Recap of...

Popper

Fallacy of Induction

Positivists uses inductive reasoning and verifications, both of which Popper reject.

Inductive reasoning is... the process of moving from the observation of

particular instance of something to arrive at a general statement or law.

Popper example of swans: Observe large number of white swans Generalise 'all swans are white One black swan would ruin the generalisation

Falsificationism

A scientific statement is one which Popper says is capable of being falsified, or proven wrong by evidence.

Example: A test would disprove gravity if we let go of

an object and it did not fall.

Popper: What does he consider a 'Good' Theory?

A GOOD theory would have 2 features: Falsifiable.

But is, when tested, is good. Stands up to any attempts to disprove it.

Bold. Tries to explain a lot, making big

generalisations that exactly predict a large number of events.

Being bold would also make it more prone to falsification than a more timid theory that only explains small scale events.

Popper & 'Truth'

There can never be any proof that knowledge is true.

A good theory isnt always a true theory, and so it is simply one that has withstood attempts to falsify it so far.

Criticism & Open Society

For any theory to be falsifiable, it must be open to criticism from scientists.

According to Popper, science is a public activity.

Popper sees science as open to criticism so that flaws can be spotted straight away and newer, better theories can take its place.

Popper says this is why scientific knowledge grows so rapidly.

Open 'Liberal' Societies vs Closed Societies

Open Societies: Science thrives in open, liberal societies

where free expression and challenging accepted ideas is valued.

Closed Societies: Dominated by an official belief system that

claims to have the absolute truth. Examples: religions, or political belief

systems like Nazism or Marxism. Stifles growth of science as it conflicts with

the provisional, falsifiable nature of scientific knowledge.

Closed Society Example

17th century astronomer Galileo Punished as a heretic by catholic church in

Rome for claiming that Earth revolved around the sun and not the other way around (heliocentrism).

The C. Church taught heliocentrism. Rome was a closed society dominated by the

church's doctrine.

Popper's View of the Role of Science in Sociology

Views Sociology as largely unscientific since most of it consists of theories that cannot be put to the test with the possibility of that they may be falsified.

Example: Marxism Predicts revolution leading to classless society Not yet happened due to false

conscientiousness of the proletariat Prediction cannot be falsified-- if there is a

revolution, then Marxism is right, & if not, it is still right.

Popper: Could Sociology Ever be Scientific?

Yes, because it is capable of producing hypotheses that can in principle be falsified.

Example: Julienne Ford (1969) Hypothesised comprehensive schooling

would produce social mixing of pupils from different social classes.

She was able to test and falsify hypothesise through empirical research.

Popper Conclusions Rejects Marxism as unscientific since he argues it is

untestable. Does not believe untestable ideas are necessarily

worthless... might be of sincere value: May become testable at later date. Can still examine them for clarity & logical

consistency. Helps us to formulate testable hypotheses

Might be that Soc has not existed for as long as other sciences, which may account for the larger quantity of untestable ideas.