Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the first of the two roots of twentieth-century sociological positivism, French positive philosophy as captured in the works of Comte. In sociology, allegiances to or accusations of positivism are made in a wealth of different ways. Positivist sociology is synonymous with statistical analysis, as in many sociological research reports and methods textbooks. The existence of diverse understandings of 'positivism', among others, reveals that the issue of what positivism is, and was, remains controversial. The remarks about current debates among philosophers of the natural and social sciences, and about contemporary responses to controversies over positivism in sociology are discussed. The book considers changes in positivist conceptions both of what constitutes evidence, the empirical base of science, and of how theory is built upon or otherwise related to this base.