title: Provoking misunderstanding: a comment on Black's defence of value-free sociology.
abstract: This paper is a response to a recent article dealing with the concept of value-free sociology by Donald Black. It argues that while a defence of Weber's position on the role of values in sociological research is necessary and important, what is offered by Black is counter-productive in important respects. This is because it encourages some of the misunderstandings that it is aimed at remedying and, even more importantly, offers a simplistic discussion of what are complex issues.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Education and Language Studies, Open University.
authors.forename: Martyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hammersley
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D012106:Research; D012945:Social Values; D012961:Sociology / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards
keywords: Max Weber; Value freedom; objectivity; partisanship; value judgments; value neutrality