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1.0 Introduction介绍
社会科学是以社会现象为研究对象的科学。其任务是研究和阐述各种社会现象及其发展规律（Burawoy，2005年，第4-6页；Weber，1949年，第50-65页）。但是，社会发展规律与自然规律有很大的区别。因此，自然科学方法往往被用来研究社会科学，这有很大的不足，而忽视自然科学方法将使自然科学方法和结论不那么客观（Burawoy，2005年，第4-6页；Weber，1949年，第50-65页）。在不影响社会科学客观性的前提下，研究者在社会科学研究过程中能够传达什么样的价值承诺，一直是困扰社会科学发展的问题之一。韦伯最著名的著作之一阐述了社会科学的研究方法和原理。韦伯分别运用价值相关性、理想类型和价值中立性的概念，从研究对象的选择、研究方法和研究结果评论等方面说明社会科学是如何客观的（韦伯，1949年）。韦伯理论为解决社会科学研究的客观问题提供了一种有价值的方法。本文根据韦伯（1949）的理论分析了特里凡特（2013，第563-580页）的研究，探讨了什么样的价值承诺在社会科学中具有合法的作用。本文首先介绍了韦伯的价值关联理论，分析了Triventi（2013，第563-580页）在研究对象选择中的价值承诺问题。然后提出了韦伯的理想类型理论，并从研究方法的角度探讨了特里凡特（2013，第563-580页）的价值承诺问题。接着运用韦伯的价值中立理论分析了特里凡特（2013年第563-580页）在评价结果中的价值承诺问题，最后对韦伯理论的不足之处进行了评述。
Social science refers to science that takes social phenomena as its research object. Its task is to study and elaborate various social phenomena and their development laws (Burawoy, 2005, p.4-6; Weber, 1949, p. 50-65). However, there are great differences between the law of social development and the laws of nature. Therefore, natural science methods are often used to study social science, which has great deficiencies, while ignoring natural science methods will make natural science methods and conclusions less objective (Burawoy, 2005, p.4-6; Weber, 1949, p. 50-65). It is always one of the problems plaguing the development of social science that what kind of value commitments researchers can convey in the process of social science research without affecting the objectivity of social science. One of Weber's most famous works expound the research methods and principles of social science. Weber used the concepts of value relevance, ideal type, and value neutrality respectively to illustrate how social science is objective in terms of the selection of research objects, research methods, and commentary on research results (Weber, 1949). Weber's theory provides a valuable method for solving the objective problems of social science research. This article analyzed the research of Triventi’s (2013, p. 563-580) according to Weber's (1949) theory, and explored what kind of value commitments have a legitimate role in social science. This article first introduced Weber's value relevance theory, and analyzed the problem of Triventi’s (2013, p. 563-580) value commitments in the selection of research objects. Then it provided Weber's ideal type theory and discussed Triventi’s (2013, p. 563-580) problems of value commitments in terms of research methods. Followed by Weber's value neutrality theory to analyze Triventi’s (2013 p. 563-580) problems of value commitments in the evaluation of results, finally, the author commented the shortcomings of Weber's theory.
2.0 Main body主体
2.1 Value relevance and selection of research object价值关联与研究对象选择
韦伯（1949，第50-65页）认为社会科学研究的对象是一种文化现象，社会科学的任务是认识而不是评价社会经济文化现象。然而，我们面临的研究课题数量是如此之多。我们如何选择我们研究的对象？一般来说，选择自己关注的研究者会受到很多个人因素的影响，包括他的学术背景、研究兴趣，甚至他的物质兴趣、宗教信仰等（韦伯，1949年，第50-65页）。正因为如此，不同的研究者会选择不同的研究对象来关注，这完全取决于他的个人立场和态度，也就是他的价值取向。这就是所谓的价值关系（Weber，1949年，第50-65页；Hammersley，2016年，第1-11页）。就研究对象而言，虽然研究者必须根据自己的价值观在各种具体的社会现象之间进行选择，但从这个角度来看，建立一个研究对象必然是主观的。然而，这种选择是基于研究的意义，而不是基于研究者的主观喜好和厌恶（标题，2004年，第1639-1643页；Hammersley，2016年，第1-11页）。也就是说，研究者可以痛恨毒品和犯罪，或者对宗教信仰漠不关心，但这并不排除研究者会研究这些特定的社会现象，只要他认为这些现象具有重大的研究意义。Weber (1949, p. 50-65) believed that the object of social science research is a cultural phenomenon, and the task of social science is to recognize rather than evaluate social economic and cultural phenomena. However, the number of research subjects we face is so numerous. How do we select the objects we study? Generally speaking, a researcher who chooses his concern will be influenced by many of his personal factors, including not only his academic background, research interest, and even his material interests, religious beliefs, etc. (Weber, 1949, p. 50-65). It is precisely because of this that different researchers will choose different research objects to pay attention to, which depends entirely on his personal position and attitude, that is, on his value orientation. This is the so-called value relationship (Weber, 1949, p. 50-65; Hammersley, 2016, p. 1-11). As far as a research subject is concerned, although a researcher must choose between various concrete social phenomena based on his own values, from this perspective, the establishment of a research subject will inevitably be subjective. However, this choice is made based on the significance of the study, it is not based on the subjective likes and dislikes of the researcher (Title, 2004, p. 1639-1643; Hammersley, 2016, p.1-11). That is to say, a researcher can hate drugs and crimes, or he is indifferent to religious beliefs, but this does not rule out that the researcher will study these specific social phenomena, as long as he thinks that these phenomena have great research significance.
