4.3.2.7 Values, objectivity and sociology and social policy Quiz: AQA Sociology, Unit 3

The 20 questions

1. What did Max Weber mean by 'value freedom' (Wertfreiheit) in social science?

   • Sociologists should use their values to decide the outcome of every study, since values are the only source of sound knowledge
   • Sociologists should have no values at all, which means they must avoid any interest in the topics they choose to investigate
   • Sociologists should not impose their personal value judgements on research, though they may choose topics that are value-relevant
   • Sociologists should base every research decision on the political values of the government in power at the time of the study

2. Which distinction did Weber draw that is central to value freedom?

   • Between sociology and philosophy, which are identical disciplines that differ only in the language used by their practitioners
   • Between government research, which is always objective, and university research, which is always biased by its funding
   • Between quantitative data, which is always value-free, and qualitative data, which is always value-laden in every study
   • Between value relevance in choosing a topic and value judgements that evaluate what ought to be the case

3. What is a key criticism of the idea of value freedom in sociology?

   • Value freedom requires researchers to publish their own political views in every report, so that readers can judge the bias
   • Value freedom has been proven completely possible by every study, so no critic has ever raised concerns about it in any field
   • Value freedom applies only to natural science, so it has never been considered relevant to any form of social research at all
   • Choice of topic, concepts and framing inevitably reflect values, so complete neutrality may not be achievable

4. Which approach argues that knowledge is shaped by the social position of the researcher, and that marginalised groups can offer distinctive insights?

   • Standpoint theory, which argues that knowledge is situated and that marginalised groups can see aspects of social life that others miss
   • Positivism, which argues that knowledge comes from measuring observable facts without reference to the researcher's social position
   • Symbolic interactionism, which argues that knowledge is created only when individuals agree on a shared meaning in conversation
   • Functionalism, which argues that knowledge reflects the needs of society as a whole and is therefore the same for all social groups

5. What did Ann Oakley argue about interviewing women in research?

   • Interviews should be conducted only by male researchers, since men are more objective and less emotionally involved than women
   • Interviews should be non-hierarchical and involve rapport and disclosure, rather than a detached, objective stance
   • Interviews should avoid all personal contact, since rapport between interviewer and respondent always damages the reliability of data
   • Interviews should be replaced entirely by official statistics, since personal accounts of women's lives are never reliable

6. Which claim about the relationship between sociology and social policy is most accurate?

   • Sociology must always agree with government policy, since research that criticises policy is banned from publication in the UK
   • Sociology is required by law to produce policy recommendations for every government department in every year of its operation
   • Sociological research can inform policy by identifying social problems, evaluating programmes and testing the effects of interventions
   • Sociology has no relationship with social policy, since policy is determined entirely by politicians with no reference to evidence

7. Which early study of poverty by Seebohm Rowntree is widely cited in the history of social research?

   • His study of poverty in York, which measured household incomes and needs to estimate how many families lived in poverty
   • His study of rural schools in Wales, which compared the reading achievement of pupils with that of their urban counterparts
   • His study of the London docks, which recorded the wages and union membership of dockers during the late nineteenth century
   • His study of the factories of Manchester, which examined the working hours of children and their health in the cotton industry

8. What is 'the sociology of knowledge' concerned with?

   • How scientific knowledge is measured by the number of published articles, with no concern for the social context of research
   • How social conditions shape the production and acceptance of knowledge, including sociological knowledge itself
   • How knowledge about the natural world is discovered by laboratory scientists, without any reference to social factors at all
   • How knowledge is transmitted in schools only, without any concern for the social conditions that shape it in wider society

9. Which problem arises when sociological research is commissioned by a government department?

   • Government-commissioned research is banned in every country, so sociologists cannot take funding from public bodies of any kind
   • Government-commissioned research is always inferior, since government departments never allow any researcher to publish results
   • Government-commissioned research is always identical to independent research, so the source of funding has no effect whatsoever
   • The research agenda may be shaped by policy priorities, which can limit questions about the causes of social problems

10. Which concept, linked to Gouldner and others, questions whether value neutrality is always achievable in sociology?

    • The claim that only government officials can judge the quality of sociological research, since they alone have the expertise
    • The critique that research may reflect the assumptions and interests of the researcher's social group, even when it claims neutrality
    • The claim that all research is value-free by definition, since scientific methods remove every trace of human bias from data
    • The claim that sociology should be abolished, since every social theory is equally false and no knowledge is possible

