• Tryst of Sociology with science began even before the birth of the discipline.

• Early social thinkers adopted scientific terms from natural sciences and infused them into Sociology.

• Catchy terms like Social Statics, Social Dynamics and Mechanical Equilibrium were introduced.

• This formative approach reflected the stance of the fledgling discipline.

• Comte and Durkheim, considered the poster boys of the new discipline, vouched for scientific temper in Sociology.

• Comte termed early Sociology as a positive discipline.

• Durkheim made no distinction between natural facts and social facts.

• This scientific frenzy was challenged by a new breed of sociologists uneasy with treating humans as puppets operated by scientific strings.

• They questioned how thinking beings with unlimited imagination could be bound by limited rules.

Science, Scientific Method and Critique

• Tryst of Sociology with Science started with the origin of the discipline.

• Early scholars were influenced by natural sciences and their impact on humanity.

• Comte initially called Sociology social physics, showing its obsession with science.

• Herbert Spencer’s organismic analogy was influenced by biological sciences and Darwinism.

• Early social scientists believed true knowledge can be gained through sensory perceptions.

• Science is often characterised by empiricism, self-reflection, rationality, objectivity, fact-based approach and universality.

• Science involves systematic empirical investigation, data analysis, theoretical thinking and logical assessment of arguments.

• Comte declared Sociology as the last of the sciences to be discovered.

• Early scholars argued Sociology is scientific due to inter-subjective reliability (concepts like family, religion convey the same meaning universally).

• Durkheim claimed the meaning of social facts remains the same.

• Weber argued objectivity is possible through Verstehen and Ideal Types.

• Durkheim suggested indirect experimentation to prove empirical validity.

• Later, it was realised Sociology cannot be developed fully on lines of natural sciences due to practical limitations.

• Limitations include difficulty in being empirical, inductive, universal and in testing results.

• Experimentation (core of natural sciences) is rarely possible in Sociology due to lack of controlled environments.

• Many human interactions cannot be quantified.

• Objectivity is difficult as Sociology deals with human minds.

• Weber recognised this difficulty and argued social actions must be understood in terms of meanings attached by individuals.

• Some scholars argue even natural sciences suffer from vagueness, unpredictability and testability issues.

• Karl Popper argued science is not a body of knowledge but a method of approaching reality.

• Sociology also has key features of science – perspectives, methods, subject matter.

• Scientific Method = systematic, rational and objective steps to explore truth, investigate phenomena, or correct knowledge.

• According to George Lundberg, Scientific Method consists of systematic observation, classification and interpretation of data.

• Scientific inquiry must be based on empirical and measurable evidence.

• Cause-effect relationships in natural sciences are established in controlled experiments, which Sociology lacks.

• Scientific Method in Sociology helps concretise concepts and ensure systematisation of knowledge.

• Elements of Scientific Method:

  • Perspective and problem definition – provides direction; influenced by values (Weber).

  • Hypothesis formulation – untested statements about relationships; enables generalisation and prediction.

  • Information gathering – observation, surveys, interviews.

  • Interpretation, analysis, comparison, classification – leads to typologies like mechanical solidarity, organic solidarity, spirit of capitalism.

  • Theory-building – interrelated ideas to explain and predict the social world; repeated empirical support leads to laws.

• Scientific Method was popular in the 19th Century, but later seen as unsuitable for Sociology as humans are conscious beings not governed like matter.

• Use of Scientific Method in Sociology suffers from observer bias, non-response bias, social desirability bias.

• Modified scientific methodology is used – concerned with methodology rather than strict empiricism.

• Scientific Method in Sociology is not identical to that of natural sciences.

• Criticisms of Scientific Method in Sociology:

  • Karl Popper – problem of demarcation; science based on probability not finality.

  • Controlled experiments not possible, so universal laws cannot be discovered.

  • Value judgments of observers affect objectivity in research.

  • Adorno – science is suffocating, kills creativity, becomes a new religion, negating freedom.

  • J. F. Feyerabend – Scientific Method restricts researchers, sociology should be liberating not constraining.

