PSS Exam Notes PDF

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Course Overview: 1. Philosophy of Social Science (Methods and Basics) 2. Positivism 3. Critical Philosophical Perspectives a. Critical Theory b. Critical Realism c. Feminism d. Structuralism & Poststructuralism 4. Interpretative Approaches 5. Participatory Methods & Research Ethics

1) Philosophy of Social Science (Methods and Basics) PSS - “the principles regulating the search for and acquisition of knowledge about reality through a series of intersubjectivity accessible and justifiable methodical steps.” (3) Metaphysical Reality (Fundamental Building Blocks):  Ontology - Philosophical Nature of Study o E.g. What is social reality made of?  Epistemology - Nature and Scope of Knowledge o E.g. How can we know social reality? (Abstract)  Methodology -Systematic, theoretical analysis of the methods applied to a field of study o E.g. Strategies we employ to know social reality? Deductive - Formulate hypothesis (theory) to be tested (experiment) Inductive - Observation (experiment) leads to generalization/theory Application of Subject:  Dynamic Subject  Causality Vs. Interpretation  Research/Political Purposes

2) Positivism Early Positivism  Founding Intellects: Emile Durkheim & Auguste Comte o Based on Induction o Observation o Empiricism (theory of knowledge that says that knowledge is gained through experience) o No pre-suppositions (No independent observer)  Durkheim, E. What is a social fact? (1895)  One is free to make choices, that either benefit them or not, but a social norm exists, which the user can choose to freely follow. Neo-Positivism/Logical Positivism  Founded in Viner Circle in 1920s (Karl Popper & Thomas Kuhn)  “Knowledge exist independent of the observer (student, researcher, etc.)” o Application of theory to concrete cases o Deductive Logic (Test hypothesis) o Universal and unified science  Theories Inspired by neo-positivism: o Rational choice/public choice theory (political science) o Transaction cost theory (political science, economics) o Principal-agent theory (business studies, economic, public administration) o Realism (international politics)  Popper, K. The Problem of Induction (1934) o Theory of falsification (rather than verification)  Kuhn, T.S. A role for history (1962) o Paradigms: Shifting frameworks of understanding  Lakatos, I. Falsification and the methodology of scientific research programmes (1970) o Post-empiricism, inspired by Kuhn Paradigm → But proposes the concept of ‘research programmes’ instead  Strength/weakness o Focus on quantitative/Not applicable qualitative

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Fit for Natural Science/Not fit for Social Sciences

3) Critical Philosophical Perspectives 3a) Critical Theory  Emerged from a primarily European tradition of social and political thought centrally concerned with critically reflecting on capitalism and modernity  School of thought that stresses the reflective assessments and critique of society and culture by applying knowledge from the social sciences and the humanities o Theory is Situated  Reject outside claim. Instead produce ‘value free’ and ‘disinterested’ knowledge. o Challenges the given and taken-for-granted  Look beyond appearances. Concern with how and what something might become. o Oriented towards emancipation  Social Conditions to reveal power relations and inequalities o Concern with practice  Not in opposition to practice but as dialectically related to it.  History: o Marx and “Ruthless Criticism” (1818-1883)  “ruthless both in the sense of not being afraid of the results it arrives at and in the sense of being just as little afraid of conflict with the powers that be”  Challenges dominant ideas and discourses about capitalism. o Frankfurt School of Social Research  Founded in 1923 with Max Horkheimer being appointed director in 1930  Based in the Western Marxist tradition  Interdisciplinary Materialism - Combined philosophy with social research, directed at current social questions and problems  Horkheimer influence (1937)  The alternative to positivism  Deal with social problems  Developed to 2nd Wave with more pessimistic followings (1940s) o Post-Positivist Approach (Rejection of Positivist) in 1960s  Civil rights movements follow with this time period

3b) Critical Realism  Influential from various philosophers since the 1980s. Roy Bhaskar main component.  Definition: Concerned with why things happen, with explanation and with revealing the causal mechanisms that produce events and phenomena o Realist in its recognition of the existence of a world that is independent of our knowledge and beliefs about it. Though reject “Naive Realism” (Single absolute truth) o Go beyond surface appearance (Beyond “perception”) o Critical on challenging traditional ways and adaptable  Critiques positivism and opposes many assumptions of idealism and interpretivism  Roy Bhaskar: o Transcendental Realism - Concept stemming from the philosophy of Immanuel Kant that implies individuals have a perfect understanding of the limitations of their own minds o Core:  Differentiates between:  “The actual” - events that are observable  The empirical - experience & observations of events

