The Rules of Sociological Method

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The Rules of Sociological Method
The Rules of the Sociological Method.jpg
Cover of the 1919 French edition
Author Émile Durkheim
Original title Les règles de la méthode sociologique
Country France
Language French
Subject Sociology
Publication date
 1895
Media type book

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The Rules of Sociological Method (French: Les Règles de la Méthode Sociologique) is a book by Émile Durkheim, first published in 1895. It is recognized as being the direct result of Durkheim's own project of establishing sociology as a positivist social science.[1][2] Durkheim is seen as one of the fathers of sociology,[3] and this work, his manifesto of sociology.[4] Durkheim distinguishes sociology from other sciences and justifies his rationale.[1] Sociology is the science of social facts. Durkheim suggests two central theses, without which sociology would not be a science:

  1. It must have a specific object of study. Unlike philosophy or psychology, sociology's proper object of study are social facts.
  2. It must respect and apply a recognized objective scientific method, bringing it as close as possible to the other exact sciences. This method must at all cost avoid prejudice and subjective judgment.[5]

This book was one of the defining books for the new science of sociology.[6] Durkheim's argument that social sciences should be approached with the same rigorous scientific method as used in natural sciences was seen as revolutionary for the time.[6]

The Rules is seen as an important text in sociology and is a popular book on sociological theory courses. The book's meaning is still being debated by sociologists.[7][8]

Sociology as the study of social facts

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Main article: Social fact

Durkheim's concern is to establish sociology as a science.[1] Arguing for a place for sociology among other sciences, he wrote:

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Sociology is, then, not an auxiliary of any other science; it is itself a distinct and autonomous science.[9]

To give sociology a place in the academic world and to ensure that it is a legitimate science, it must have an object that is clear and distinct from philosophy or psychology. He argued:

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There is in every society a certain group of phenomena which may be differentiated from those studied by the other natural sciences.[10]

With regards to social facts, Durkheim defined them as follows:

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A social fact is every way of acting, fixed or not, capable of exercising on the individual an external constraint; or again, every way of acting which is general throughout a given society, while at the same time existing in its own right independent of its individual manifestations.[10]

One of the book's challenges is in showing how individual and seemingly chaotic decisions are in fact a result of a larger, more structured system, the pattern being held together by "social facts".[3]

The definition of social facts illustrates the holistic paradigm in which Durkheim's social facts are defined by two main features: they are external to and coercive to individuals.[2] They not only represent behavior but also the rules that govern behavior and give it meaning.[11] Social facts are external to individuals, they predate them and survive them (we can give here the examples of the law, language, morality, etc.).[12] Social facts can be constraining: if individuals do not do act as they dictate, they may face social penalties.[12] The binding nature of social facts is often implicit, because the rules of society are internalized by individuals in the process of education and socialization.[12]

Durkheim distinguished two types of social facts: normal social facts - which, within a society, occur regularly and most often - and pathological social facts - which are much less common.

Principles of sociology

According to Durkheim, sociologists, without preconceptions and prejudices, must study social facts as real, objective phenomena.[4]

Durkheim wrote: <templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

The first and most fundamental rule is: Consider social facts as things.[13]

This implies that sociology must respect and apply a recognized objective, scientific method, bringing it as close as possible to the other exact sciences.[4] This method must at all cost avoid prejudice and subjective judgment.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "AppelrouthEdles2007" defined multiple times with different content
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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