11. Which of the following is an example of sociology informing social policy?

    • Research on the physical properties of metals, which has been used to design bridges and public buildings in every city
    • Research on poverty and deprivation, such as Townsend's studies of relative deprivation, informing debates on welfare provision
    • Research on the movement of planets, which has been used to plan the timing of public holidays and school terms each year
    • Research on the chemistry of medicines, which has been used to develop new drugs in pharmaceutical companies worldwide

12. Which factor is most likely to limit the impact of sociological research on policy?

    • Policymakers are required to implement all sociological findings by law, so no political judgement is ever applied to them
    • Policymakers never read sociological research, so its impact depends only on the number of copies printed by publishers
    • Policymakers may select evidence that fits their existing priorities, or may ignore findings that are politically unwelcome
    • Policymakers always follow sociological evidence exactly, so the impact of research is never limited by any political factor

13. What does it mean to say that sociology is a 'critical' discipline?

    • It questions taken-for-granted assumptions and examines how power and inequality shape social life and knowledge
    • It rejects all data, since criticism of evidence is the main method used by sociologists when they study social life
    • It accepts all social arrangements without question, since criticism is outside the proper concern of a scientific discipline
    • It criticises every person it studies, so that participants are always judged negatively in the final report of any study

14. Why might a researcher reflect on their own values when conducting research?

    • To remove the need for any method, since personal reflection alone is sufficient to produce valid sociological knowledge
    • To prove that their values are correct, so that the findings can be used to justify their existing political beliefs
    • To identify how their social position and beliefs might shape the questions, methods and interpretations of the study
    • To avoid writing any report, since reflection on values replaces the need for publication in academic outlets

15. Which statement best describes the 'objectivity' debate in sociology?

    • Some argue that objectivity is possible through rigorous method, while others argue that all knowledge is shaped by social position
    • The debate concerns only whether sociology should be taught in schools, and has no bearing on the methods used in research
    • All sociologists agree that objectivity is impossible, so the debate has been settled in favour of pure subjectivity for decades
    • All sociologists agree that objectivity is achieved automatically by every survey, so no debate about it has ever occurred

16. Which argument supports a close relationship between sociology and social policy?

    • Sociology should concern itself only with the history of ideas, since policy questions are outside the scope of academic inquiry
    • Sociology should avoid all contact with government, since any link with policy automatically destroys the independence of research
    • Policy problems such as poverty, crime and inequality can be better understood through systematic social research
    • Sociology should be limited to the study of animal societies, since human social policy is best left to economists alone

17. Which concept refers to the possibility that social researchers are influenced by their own position in the social structure?

    • Positionality, which recognises that researchers' social characteristics can shape the research process and its outcomes
    • Neutrality, which claims that researchers are free from all social influence because they are trained in scientific method
    • Replicability, which claims that any study can be repeated by a second researcher with identical results regardless of context
    • Generalisability, which claims that findings from a sample apply to the whole population without any reference to the researcher

18. A government asks sociologists to evaluate a welfare programme. Which principle best guides the sociologist's response?

    • Sociologists should base their evaluation on the personal opinion of the lead researcher, rather than on the evidence collected
    • Sociologists should report only the findings that favour the government, since funding depends on producing favourable results
    • Sociologists should evaluate the evidence about the programme's effects honestly, separating findings from political preferences
    • Sociologists should refuse to examine any programme, since evaluation is always an improper use of sociological knowledge

19. What does a 'research-policy gap' refer to?

    • A gap in the national census, which means that some households are never counted in official statistics for social policy
    • A gap in the budget of a university department, which prevents researchers from carrying out any fieldwork in the community
    • A gap in the public library catalogue, which prevents readers from finding sociological books on social policy topics
    • A mismatch between the questions researchers study and the questions policymakers need answered, or between findings and action

20. What was distinctive about Charles Booth's late nineteenth-century studies of London?

    • He interviewed only the wealthiest families in London, to find out how they had accumulated their property over time
    • He designed the London underground railway system, which was then used to plan the movement of workers around the city
    • He mapped poverty street by street, classifying households by income and social conditions to inform social reform
    • He recorded only the population counts of each parish in London, without any information about income or living conditions

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