Chapter 26: Sociology as a Science
- Politics and the Perceived Boundaries of Science: Activism, Sociology, and Scientific Legitimacy - This article explores public understandings of sociology as a science and investigates why the image of sociology as science may be socially significant.
1. How has sociology's scientific legitimacy become politicised?
2. What is the association between political ideology and perceptions of sociology as being scientific?
3. Why may sociologists want the field to be seen as a scientific?
- The Wartime Narrative in US sociology, 1940–1947: Stigmatizing Qualitative Sociology in the Name of ‘Science’ - This article discusses the narrative surrounding qualitative and quantitative sociological methods from 1940 to 1947. Through doing so it reveals why some forms of sociology were viewed as more scientific than others and how this continues to have ramifications for sociology today.
1. What did the wartime narrative encourage sociologists to research?
2. How were qualitative sociologists treated during world war two within the discipline?
3. Which methods were considered scientific by many sociologists in World War Two?
- The Fear of Unreason: Science Wars and Sociology - This article explores the 'Science Wars', demonstrating how sociology has been positioned in relation to the science and why boundaries may be placed around science as a discipline.
1. According to Gross and Levitt who are the 'academic left'?
2. How is the academic left charged with being detrimental to science?
3. How may the sciences attempt to enforce boundaries around their discipline?