Is Sociology a Science?

Is sociology a science?

No	15.3%	[ 15 ]
Yes	60.2%	[ 59 ]
Gold	24.5%	[ 24 ]
Total Votes:			[ 98 ]

[Gizzardchunks]

I guess so.
Science is everything.

[Lucky~9~Lives]

PersianTears

HiroyukiSanada

Yes. Sociology is a "soft" science. It is a relatively recent field that hopes to understand human group behaviour (including both mainstream and counter-culture/deviance) in as calculable way as possible. Some Sociological research is based on polls, which with large enough samples is relevant, and other research is based on observation.

It is not useful for the study of individual behavour. That is what Psychology is. It is, however, useful for looking at trends...

Anything that you have to collect data on, research, make some hypothesis, or comparisons I consider some kind of science.

As long as the hypothesis are empirically falsifiable.
- 3nodding

Gizzardchunks

I guess so.
Science is everything.

Is art science? How about religion?

[Lais]

Most people concider it a soft science. It is the study of society and it's effect on culture, and other institutions (such as religion, work, ethnicity etc)

[Sir Barton]

It's a humanities course and something more of an art then a science.

[That Foxy Martin]

Simple answer: no.

[Vosi]

Sociology is a science. Sociology studies quantifiable data, works through the same method, and can contribute results that are easily open for peer review. Sociology is just a more difficult science, in that like psychology, a lot of the empirical evidence can be misleading or have a deeper reaching meaning than originally thought.

[New Thought Queen]

Vosi

Sociology is a science. Sociology studies quantifiable data, works through the same method, and can contribute results that are easily open for peer review. Sociology is just a more difficult science, in that like psychology, a lot of the empirical evidence can be misleading or have a deeper reaching meaning than originally thought.

The science ends with the data, the interpretations, which are a huge part of sociology are most certainly NOT science.

[Lucky~9~Lives]

I've come to think that sociology is not, in general, science - rather, it is 'general history', that is, the study and cataloging of patterns in human events that transcend particular times and places (sociology is concerned with types of economies, for example, as opposed to the particular economy of a given culture). Social psychology is the science of group-behavior - that is, repeatable experimentation into group-behavior with predictive conclusions.

[kitti kat]

if you can say that phycology is a science, than more so is sociology. theres not a lot of math involved like with the real sciences (physics, chemesty, ect), but theres just as much theorizing, which is key to the scientific method, leading me to think, yes.

[Duchess Of Prunes]

It's a social science... ;-; why are all these people saying it is not a science? wtf

[Pink_Skies123]

Yes. It deals with numerous combinations of psychology and scientifics aspects/reasons.

[e-Claire rc1]

Sociology would be a science if the stigma of people going into sociology when they can't do math were abolished.

Until then, it's just another Humanities field.

[Golden-Future]

Here is the definition of Sociology from dictionary.com

-noun-The science or study of the origin, development, organization, and functioning of human society; the science of the fundamental laws of social relations, institutions.

[Lucky~9~Lives]

I disagree with the general sentiment that science necessarily requires a mathematical foundation - mathematics is indeed a valuable language with which to express scientific truths, but it is not the essence of science itself. Experimentation is, however, and I feel that is where sociology falls short, to the extent it is impossible to formulate and conduct repeatable experiments involving social institutions. I mean, sociology makes statements like 'most over-50s view prison's function as a deterrent', and 'free-market economies are more likely in predominantly white societies', (I totally made those up, they're just analogues of actual sociological claims) but it doesn't really comment on why that's the case, beyond speculation, so the discipline ultimately comes down to an exercise in cataloging. Although, maybe I'm being too narrow in my conception of sociology.
- xp

[Blaze-kun]

Lucky~9~Lives

I disagree with the general sentiment that science necessarily requires a mathematical foundation - mathematics is indeed a valuable language with which to express scientific truths, but it is not the essence of science itself. Experimentation is, however, and I feel that is where sociology falls short, to the extent it is impossible to formulate and conduct repeatable experiments involving social institutions. I mean, sociology makes statements like 'most over-50s view prison's function as a deterrent', and 'free-market economies are more likely in predominantly white societies', (I totally made those up, they're just analogues of actual sociological claims) but it doesn't really comment on why that's the case, beyond speculation, so the discipline ultimately comes down to an exercise in cataloging. Although, maybe I'm being too narrow in my conception of sociology.
- xp

Science is never certain. It can only make predictions based on statistical probabilities. Take for instance physics. Like sociology, physics is useful for predicting group behavior (in this case of atoms and molecules). If I stand on a chair, there is a very, very small chance that I will not be held up by that chair, but in fact the atoms of my foot and the chair will align in such a way that my foot falls through the chair. Though the chance that my foot may pass through the chair is incredibly smaller than the chance that the chair will hold my weight and I will be able to stand on it, there is still that small chance, that tiny uncertainty.