Logic of Social Science (eBook)

James Mahoney (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2021
416 Seiten
Princeton University Press (Verlag)
978-0-691-21499-3 (ISBN)

Infos

A groundbreaking logic-based approach to bridging the scientific-constructivist divide in social scienceThe Logic of Social Science offers new principles for designing and conducting social science research. James Mahoney uses set-theoretic analysis to develop a fresh scientific constructivist approach that avoids essentialist biases in the production of knowledge. This approach recognizes that social categories depend on collective understandings for their existence, but it insists that this recognition need not hinder the use of explicit procedures for the rational assessment of truth. Mahoney shows why set-theoretic analysis enables scholars to avoid the pitfalls of essentialism and produce findings that rest on a firm scientific foundation.Extending his previous work and incorporating new material, Mahoney presents specific tools for formulating and evaluating theories in the social sciences. Chapters include discussions of models of causality, procedures for testing propositions, tools for conducting counterfactual and sequence analysis, and principles for knowledge accumulation. Equal focus is placed on theory building and explanatory tools, including principles for working with general theoretical orientations and normative frameworks in scientific research. Mahoney brings a novel perspective to understanding the relationship among actors, social rules, and social resources, and he offers original ideas for the analysis of temporality, critical events, and path dependence.Bridging the rift between those who take a scientific approach and those who take a constructivist one, The Logic of Social Science forges an ambitious way forward for social science researchers.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 17.8.2021
• Zusatzinfo: 64 b/w illus. 9 tables.
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Politische Theorie
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Empirische Sozialforschung
• Schlagworte: Act utilitarianism • Adaptive Expectations • Agency (sociology) • Analogy • Bayesian • Bayesian inference • Bayesian probability • Bayes' Theorem • Behavior • Bourgeoisie • Case study • Categorization • Causal chain • causal inference • Causality • causal model • Certainty • Ceteris paribus • class analysis • class consciousness • cognitive model • cognitive science • Comprehension (logic) • Concept • Conceptualization (information science) • Conceptual spaces • Connectionism • Consideration • Constitutionalism • Constructivist epistemology • Contingency (Philosophy) • Cost–benefit analysis • Critical realism (philosophy of the social sciences) • Data Analysis • Democratization • design history • deterrence theory • Developmental Psychology • Diagram (category theory) • Disposition • Dynamism (metaphysics) • Economic Policy • Educational Psychology • Epistemology • essentialism • Existence • Explanation • Finding • Force Dynamics • foreign policy • History • hypothesis • ideal type • Illustration • image schema • inductive reasoning • inference • Instance (computer science) • Institution • Intelligibility (philosophy) • Karl Marx • Labour Economics • Labour movement • Level of Analysis • liberal democracy • Likelihood Function • Literature • Logic • logical reasoning • Mathematics • Measurement • mental process • Mental representation • Metaphor • Methodology • Modal Logic • modal realism • Moral Reasoning • narrative • Natural kind • Natural science • Necessity and sufficiency • normative • Normative statement • