D OING S OCIOLOGY : R ESEARCH M ETHODS II S OME M ETHODOLOGICAL I SSUES Although it is often used simply as a substitute for (or synonym of) ‘method’, the word ‘methodology’ actually refers to the study of method. Methodological issues or questions are thus about the general problems of scientific knowledge-gathering that go beyond any one particular method, technique or procedure. We begin by looking at the ways in which sociologists try to produce knowledge that can claim to be scientific. Objectivity and Subjectivity in Sociology In everyday language, the word ‘objective’ means unbiased, neutral, or based on facts alone.
In order to be objective about something, we must ignore our own feelings or attitudes about that thing. On the other hand, the word ‘subjective’ means something that is based on individual values and preferences. As you will have learnt already, every science is expected to be ‘objective’, to produce unbiased knowledge based solely on facts. But this is much harder to do in the social sciences than in the natural sciences.
For example, when a geologist studies rocks, or a botanist studies plants, they must be careful not to let their personal biases or preferences affect their work. They must report the facts as they are; they must not (for example) let their liking for a particular scientific theory or theorist influence the results of their research. However, the geologist and the botanist are not themselves part of the world they study, i.e. the natural world of rocks or of plants.
By contrast, social scientists study the world in which they themselves live — the social world of human relations. This creates special problems for objectivity in a social science like sociology. First of all, there is the obvious problem of bias. Because sociologists are also members of society, they will also have all the normal likes and dislikes that people have.
A sociologist studying family relations will herself be a member of a family, and her experiences are likely to influence her. Even when the sociologist has no direct personal experience of the group s/he