Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Discourse about the human world has, since Socrates, been structured around the
assumption that one view of a given matter is better than competing views, and that
argumentation, if carried out correctly and systematically, will favour the view which
has the preponderance of reasons and evidence on its side. If this supposition were
dropped, the nature of social scientific inquiry would change significantly.
For many commentators in the social sciences the ineliminable interpretative
dimension of social inquiry and the standpoint-bound character of interpretation lead
to the conclusion that we have to abandon any notion of objective truth in the social
sciences. The central question raised in this thesis is whether this abandonment is
inevitable or even plausible. Is it plausible to conflate objectivity and truth? Is
objectivity a possible characteristic of the individual researcher or a characteristic of
the scientific research process? Does the cultural environment of the researcher
impact on the validity of research findings? If science is a social phenomenon, are
scientific beliefs different from other beliefs? How do the interests of the individual
researcher or the formal organisation of scientific practice impact on the validity of
findings? What role does power play in the shaping of knowledge? These are the
questions that will be addressed in the following thesis.
The methodology of Max Weber serves as a point of departure and divergences
and similarities to the work of Weber are explored in the writings of Kuhn, the
Edinburgh School, Latour, Foucault, Habermas, as well as contemporary
postmodernist and feminist writers. The analysis of these various concepts and
approaches is not presented chronologically, but rather as an exposition of the
contributors of various commentators in the fields of both the sociology of science
and knowledge, and the philosophy of science. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Diskoers oor die menslike wêreld is, sedert Socrates, gestuktureer rondom die
aanname dat een siening van 'n gegewe saak beter is as mededingende sienings,
en dat argumentasie, indien korrek en sistematies uitgevoer, ten voordeel sal wees
van die siening wat gesteun word deur die oormaat van redes en bewyse. As ons
hierdie aanname sou laat vaar, sal die stand van sosiaal wetenskaplike ondersoek
ingrypend verander.
Vir menige kommentator in die sosiale wetenskappe lei die onafwendbare
interpretatiewe dimensie van maatskaplike ondersoek, en die standpunt-gebonde
aard van interpretasie, tot die gevolgtrekking dat ons enige opvatting van
objektiwiteit in die sosiale wetenskappe moet laat vaar. Die kernvraag in hierdie
tesis is of hierdie verskuiwing onvermydelik of selfs aanneemlik is. Is dit geldig om
objektiwiteit en waarheid saam te snoer? Is objektiwiteit 'n moontlike eienskap van
die individuele navorser, of 'n eienskap van die navorsingsproses? Watter impak het
die kulturele omgewing van die navorser op die geldigheid van die
navorsingsbevindinge? As wetenskap 'n sosiale fenomeen is, is wetenskaplike
oortuigings enigsins anders as ander oortuigings? Watter impak het die belange van
'n individuele navorser, of die formele organsiasie van wetenskaplike praktyk, op die
geldigheid van bevindings? Watter rol speel mag in die vorming en skepping van
kennis? Hierdie is die vrae wat aangespreek word in dié tesis.
Die metodologie van Max Weber dien as vertrekpunt, en ooreenkomste tot en
afwykings van die sienings van Weber word ondersoek in die werk van Kuhn, die
"Edinburgh School", Latour, Foucault, Habermas, sowel as kontemporêre
postmoderne en feministiese skrywers. Die analise van hierdie verskeie konsepte
en benaderings word nie kronologies aangebied nie, maar eerder as 'n uiteensetting
van die bydraes van verskeie kommentators op die gebied van die sosiologie van
die wetenskap en van kennis, sowel as die filosofie van wetenskap.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/52376 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | Jacobz, Melville |
| Contributors | Mouton, J., Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology . |
| Publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | Unknown |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 111 p. |
| Rights | Stellenbosch University |
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