Sociology and Values: A Descriptive Analytical Study

Abstract

Abstract:
This article seeks to highlight the nature of sociological knowledge as a scientific form of knowledge that is influenced by the researcher’s own values, while also producing values that are intrinsically linked to scientific inquiry. In this context, the focus is placed on the pioneers who shaped the development of this emerging field (sociology), through their engagement with the issue of values and the methodological challenges it raises. These pioneers include Émile Durkheim and Max Weber. As a discipline within the human and social sciences concerned with the study of society and its dynamics, sociology has long treated values as a social phenomenon, to the extent that the emergence of a specialized subfield—the sociology of values—has become an established reality. Within this framework, we review selected researchers and sociological approaches that have addressed the issue of values, including the Chicago School, the sociologist Nathalie Heinich (N. Heinich), and the social psychologist Shalom Schwartz (S. H. Schwartz).