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The real - mechanisms that generate phenomena, but are not directly observable

Reason:  Positivist focus on observable objects and events. They seek to establish scientific laws based on constant conjunctions of events  But in complex and open systems, causality cannot necessarily be derived from experience and from observing patterns of events = “Tendencies of Structures”  Structures as ‘sets of internally related objects or practices’ (Unintended actions versus necessary conditions) Application:  For PSS, but also applicable on methods

3c) Feminism  Emerged in various times: First Wave - 19th Century, 2nd - 1960s, 3rd - 1990s  Post-Positivist Approach on the role of gender  Approaches: o Feminist Empiricism  Seeks to reform science that reflects male-dominated interests and values. Addresses prejudices and sexist bias through increased female participation.  Fundamentally challenged and transformed social science theories, methods and research practices. o Feminist Standpoint Epistemology  Emerged 1970s/80s. Influenced by: Sandra Harding, Nancy Hartsock, Hilary Rose, Donna Haraway  Rejects idea that knowledge of the world can be value free and independent of social situation  Standpoint feminism is a theory that feminist social science should be practiced from the standpoint of women or particular groups of women o Situated Knowledge and Objectivity  Based on Dorothy Smith, Donna Haraway, Patricia Hill Collins  Smith - “A sociology for women should not be mistaken for an ideological position that represents women ‘s oppression as having a determinate character and takes up the analysis of social forms with a view to discovering in them the lineaments of what the ideologist already supposes that she knows.” (Page 406)  Haraway - Recognizes that all knowledge is embodied and partial, grounded in human bodies and technologies. Advocates an attainable form of objectivity based on ‘partial, locatable, critical knowledges sustaining the possibility of webs of connections called solidarity in politics and shared conversations in epistemology  Collins - Black Women in Feminism 3d) Structuralism  Roots in early 20th Century  Seeks to understand social phenomena and the events of underlying structures. Examine rules and codes through these structures work. Special emphasis on Language.  Tends to present structures in rigid, closed and unhistorical terms. Closes off social and historical conditions as well as questions of practice. Poststructuralism  Emerged as an unsettling and deconstruction of previous approach to language and meaning in the late 1960s and is associated with mainly French writers

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o Anti-foundationalism and Anti-Essentialist (non-belief in an essence of things) Objectives: o Traditional notions of objective, value-free science and the view from “nowhere” o Distinctive importance lies especially in its critical engagements with language and discourse. o Analyses how meanings are constructed and its question on categories and concepts (often taken for granted and assumed to be natural) Emphasis on power and politics o Close ties with Marxism and Communism

4) Interpretative Approaches  Understanding (The knowledge and Assumptions) Vs. Explaining (Mapping our knowledge)  Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) o More than just “natural law”; there is free will. Reason is something specific and dependent on the individual's morals and value o Subjective redefinition of objective (external, out there, neutral) knowledge  Max Weber (1864-1920) o Implication for Social Science:  There is always going to be a limitation in knowing the world fully  There is no universal social science  Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900-2002) o Method does not lead to objective truth o Need for “historically effected consciousness”  E.g. to understand bible, you need to know context and history o Once engaged, you broaden your horizon for the text  Reflection is an engagement o “My real concern was and is philosophic: not what we do or what we ought to do, but what happens to us over and above our wanting and doing” (Gadamer, 1975: xxv-xxvi)  Reflection of our true self

5) Participatory Methods & Research Ethics “Ethics concerns the morality of human conduct. In relation to social research, it refers to the moral deliberation, choice and accountability on the part of researchers throughout the research process” Edwards & Mauthner, 2002: 3) Ethical Challenge Overview  Positivism - Human subject as research object: manipulation/instrumentalization?  Interpretivism - How to avoid superimposing one’s own interpretation on someone?  Critical Theory - Emancipation: on whose behalf and on what grounds?  Poststructuralist approaches following feminist standpoint theory - How to overcome own partiality of knowledge and act accountable?...