IDEOGRAPHIC APPROACH VS NOMOTHETIC APPROACH
Ideographic and nomothetic methods represent two different approaches to understanding social life. Nomothetic approach of studying a discipline is based on what Kant described as a tendency to generalise, and is typical for the natural sciences. It describes the effort to derive laws that explain objective phenomena in general. It applies research-supported general formulations to particular cases and uses deductive reasoning.

Ideographic research, on the other hand, is based on a tendency to specify, and is typical for the humanities, as these disciplines deal with human beings who have consciousness. This approach describes the effort to understand the meaning of contingent, unique, and often subjective phenomena. An ideographic method focuses on individual cases or events. Ethnographers, for example, observe the minute details of everyday life to construct an overall portrait. A nomothetic method, on the other hand, focuses on general statements that account for larger social patterns that form the context of single events or individual behavior and experience. Positivists tried to prove their approaches as nomothetic, while interpretivists denied such possibilities.

Major Theoretical Strands in Research Methodology

• Research methodology is the wider term for the entire process of research.

• It includes approach, ideology, research methods (like questionnaire and samples), research design, data, assumptions and logics used.

• In Sociology, it is guided by the researcher’s conception of relation between man and society.

• In early phases, Positivism provided the theoretical backing to research methodology.

• Later, other perspectives enriched it – Functionalists, Interpretivists, Critical theorists, Feminists, Post-modernists etc.

• A Positivist researcher leans towards quantitative techniques.

• A Non-Positivist researcher inclines towards qualitative methods.

• In modern times, mixed methods are frequently used.

• Different approaches together enrich the research methodology of Sociology.

Positivism and its Critique

• Early sociologists faced two key questions: what should be the subject matter of the discipline and what should be the methodology in Sociology.

• Influenced by rationalism and science, early sociologists like Saint Simon, Comte, Spencer, Durkheim laid the foundation of Positivism.

• They argued that society is governed by fixed laws, making it predictable.

• Application of methods of natural sciences would create a positive science of society.

• Human behaviour can be objectively measured, leading to cause–effect explanations and theories.

• Positivism = studying Sociology using principles similar to natural sciences.

• August Comte, founder of Positivism, defined it as science of society analogous to natural sciences.

• Comte’s Positive Philosophy (1830–42) enunciated the principles of new discipline.

• Comte stated true knowledge is based on causal relationships observable directly or indirectly.

• Positivism sees the world as a sequence of cause and effect.

• Comte: Sociology is the last and most sophisticated of sciences as it deals with humanity and society.

• Comte suggested four methods: Observation, Experimentation, Historical, Comparative.

• Defined scope as Social Dynamics (social change) and Social Statics (equilibrium and stability).

• Durkheim and Spencer reinforced positive science of society.

• Main features of Positivism:

  • Focus on observable behaviour, not feelings or meanings.

  • Study of external realities, rejection of motives.

  • Discovery of cause–effect relationships.

  • Use of Scientific Methods like statistics (e.g., Durkheim’s Suicide).

  • Stress on empiricism, rejection of speculation.

  • Formulation of theories and universal laws.

  • Predictability of social events (Comte’s law of social organisation and stages of evolution).

  • Use of deductive approaches.

  • Testability of sociological knowledge.

• Positivism glorified the idea that human behaviour and society are predictable and quantifiable.

• It aimed to make Sociology a scientific discipline, unlike History or Philosophy.

• Marxists and Functionalists also fell under Positivism as they made deterministic and predictive statements.

• Limitations: Sociology deals with human subjectivity, making purely positivistic discipline impossible.

• Criticisms of Positivism:

  • Phenomenologists (Peter Berger): facts develop in particular contexts, not given.

  • Deductive approach less fruitful; inductive approach better for abstract phenomena.

  • Misunderstands reality; Weber argued for studying social action not just facts.

  • Alfred Schutz: humans construct world with common sense, values, assumptions which must be respected.

  • Over-emphasis on universalism unrealistic.

  • Scientific methods limited in Sociology; subjectivity and biases affect results.

  • Adorno: social life exists in layers, Positivists focus only on few.

  • Explanations often difficult to test.

  • Over-emphasis led to dangerous theories like racial superiority, scientific Marxism, Fascism.

• Habermas: Positivism reduces actors to passive entities, ignoring autonomous human action.

• Despite criticisms, Positivists freed social sciences from religion and speculative philosophy and laid the foundation for systematic investigation of society.