As for Triventi’s (2013, p. 563–580) article, why the author chose gender differences between men and women as a research topic, because a large number of studies have shown that there are many harms to the gender differences in wages between men and women, including: violations of the principles of fairness and equality, which do not contribute to the establishment of corporate image, and the establishment of harmonious labor relations, and so on. However, it is not very objective to merely take this as a research aim, as not all gender differences in wages will cause these harms. Wage differences are common in real society. There are many reasons leading to the differences in wages. These differences exist not only between men and women, but also between different countries and regions, and between different companies (Wilton, 2007, p.520-38; Mandel and Semyonov, 2006, p. 1910-49; Halaby, 2003, p. 251-78). In the theory of human resource management, the difference in employee wages caused by performance appraisal finally plays a role in motivating employees, which is even recognized. It is also widely used by enterprises. This shows that the existence of wage differences is a widespread social phenomenon, and in many cases it can be reasonably explained (Wilton, 2007, p. 520-38). The view believing that wage differences between men and women are completely unreasonable may be too subjective. With such a subjective attitude to conduct research will inevitably affect the objectivity of research. From the perspective of value relevance, it is acceptable to study the subject with a certain subjective attitude, but it should be more objective in explaining and studying the research significance of this topic. So why should we study the gender differences between men and women, objective explanations are needed, including not that all wage differences between men and women are unreasonable, and what differences between men and women are reasonable and irrational, to what extent the differences in wages between men and women are inappropriate, what bad outcomes will be caused by unfair wage differences between men and women, and what significance will be brought by research on this unreasonable differences to a society.
2.2 Ideal types and research methods
When Weber explained how to determine objects of social science research, the next thing is how to achieve this goal. This involves research methods of social science. Weber (1949, p. 50-65) introduced his own concept of "ideal type". In Weber's research methodology, this is a very important concept. Here, Weber showed how to use the concept of "ideal type" to programmatically complete the revealing of causal relationships between specific social phenomena (Hammersley, 2016, p.1-11). For example, to study the social phenomenon of "democracy," the first step in Weber's view is to construct an ideal type of "democracy." Some of the most crucial characteristics of democracy, such as free elections, confrontational parties, the legitimate power of the opposition, the decentralization of power, and the protection of civil liberties, are necessary elements of the democratic model of the ideal type. Using this as a frame of reference, it is found that communist or socialist democracy has a considerable distance from this. In contrast, the Western democratic political system is closer to the ideal democratic model. On this basis, it can be concluded that Western democracy is more democratic than socialist democracy (Weber, 1949, p. 50-65).#p#分页标题#e#
Weber's concept of ideal type does provide a method with a certain degree of operability in the study of specific social phenomena, which is of great help in the research on reality (Hammersley, 2016, p.1-11). However, as far as Weber's concept of the ideal type is concerned, I understand that he should be an abstraction of the actual activities. Weber himself once pointed out that an ideal type is formed by one-sided emphasis on one or more viewpoints, through synthesizing many diffuse, unconnected, individual specific phenomena that are more or less present and occasionally absent, these phenomena are grouped into a unified analysis structure based on those views that are emphatically emphasized (Weber, 1949, p. 50-65). As far as ideal type is concerned, although different researchers can extract their own ideal type, from this perspective, ideal type do have a subjective aspect. However, it should be noted that ideal type is only a kind of analysis structure, and although the ideal type is Utopia, it has a living entity, rather than a subjectively imagined object by a researcher with his own likes and dislikes (Weber, 1949, p. 50-65; Hammersley, 2016, p.1-11).
