Читать книгу Essentials of Sociology - George Ritzer - Страница 91

Another issue relating to sociological research is whether researchers are, or can be, objective. That is, do they allow personal preferences and judgments to bias their research? Many argue that value-laden research jeopardizes the entire field of sociology. The publication of such research—and public revelations about researcher biases—erodes and could destroy the credibility of the field as a whole. This discussion is traceable, once again, to the work of Max Weber (Black 2013). Taken to its extreme, value-free sociology means preventing all personal values from affecting any phase of the research process. However, this is not what Weber intended in his work on values.

In fact, Weber saw at least two roles for values in social research. The first is in the selection of a question to be researched. In that case, it is perfectly appropriate for researchers to be guided by their personal values, or the values that predominate in the society of the day. The second is in the analysis of the results of a research study. In that analysis, sociologists can, and should, use personal and social values to help them make sense of their findings. These values are an aid in interpretation and understanding. However, they are not to be used purposely to distort the findings or mislead the reader of a report on the study. ●