ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on some important theoretical and methodological aspects of sociology as a discipline. One of the debates that had been raging since the origin of sociology is that ‘Is sociology a science?’ To understand this, we must first learn what is science and scientific method, and then evaluate the discipline of sociology on the parameters of a scientific discipline. The learner would be introduced the major theoretical strands of research methodology in sociology. Subsequently, the chapter also explores the methodological debates related to the scientific nature of the discipline in the sections on positivism and its critique, and fact, value and objectivity. The chapter concludes with the discussion on reflexive sociology, which offers a fresh perspective to both theory and methodology in sociology.
