For sociology: Suppose you are a sociologist studying alleged police brutality.

Question

For sociology: Suppose you are a sociologist studying alleged police brutality. Construct two arguments, one proposing that you ought to be as objective as possible in your work and the other suggesting that, while striving for accuracy, you should take a stand against any injustices which your research may uncover. Which position do you find more convincing? Why? For sociology: Suppose you are a sociologist studying alleged police brutality. Construct two arguments, one proposing that you ought to be as objective as possible in your work and the other suggesting that, while striving for accuracy, you should take a stand against any injustices which your research may uncover. Which position do you find more convincing? Why? For sociology: Suppose you are a sociologist studying alleged police brutality. Construct two arguments, one proposing that you ought to be as objective as possible in your work and the other suggesting that, while striving for accuracy, you should take a stand against any injustices which your research may uncover. Which position do you find more convincing? Why? Suppose you are a sociologist studying alleged police brutality. Construct two arguments, one proposing that you ought to be as objective as possible in your work and the other suggesting that, while striving for accuracy, you should take a stand against any injustices which your research may uncover. Which position do you find more convincing? Why?

Explanation / Answer

Let us assume, I am a sociologist studying police brutality. My first argument takes an objective stand. By objective stand, I mean that I will not let my personal feelings and biases get in the way of doing research. I will be value-neutral as far as possible. In this pursuit, I will promise my participants that their confidentiality will be maintained throughout the study and I will not let their personal details out in public. Whatever I will witness in due course of my data gathering as participant observant will not be used in any other way except to produce valid new knowledge. The participant's autonomy will be protected and respected.

My second stand as suggested in the question is to stand against injustices that I have come across during the course of my study. Let us suppose I find out that the police have kept a teenage girl in their custody and are abusing her. I report this to the higher authorities and get the girl out of the clutches of these policemen. Not only this, I make sure that these policemen are put through the trial for their alleged crime.

I find the first position as more convincing as the demand of the study is to be a sociologist and not an activist. As a researcher, you are supposed to be value-neutral and follow certain ethical standards.

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