by Hannah Curtis

Created on: November 11, 2008

There is a debate regarding this issue, some sociologists regard their subject as a social science, whilst scientists can not see the connection between the two subjects.

Positivist sociologists are of the opinion that sociology should be seen as a science. Consequently they conduct their sociological research similarly to that of scientific research, following the conventional scientific model in order to gain information. This particular school of sociology was initiated by the work of two of the founding fathers of sociology, Comte and Quetelet. They believed that just like causes and effects within science, causes and effects within society could be proved by the use of statistics. Also just as there are general scientific laws which explain the nature and order of the world, there are general laws which explain the nature of society. Examples of this scientific approach include Emile Durkheim's study of suicide (in which he used the comparative method) and the work of Karl Marx, who believed that there were laws of economics. Additionally sociologists, Mayhew and Rowntree formed the basis of the British empirical tradition, which is an approach where the collection of data is concentrated on rather than a particular theory.

Sociology has been shown to be compatible as a science for it fits in with certain key components of science. Scientific knowledge is empirical, the evidence can be seen all around us, it is knowable through our senses', and therefore can be measured. Likewise evidence for sociological research can be seen all around us and according to Durkheim social facts (which hold constraints and limits over our behaviour) are measurable, and theories can be tested for validity.

Science and sociology can produce theoretical statements and general predictions, science in regards to the behaviour of nature and sociology in regards to the behaviour of groups of people. Durkheim for example noticed that there was a higher rate of suicide amongst certain group of people than others. The knowledge gained by both scientists and sociologists is cumulative. The evidence and statistics are gathered over the years, accumulating a stock of information on the relative subject. Physical sciences and sociology both use methodological processes, which produce objective results. Scientists use conventional experiments in labs, while sociologists like Durkheim and Weber used the comparative method (or multi-variate analysis) which is a sociological experiment.

Sayer

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