“Sociology can be termed a science because it fulfills the basic requirements of objective and rational knowledge of social reality”. Critically examine

This led to popularization of the positivist approach which sought to apply the methods of natural science to create an objective and rational social science. Durkheim, for example, argued that sociology is the study of social facts which are social phenomena external to the individual and not subject to manipulation by individual will. He called these facts as 'things' and said that they can be studied objectively by removing all prejudices and defining them in terms of their visible attributes. For example, he defined crime as an act which entails the visible reaction of punishment. He advocated the scientific classification of social facts based on morphology and advocated the use of comparative method to establish causation and correlation. Hence, the sociologist was to distance herself from the objects of study and therefore maintain objectivity and value neutrality. Similarly, she was to use rational tools of statistical science to produce generalized conclusions. Weber argued that it is not entirely possible to understand human action objectively as it involves subjective meanings and therefore requires empathetic understanding of the investigator. But he too advocated the value neutrality of the sociologists so he avoids passing value judgements. This approach has been critiqued by Myrdal who argues that it is not possible to be entirely free from bias as the object of study in sociology is drawn from one's own social milieu rather than from the external physical world. Our values and belief often cloud the way we express 'social facts' rendering objectivity impossible. Gouldner argues that it is not only impossible but also unethical for the sociologist to remain value neutral. Absolute relativism leads to condoning of attacks on universal values such as human rights and gender equality etc and therefore must be discarded. In recent decades, scholars such as Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn and the post-modernists have argued that science itself is not objective or universal. It is relative and destructive and is used as an instrument of power.