The Sociology of Sociology
As told by Dr. Frank Elwell
Paradigms
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A paradigm refers to the fact that
scientists assume a view of what the
world is like and then work within this
assumption.
It is a set of background assumptions
about how the world works--a world
view.
Paradigms
A common assumption of how things work
aids research because it helps trained
minds to focus on problems with a
concerted effort.
Paradigms
Paradigms are a kind of intellectual
roadmap for practitioners to follow when
doing their research. The map tells
them what to look for, how to go about
looking, and what they might find.
Scholars work within paradigms. At the
same time, paradigms can narrow your
view.
Paradigms
In 1962, Thomas Kuhn, a physicist,
proposed the concept of paradigm in his
book, The Structure of Scientific
Revolutions.
Paradigms
So paradigms form a framework for
understanding the world, but at the
same time, they may serve to restrict
our vision, to bias the result of our
investigations.
Paradigms
According to Kuhn, science does not
advance by the evolutionary process of
slow accumulation of knowledge.
Science advances by revolution.
Paradigms
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The Kuhnian model of the advancement
of all sciences:
Paradigm 1 ---> Normal Science --->
Anomalies ---> Crisis--> Revolution --->
Paradigm 2 --->…
Paradigms
"Normal science" is a period of the slow
accumulation of knowledge. In these
periods, scientists work on, expand, and
modify the reigning paradigm.
Paradigms
The work of normal science inevitably
spawns anomalies--things or facts that
simply cannot be explained by the
existing paradigm.
Paradigms
As anomalies mount, a crisis stage is
reached, and some scientists begin
attacking the reigning paradigm and to
cast around for a new paradigm that
can explain what is known.
Paradigms
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At this point, somebody looks at the
subject differently and formulates a new
paradigm.
The proponents of the new paradigm
are often attacked and ridiculed-sometimes even expelled from the
ranks of scientists.
Paradigms
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Over time, if the new paradigm makes
more sense of reality, it gains
supporters, and soon the new paradigm
becomes dominant.
The stage is then set for the process
to repeat itself.
Scientific Revolutions:
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Copernicus and Sun Centered
Universe
Newton and Physics
Pastuer and Germ Theory
Lister and antiseptics
Darwin and Evolution
Einstein and Relativity
Properties of Paradigms
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The new paradigm is often met with
hostility.
The new paradigm explains many
anomalies, it also paves the way for
new anomalies to arise.
There are many social factors
involved in the scientific enterprise.
Properties of Paradigms
Science is not the ivory tower of pure
thought and rationality that it
pretends to be.
Some Observations:
Western science is becoming smug.
Practitioners believe that they possess
all the answers, or that they will be able
to discover all the answers simply by
extending the existing paradigms.
Some Observations:
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While they may be able to look at
paradigmatic revolutions of the past-there is a smugness involved with this
examination.
There are many anomalies in the
modern world that cannot be accounted
for under existing paradigms.
Some Observations:
Even today, scientist who propose new
paradigms, who step outside the
bounds of their science and propose
new ways of looking at their subject
matter, are still ridiculed, and expelled
from professional societies.
Some Observations:
Some are even subject to government
persecution. Medical science offers
many examples: chiropractic medicine;
faith healing; acupuncture; "cancer
cures."
Some Observations:
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People that subscribe to the reigning
paradigm in medical science deny the
existence of any anomalies.
They do not attempt to extend their own
paradigm to account for any anomalies,
but respond politically.
Some Observations:
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They heap ridicule on innovators,
labeling them as charlatans and quacks
(many probably are).
They deny research funds to those who
would seriously investigate outside .
Some Observations:
By its refusal to look at new phenomenon,
by its refusal to seriously investigate
alternative theories and claims that do
not fit into the reigning paradigm,
scientists are paving the way for
ignorance.
Some Observations:
Charlatans, mystics, and their theories
are not subjected to the scientific
method, and thus take root among the
general population. Such action
ultimately results in a distrust in science
in general.
Sociology of Sociology
Most scientific disciplines are dominated
by a single paradigm, they develop a
shared set of concepts, methods, and
assumptions about their subject matter.
Sociology of Sociology
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Sociology is a multiple paradigm
science.
