's study of Suicide. Durkheim established a hypothesis and collected suicide statistics from different societies and countries. In his research, he concluded there were four different types of suicide; depending on the amount of integration and regulation each victim received. According to Durkheim, the four types of suicide are; Altruistic (as a result of excessive integration), Anomic (as a result of insufficient regulation), Egoistic (as a result of insufficient integration), and finally, Fatalistic (as a result of excessive regulation). At the end of his research, Durkheim claimed that his results were reliable and supported his hypothesis and analysis. Until the mid 20th century, the Positivist view of Sociology remained the dominant view. They...