Sociological Stories: Sociology and Science

The next Presentation in the Sociological Stories season is built around the relationship between Sociology and Science and covers four main areas:

What is science?

Is sociology a science?

Value-freedom

Types of data

Included in these 4 sections are stories about various sociological methodologies (Positivism, Neo-Positivism, Interpretivism, Realism), types of data (primary, secondary, quantitative, qualitative) and questions (value-freedom or value-neutrality?).

These are constructed in ways that I like to think are both illuminating and instructive.

Although I might be biased.

Anyways, there’s loads of stuff here spread both thicky and thinly across 70 slides (there may be more, there may be less. Truth be told I gave-up counting or caring part way through) and some of it’s bound to stick.

The Presentation grew out of some materials I did for the sadly now non-extant (English) National Grid for Learning (NGfL). I’ve updated it where necessary (I like to think the stuff I write is timeless but, sadly not) and it should provide an introduction to the “Sociology and Science” debate at Advanced and High School level.

If nothing else, there’s a new section on Neo-Positivism teachers and students might find useful, if a little challenging.

The Presentation is in PowerPoint Show (.ppsx) format because it uses the Zoom feature of PowerPoint 2019 / 365 and if you load it into a version prior to this and try to run it things will go pear-shaped.

Probably.

I’m not certain, but I’d hazard a good guess.

I’d like to say you’ll be able to find everything the Presentation has to offer (including graphics, some animations and a few video clips – you’re going to need an Internet connection if you want to watch them because they’re linked, not embedded) but quite honestly I’m not completely certain everything’s linked as it should be.

I’ve tested it as much as anyone humanly-possible could, but after a while you kind of lose the will…