Philosophy of Social Science: Key Concepts and Theories

Core Concepts in Social Science

Ontology

Ontology: Vad som existerar och vad det betyder att något existerar (What exists and what it means for something to exist).

• Is the social world fundamentally different from the natural world?
• How do researchers conceptualize what they study?
• Is there an objective reality that exists independently of us, or is it in important respects, subjectively created?

Epistemology

Epistemology: Kunskapsteori, läran om vad man kan veta och hur man kan nå kunskap (Theory of knowledge, the study of what can be known and how to acquire knowledge).

• What type or form of knowledge should we pursue?
• What is legitimate knowledge about the social world?
• How do researchers know what they know?
• What is knowable?

Methodology

Methodology: Läran om metoden (The study of method).

• How do researchers select their tools?
• How do we obtain knowledge?
• What are the means that can provide us with legitimate knowledge of the political world?

Key Questions in Philosophy of Science

Behavioralism and Positivism

2. What is not true for behavioralism?

Behavioralism has inspired a range of theorizing works, among them the dependency school.

3. What characterizes the final, positive stage of society’s development, according to Comte? (Two answers)

• That the search for truth is based on the systematic collection of observed facts.
• That the search for truth is no longer based on theological or metaphysical functions.

4. What six terms characterize classical positivism?

• Naturalism
• The distinction between facts and values
• Empiricism
• The discovery of laws
• Induction
• Observation

Scientific Inference and Realism

5. What is inference?

To draw conclusions based on facts and logical premises.

6. What is the difference between scientific realism and critical realism?

• Scientific realists maintain the external world is as it is perceived.
• Critical realism concludes that in order to gain knowledge of the external world we must critically reflect on perception.

Intersubjectivity and Bias

7. What does intersubjectivity mean?

Shared meanings that are constitutive of social relations and practices.

9. How should researchers address the problem of value-free research according to Ernest Nagel?

The social scientist should abandon the pretense of non-bias and instead self-reflect upon his or her value assumptions.

10. What is the Rosenthal effect?

For example, that a teacher’s expectations of the class influence student performance.

Paradigms and Scientific Research

11. Which statements regarding paradigms in the social sciences are correct?

• Paradigms arise within a specific social context.
• A paradigm is comprised of collections of theories and hypotheses that are considered more valuable than others.

12. Which three statements below are correct regarding Kuhn’s and Lakatos’ perspectives on scientific research?

• Imre Lakatos’s main question is normative: how should science be?
• According to Thomas Kuhn, there is a tendency to encourage paradigmatic conformity.
• According to Imre Lakatos, scientific research programs evolve due to rational processes.