What is a method? On the different uses of the term method in sociology

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article has two major goals: to present the different ways in which sociologists use the term ‘method’; and to suggest a tentative explanation why these been invested with their current meaning. The following uses are discussed: method as a mean to a goal; methods as methodology; the scientific method; method as a craft; and the heuristic method. It is also pointed out that sociologists today tend to view methods as distinct and independent of theory. The main reason for this, it is argued, is that modern sociologists have broken with the view of the classics that sociology as a science is defined by having its own distinct object of research (such as social facts [Durkheim] or social action [Weber]). The tendency to ignore this and instead study anything ‘social’, which is common in modern sociology, has important consequences for theory as well as methods. The two will tend to drift apart, with the result that theory tends to become out of touch, and methods be seen as the best way to access reality and understand what is going on. Methods, however, cannot replace theory.