According to Weber's ideal type analysis method to study gender differences in wages between men and women can follow the following steps. First of all, it is necessary to define what kind of status the wage difference between men and women should be under ideal conditions, should men's and women's wages be the same or allow a certain degree of difference. Second, what is the ideal distribution of men and women in the workplace in the labor market? Should men and women be evenly distributed in different industries or evenly distributed at different levels in a same industry, or should they allow men and women to distribute differently in different industries and at different levels according to their own characteristics. Finally, to analyze the reasons for gender differences between men and women, if we analyze from the perspective of family roles and socio-cultural perspectives, then we need to analyze the ideal state of life and social status of women under ideal social and family conditions, and what roles men and women should play in an ideal social status.
According to the above logic, we analyzed Hammersley’s (2016, p.1-11) article. First of all, the study was based on whether there is statistical difference between men and women's wages to determine whether they are equal. This is a concept of pursuing the absolute equality of men’s and women’s wages, so whether the absolute equality of wages of men and women is an ideal state, objectively speaking, wages are affected by many factors including work efficiency, potential, welfare system, and many other factors (Mandel and Semyonov, 2006, p. 1910-49; England, 2005, p.264-88). There are many differences between men and women in abilities, strengths, physical strength, intelligence, and personality (England, 2005, p.264-88; Halaby, 2003, p. 251-78), ignoring these differences and pursuing absolute equality in wages is not an objective attitude. Therefore, in the study of gender differences in wages, we must determine whether there should be differences in gender wages in an ideal state, if there is a difference, to what extent this difference is the best.
Second, Hammersley’s (2016, p.7) article used vertical isolation and horizontal isolation to show women's disadvantaged position in the workplace, thereby illustrating the reason for why women's wages are lower than men's. The author still used a method of statistical data to show that there are significantly more men in senior positions or in high-yield industries than women to illustrate the disadvantages of women in the workplace. This is also opinion of pursuit of absolute equality between men and women in the workplace in different industries and levels. This is also not an objective point of view, because in reality, there is a big difference between men and women in terms of their own characteristics, positions and industry characteristics, market competition environment (England, 2005, p.264-88; Fagan, 2001, p. 239-66), the pursuit of the absolute equality of men and women in the workplace distribution must be incompatible with objective facts. Therefore, it is necessary to determine whether there should be differences in the distribution of men and women in different occupations and levels in the workplace under ideal conditions. If there is a difference, to what extent this difference is the best.
Finally, Hammersley (2016, p.7) analyzed why women are at a disadvantaged position and get lower wages than men's in the workplace in terms of family roles and even socio-cultural and historical traditions. For example, women assume more housework, they cannot devote more energy to work, and take more risk to resign halfway (Halaby, 2003, p. 251-78; England, 2005, p.264-88). These are facts, but these are unilateral analysis of the role and positioning of women in family and social culture. They are not objective and comprehensive. For example, women who focus on family affairs may lead to a decrease in personal income, but it will allow the men to devote more energy to work to earn more wages. From the perspective of overall household income, the families may get more, and women may be more willing to bear this. In this case, women's family roles cannot be used as a reason to analyze the unreasonable differences between men's and women's wages. According to Weber's theory to analyze the causes of women's low wages from the point of view of family culture, an ideal model for family relations should be constructed to understand the status of men and women, their roles, and family responsibilities under ideal family relationships. In this sense, the factors affecting women’s low wages are not only related to women’s family roles, but also to the men’s ability to assume their own family roles. The analysis and resolution of women’s low wages from the perspective of women’s family roles may not be objective and comprehensive.
