AS Sociology (methodology) need help =[

[jem]

1. Why has it been considered important that sociology should be classified as a science?

2. What are the elements of science?

3. What was Kuhn’s criticism of the elements of science?

4. Why is validity a problem in positivist research?

[timswfc]

post this on the following website.... www.thestudentroom.co.uk (http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk)

[fraggled]

1.) In my eyes because its a constant study, much like science it consists mostly of theories and hypotheses.

2.) Thats a very broad question.

3.) Scientific knowledge does not develop cumulatively, but rather proceeds by a series of "paradigm shifts"

4.) I dont quite understand your question, could you rephrase it.

[jem]

its ok think i got number 4 now. think it just means cus positivists are scientific sociologists so they use qualitative date but validitys a problem bcus they only get statistics. they dont really have a deeper meaning.....i think. =]

[fraggled]

Are you guys trying to argue Positivist vs. Qualitative research? Or are you simply trying to argue validity. There are several ways you can go about attacking positivists research and arguing validity including the age old argument, "Positivist vs. Qualitative research" which would be a fair paper to right on its own as your thesis.