Can Sociology be a Science?
Sociology as a Science? The debate surround Sociology as a Science asks if Sociology can be scientific and if social patterns and people can be studied like other areas of science like medicine, physics or maths. What is Science? The Scientific Method involves inductive reasoning in a process where studies should be testable, objective, empirical and repeatable . Karl Popper - in sociology textbooks we turn to Popper to give us a definition of science. He gives us 5 components of science Empiricism Testable Theoretical Cumulative Objective So in order for research to be scientific it should meet these 5 criteria. Argument 1 - Positivism Positivists argue that Sociology can and should be considered a science and that it meets the 5 criteria laid out above. They believe that methods and procedures of other scientific subjects like physics and chemistry can be applied to the study of society and that human behaviour is a response to external forces Pos