2.3 Value neutrality and evaluation of research results
Value neutrality is a methodological principle with objectivism that appears in social science research. It requires social scientists to merely state the facts while observing, exploring, and interpreting social phenomena, and abandon value judgments and individuals’ likes, dislikes to adopt an “unbiased” attitude, thus in social science research, there is only true and false, but it has nothing to do with right or wrong (Hollis, 1994, p.222-223; Becker, 1967, p.239-247). Weber figured, value neutrality has two meanings: First, once a social scientist chooses a research topic based on his own values, he must stop using any subjective values and obey the guidelines of the data he finds, regardless of whether the results of application of this kind of data research are beneficial to him. This requires researchers to observe and analyze strictly in an objective and neutral manner, so as to guarantee the objectivity and scientificalness of research (Weber, 1949, p. 50-65). Second, strict distinctions must be made between factual judgments and value judgments. As a social science researcher, he can only describe or explain scientific facts to people, and cannot teach people to make value choices (Weber, 1949, p. 50-65). In Weber’s view, an empirical science does not teach people what to do, but only tells people what they can do, or what they want to do in a specific situation, the question “should be” is an issue that cannot be solved by experience science, because value judgments are plural, ultimate value does not have a common objective standard (Weber, 1949, p. 50-65; Hammersley, 2009, p.1-11). In other words, social science as an empirical science can only explain social phenomena and does not make value judgments on social phenomena, and making value judgments is not the scope of social science. A research object can only be recognized, and it cannot be processed, and can not be evaluated. Once it is researched and interpreted, it will have a value relationship. That is, a social phenomenon is different from the individual value of researchers, and each researcher will have different interpretation of this social phenomenon. In other words, the social phenomenon explained by the researchers is not a social phenomenon of the “real” world, but a social phenomenon after processing (Hollis, 1994, p.222-223).
According to Weber’s principle of value neutrality, when doing social science research, researchers can describe objective facts, but they need to avoid interpreting these objective facts in a subjective manner. In Triventi’s (2013, p.563-580) article, it is pointed out that one of the reasons for the gender differences between male and female wages comes from the pure discrimination against women. Whether it is deemed as pure discrimination requires more evidence to support, otherwise it is difficult to avoid being considered as a conclusion that is incorporated with the subjective consciousness of the researcher. The author believed that female discrimination is one of the causes of gender differences in wages, which involves value judgments and violates the principle of value neutrality. If this part of the research is to be perfected on the basis of value-neutral principles, it should first list relevant data and facts. Then, based on objective research attitudes and methods to find out the performance and causes of wage differences, and state what the specifics of these manifestations and causes. The author should not directly judge whether discrimination is the cause of wage differences, but allow readers to judge according to the stated data and objective facts whether the wage difference between men and women is discriminatory.
2.4 Critical analysis on Weber's theory
Weber's theory emphasizes the difference between natural science and social science, and points out the subjective features of social science. On the other hand, he tried to find an objective foundation for sociological research and seek a balance between the subjectivity and objectivity in social science research (Hammersley, 2016, p.1-11). His theory and principles have become a valuable method for contemporary social science research (Hammersley, 2016, p.1-11). However, there are some inherent conflicts and contradictions in his theory. For example, he believed that social science research does not have to find the universal objective laws that exist, but when people shape ideal types, they inevitably seek out objective laws and build ideal types based on these rules. In addition, value relevance theory allows people to have subjective ideas when selecting research objects, but requires subjective ideas to be consistent with objective facts. Then how to judge whether the two are consistent and how to achieve compliance has brought some trouble for people to use his theory in social science research.#p#分页标题#e#
3.0 Conclusion
For a long time, what type of value commitments researchers transmit in the social research science process to avoid affecting the objectivity of social science has always been one of the problems plaguing the development of social science. Weber (1949, p. 50-65) used the concepts of value relevance, ideal type, and value neutrality respectively to illustrate how social science is objective in terms of the selection of research objects, research methods, and evaluation on research results. This article analyzed the research from Triventi (2013, p. 563–580) according to Weber's theory to understand what kind of value commitments has a legitimate role in social science. From the perspective of selection of research objects, value commitments can be subjective, but the research objects selected must meet objective facts. From the perspective of research methods, adopting the analysis methods of ideal type, the value commitments of the ideal type built can be subjective. However, it is a kind of life form rather than the subjective imagining of researchers’ by virtue of their own likes and dislikes. Considering from the evaluation of research results, the value commitments of research results can be stated without value judgment. Although Weber's theory has some inherent conflicts and contradictions, his theory seeks a balance between subjectivity and objectivity in social science research. His theory and principles have become a valuable method for contemporary social science research.
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