Methodology of Social Sciences: From Positivism to Humanism and the Emergence of Sociology

Abstract

Emile Durkheim is an eminent figure in the discipline of sociology. Out of his very many achievements, the most celebrated one, for which sociologists are indebted to him, is his struggle to institutionalise and claim the legitimacy for sociology as a distinct discipline, which he had succeeded in doing significantly. In his significant work "The Rules of Sociological Method", Durkheim laid out the foundation of the building blocks of sociology, i.e. Social Facts, and elaborated upon their treatment as observable, objective facts. Durkheim applied the natural sciences methodology, e.g. empirical observation, quantitative data like statistics, etc., to sociology. His contribution to Sociology has been widely acknowledged and appreciated, but his methodological position has been heavily criticised. There have been numerous critiques from various schools, but in this paper, I will be focusing on 4 main theories, i.e. German Historicist Doctrines (Wilhelm Dilthey), Max Weber's Interpretative Understanding (Verstehen), Alvin Gouldner’s Reflexive Sociology and finally Anthony Giddens’ Structuration Theory.