Thinkers and researchers like Comte, Marx, Weber, & Durkheim saw social science as having something to say about then-contemporary social problems and the massive, rapid social changes of 19th Century Europe.
Reading Response #1: (500-750 words)
Thinkers and researchers like Comte, Marx, Weber, & Durkheim saw social science as having something to say about then-contemporary social problems and the massive, rapid social changes of 19th Century Europe. At the same time, they saw their own work as engaged in a scientific project, rooted in positivist ideas about objective social science. This tension resonates in contemporary sociological practice when it comes to differences between applied sociology and academic or pure research, as well as issues around political activism by scholars, the use of social scientific research methods by businesses and political groups, the role of social science in government, and so on.
For your reading response, identify one understanding of the proper role of social science in relation to social or political problems that you find either instructive, or problematic, in the works we have read so far. Explain how the ideas are still useful – or why they are not – in helping us understand how and when social science should, or should not, intervene in social problems.
Some hints for this brief exercise in critical thinking:
DO: quote specifically and directly from the readings in identifying a thinker’s position or a key idea you want to write about, but . . .
DON’T: Just reproduce whole arguments of “what Durkheim said” or “what Marx said”. Instead. . .
DO: focus in tightly on one aspect of their argument that you want to address in some depth.
And, for the problem you want to consider using our theorists’ ideas: Do feel free to draw from other courses, current events, etc.
NOTE: We will return to this topic in essay form on a later assignment, so consider this a chance to get your first ideas down and test them out.
