essay natural science and sociology

8/7/2019 Essay Natural Science and Sociology

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Towhat extent is it possible to apply themethods and procedures of natural science tothe sociological study of society?

Questions which ask about the scientific nature of sociology are fairly common. However,some students tend to find this topic difficult. You need to consider whether sociologycan be studied in the same way as natural sciences. The topic is no more difficult than anyother topic in sociology. Don't be put off by the terms 'science' or 'natural science'. Youdon't have to think scientifically to answer this question.

Most would agree that one of the aims of science is to measurephenomena using systematic, objective methods which are freefrom personal bias. Scientists are interested in discoveringuniversal laws which enable them to predict future events, forexample, that water boils at 100 degrees centigrade at standardatmospheric pressure. This enables universal statements to bemade about the phenomenon under investigation, and allowshuman beings to manipulate nature to their benefit. Scientistsbelieve that there is always an order, or truth, to discover, andthat phenomena do not occur randomly. In other words, there isalways a cause-and-effect relationship to discover.

In their study of society, positivists use the methods establishedby natural scientists in their investigations into the natural world.

The opening paragraph givesa definition of science andan example from science whichevery school child should know.

This paragraph can be seenas an extension of the definitionbecause it links science to


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are wide overlaps between the study of natural science andsociology. They argue that both attempt to give an objectiveanalysis of the areas they investigate.

The positivist view and Popper's ideas are dependent on thenotion that science is based on objective methods and procedures.According to Lynch, this is not always the case. Lynch carried outan investigation to discover how scientists really act. He foundthat when ambiguities in their results occur, scientists makeassumptions about the results and are likely to interpret themaccording to their existing knowledge. This is subjective ratherthan objective.

Kuhn also disagrees with the assertion that scientists engagein the objective pursuit of knowledge. He argues that scientists workwithin a paradigm, which is a set of shared beliefs that scientistshold about the natural world. Kuhn believes that natural scientific knowledge does not exist independently and objectively, butis constructed by scientists within a framework of assumptions.It is produced rather than discovered. Sociology has a number ofcompeting perspectives to explain social life, and consequentlyno single agreed paradigm; for example, Marxists, functionalistsand interactionists all view the social world in different ways,and come up with very different explanations of social behaviour.For Kuhn, sociology is pre-paradigmatic and therefore is not ascience.

Anderson et al., writing from a realist perspective, have criticisedKuhn for underrating the disputes which go on between scientistsin the world of natural science. Scientists are not always in agreement: for example, take the conflicting evidence and informationproduced by various scientists about CJD, the human equivalentof 'mad cow disease'. Some scientists claim that it is safe to eatbeef while others advise against it.

According to Sayer, in the world of natural science there aretwo categories of study - open and closed structures. Sayer arguesthat, within a closed structure, all the factors are controllable andmeasurable, so the results of this study can formulate universallaws. However, this is not the case within an open structure wherethe variables cannot be controlled and measured with the sameaccuracy. There may be many areas of science which make up anopen structure, for example, seismologists cannot accurately

The information on CJDis straightfrom the newspapers. Don't beafraid to apply your own relevantexamples. Examiners tend toreward recent examples whichare successfully applied to thequestion. CJD is a good examplebecause it's topical. You couldjust as easily comment on theShelljGreenpeace debate on theenvironmental effects of dumpingoil platforms at sea. By the timeyou sit your exam, there might beother examples in the news whichyou can apply instead of CJD.


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The science debate willgive you a good grounding in understanding Durkheim's work, particularlyin relation to his study of suicide. Make sure you pay particular attention to the spelling ofsociologists' names. Alltoo frequently, students misspell Durkheim. This certainly does not lookimpressive to the examiner.

are few differences between sociological studies and the investigations of the natural sciences.

In conclusion, what constitutes scientific sociology varies according to the sociologist's values, which are generally governed bythe sociologist's theoretical perspective. Although it is possible toapply the methods of natural science to the study of society, it isclear that not all aspects of society can be investigated by scientific methods. It is doubtful whether the application of scientificmethods and procedures would lead to accurate information aboutgang behaviour, for example. Early positivists assumed that crimestatistics were generated by scientific methods and procedures,but interactionist studies demonstrate that the picture of thetypical criminal which is built up through the manipulation ofstatistics is a misconception.

The conclusion summa rises thepositivist versus interactionistdebate. Note that it makesreferences to when the scientificmethod can and can't be appliedto sociology by using the exactwords of the question. The essaytitle was in the form of aquestion, and demands ananswer. Make sure you giveone inyour conclusion.

Related questions1 'The use of natural science methods is inappropriate in the study of society.' Discuss.2 'Non-scientific studies of society are nothing more than subjective accounts.' Evaluate this

statement.3 Evaluate the claim that sociology is a science.

essay natural science and sociology

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