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Global Health Econ Sustain Weber and Martineau: Bias in sociological method

debate, we can find an existence of a “sociology of sport” Thus, from a sociological perspective, and seeking
(Betti, 2005; Dart, 2014). In this sense, at the same time, a critical appropriation of body culture, consistent
two discourses emerged: (1) The first discourse as a research methods are also required to respect the ethical
scientific matrix, which considers it as an area of scientific and normative dimensions inherent in its practice
knowledge and (2) a pedagogical matrix, which conceives (Betti, 2005). Considering physical education as a practice
it as a pedagogical practice and, therefore, a field of that encompasses elements of culture in its theoretical
social action for intervention (Betti, 2005). Such tension spectrum, it is inevitable that sociological methods of
generates various clashes, as a false polarization between scientific investigation are employed in the actions and
such discourses is often constructed. practices of knowledge production. In fact, this reveals the
The first speech comes from the inclusion of physical existence of a “sociology of sport,” a relatively recent field
education in a perspective associated with natural of study dominated by names such as Karl Marx, Norbert
sciences, especially in the area of health sciences (Brasil, Elias, Eric Dunning, Pierre Bourdieu, and Michel Foucault
2014). The second stems from a strong insertion in the (Dart, 2014). Curiously, we can highlight two interesting
school environment, with very intense pedagogical points: (1) The name of Max Weber (1864 – 1920) is almost
practices and cultural approaches, which would bring it absent from research in the sociology of sport (Amstel
closer to the social and human sciences (Betti, 2005). It & Marchi Jr., 2021) and (2) despite her contribution to
is worth highlighting that the incorporation of scientific sociology, Harriet Martineau still has no space in this
practice into physical education began as a result of the knowledge area.
pressure of scientism within the academic environment, This likely occurred because Weber did not develop a
the impetus of the sports phenomenon, and the emergence theory or a method directly applied to physical education
of various sports sciences on the international scene and sports, despite his concerns with the subject in certain
(Lazzaroti Filho et al., 2018; Amstel & Marchi Jr., 2021). passages of The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
This convergence of movements ends up reinforcing and, and Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive
to some extent, maintaining such dichotomy. At the same Sociology, some posthumous works published by his wife,
time, it is frequently recognized that physical education Marianne Weber (Amstel & Marchi Jr., 2021). Moreover,
should encompass the specificity of an interdisciplinary other sociological canons, such as Karl Marx and Émile
field, thus requiring the articulation of elements from Durkheim, rarely appear in manuscripts related to
both the biological and social sciences (Lazzaroti Filho physical education and sports (Ferreira et al., 2009). This
et al., 2018). fact is surprising, as Weber holds a prominent place in
constructions related to culture, for example, “with regard
To overcome this dualism within the theoretical-
epistemological field of physical education, Betti (1996) to rationalization, a decisive factor in understanding
proposed a theory of physical education, which emerges the social actions that structure the lifestyle present in
as a “dynamic field of research and reflection” aiming industrial capitalism, inevitably encompassing sport in
to systematize and critically analyze scientific and this chain of events” (Amstel & Marchi Jr., 2021, p. 507). It
philosophical knowledge, and to receive and contribute is worth highlighting the absence of texts that explore the
to social practice, as well as various areas of science relevance of Harriet Martineau in the field of sociology of
and philosophy. Despite this epistemological debate, physical education and sports, particularly for researchers
physical education is still consolidating as a knowledge- who employ the sociological method in knowledge
producing field predominantly related to the natural production. In addition, understanding why this occurs
sciences, but with significant research efforts in the social is essential for a better comprehension of this knowledge
and human sciences. This is because physical education area, its tensions, and disputes (Mariano, 2008).
also seeks to incorporate scientific knowledge from large Therefore, the main objective of the present article is to
monodisciplinary areas, as Bracht (1999) would say, explain historical parallelism, as well as to demonstrate that
with sociology being particularly highlighted. Thus, the there is gender bias in sociological methods. The second aim
concept of “culture of body movement” is identified as is to detail aspects of Martineau’s work, and how they could
both a distinct knowledge and an investigative object of be applied in the sociology of physical education and sport.
physical education (Bracht, 1999), understood as “that part For this work, the productions of two representative authors
of general culture which encompasses the cultural forms of the area will be analyzed, Max Weber (1864 – 1920), a
that have historically been produced, both materially and widely known man in the field of sociology, and Harriet
symbolically, through the exercise of human motor skills” Martineau (1802 – 1876), a woman who structured relevant
(Betti, 2005, p. 187). aspects of the sociological method before by Max Weber.

Volume 1 Issue 2 (2023) 2 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.0992