It is a collection of different perspectives
based on different background
assumptions of a common social reality.
Sociology of Sociology
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A sociologist, like anyone else, has
certain pre-conceived assumptions
about social life.
Many of these assumptions are
unexamined, not even a part of the
science of sociology, but gained through
the socialization process.
Sociology of Sociology
Many of these assumptions are based on
beliefs, ideologies and experiences.
They are back-ground assumptions of
how the world operates that are rarely
examined.
Sociology of Sociology
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All of science is influenced by background assumptions, social ideologies
and perspectives.
This is especially noticeable in the
social sciences (political science,
anthropology, sociology, economics)
because we deal with phenomena close
to human experience.
Sociology of Sociology
Much theory may be subscribed to
because the theory fits the back-ground
assumptions of the holder, or the
sociocultural system itself pushes one
to look in that direction--not because of
any “scientific proof.”
Sociology of Sociology
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For example, the concept of evolution
was established in social thought well
before Darwin.
Darwin simply applied the evolutionary
concepts developed by Malthus and
Spencer to biological speciation.
Sociology of Sociology
The industrial and democratic revolutions
are often identified as being responsible
for the rise of sociology itself.
Sociology of Sociology
The growing concern over the
environment has brought a strong
ecological influence to contemporary
sociological and anthropological theory.
Some Observations:
The point is that we should be conscious
of the influence of social factors in
social theory.
Some Observations:
For example, a psychologist who
becomes a Freudian may do so
because of faulty toilet training.
Some Observations:
Or, we may give our allegiance to the first
theory we encounter in our field that fits
our background assumptions. It may be
entirely accidental.
Some Observations:
She (the psychologist) may have bought
into Freud be cause she needs a father
figure--or because she has been
tormented by sexual desires all her life.
Dad:
Some Observations:
Alternatively (if your into conditioning),
she may have become a Freudian
because she had a good experience
when answering an essay question on
Freud.
Some Observations:
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Or she may have become a Freudian
because all her friends became
Freudians.
Or, finally, it may have been the only
perspective taught at her school.
Some Observations:
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Science, both natural and social, is a
system of perspectives and beliefs.
While these perspectives and beliefs
are continually tested against reality,
science is not a perfect rational system.
Some Observations:
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It cannot be, it is a human construction
of reality (either social or natural) and as
such, must be imperfect.
No scientific theory is absolute. All
science are tentative interpretations of
reality. There should be doubt about
any paradigm.
A Note:
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This class should have been called
social paradigms instead of social
theory. What most people call theory
are more precisely paradigms.
A theory states relationships in a
testable manner, paradigms are world
views, many parts of which cannot be
tested.
Sociology of Sociology
What we will look at in this class are the
founding fathers of the various
paradigms in sociology.
Sociology of Sociology
Sociology began as a discipline in the
19th century largely as a reaction to the
the democratic and industrial
revolutions.
Sociology of Sociology
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These men were acutely aware that
their traditional society was crumbling.
They were especially concerned with
where society (especially western
society) was going.
Sociology of Sociology
Each of the eight we will study attempted
to construct a paradigm (or theory if you
like) that would explain what in the
world was gong on.
Sociology of Sociology
A paradigm does not attempt to explain all
of social reality. It simply attempts to
describe the most important features of
the social system.
Sociology of Sociology
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If you attempted to account for
everything, it would be long, boring, and
as confusing as social reality itself.
The best theory (or paradigms) attempt
to describe the most with the fewest
possible statements or assumptions.
Sociology of Sociology
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Social paradigms (or theories) are not
made up for the express purpose of
tormenting students.
Rather, their purpose is to aid people in
understanding the social world around
them.
Sociology of Sociology
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Good theory should contribute to your
understanding of the world around you.
It should serve as a beginning
framework to organize the diverse data
(not only in the sociological sense) that
you encounter.
Sociology of Sociology
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Theory serves as a guide that is
especially helpful when you begin study
of a new social area.
It tells you what to look for, how
variables relate to one another, what
you are likely to find.
Sociology of Sociology
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Theory is absolutely essential in the
scientific enterprise.
Science can only be advanced through
theory; theory is disciplined by research.