Comments on Positivism

 
Lecture 1-Positivism -   
Reactions to and notes from John Wilson. Social Theory. Prentice-Hall. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ. 1983.

Positivism-"Positivists treat the social world as if it were the world of natural
phenomena."  All that we know of the world is given to us in experience.
Experience concerns events and happenings. "Positivists systematically
investigate these events and happenings so as to reveal their underlying
regularities."
"Positivists principles guide the work of most sociological researchers and
furnish the basis for ... textbooks on theory construction and methodology in the
field." 
Tenets of positivism: 
(1) There are no fundamental differences between the natural and social sciences.
..aim of soc. is formulation of principles that have the same objective status
as natural scientific laws. 
(2) these laws or principles are the means of explaining social events or
phenomena.  (distinction between nomothetic (covering laws) and ideographic
statements/universals and particular existentials). The event or phenomenon to
be explained is deduced as a necessity from the conjuncture of two statements. 
(3) social reality is known through concepts which refer to what is observable
and measurable. Substitution of a precise formal language of observation for
everyday language is essential for carrying out scientific sociology. 
(4) science can only concern itself with what is and how it came to be so.
science is value free.
Ontology-nature of social reality:
Social reality consists of events and phenomena/objects and processes. Reality
is machine-like inter-related/interconnected in some determinate and determinable
way. People do not automatically respond to social forces because they have
"inner states" which intervene between stimulus and response. stimulus-
interpretation-response. Inner states not directly observable, but can be
measured using statements about perceptions, motives, and feelings. Free will is
not an issue for determinists. Social conduct is subject to laws governing
choice, decision-making etc. 
Epistemology-knowing the social world
Social life has properties that are identifiable, quantifiable, and vary over
time. We have to catalogue experience, formulate propositions that predict
variation, and explain it. 
Empiricism-external world is knowable by means of sensory experience or
indirectly measurable. Beliefs treated as if observable. Empathy useful as source
of hypothesis formation, but must be validated by directly observing behavior.
Explanation-
We make statements about social events or phenomena and explain these events or
phenomena by searching for determining causes. Statements are universal and must
support the counterfactual condition. What would happen to outcome y should event
x (not now present) be introduced. Statements used to build theory. Theories
summary of knowledge, but also allow generation of new statements. Statements
pertain to same topical domain. Are logically connected. Are subject to
manipulation following rules of manipulation. Derivable statements become
hypothesis subject to validation (confirmation) or falsification. Falsification 
leads to abandonment of belief in statement when sufficient evidence disconfirms
the statement and when alternative explanation better accounts for the relations.
Where insufficient evidence exists for rejection of one explanation in favor of
another among a competing set we have a condition of "underdetermination."
Role of values
Intrusion of values
Applied versus value-free

Best single source on this topic.
Richard von Mises. Positivism:A Study in Human Understanding. Dover. NY: 1951.
For a reaction to positivism see:
Anthony Giddens. Positivism and Sociology. Heineman. London.1974.
"Introduction" pp. 1-22.
See also w. Lawrence Neuman. Social Research Methods. 4th edition. Allyn and
Bacon. Boston: 2000. Chapter 4, pp. 63-88.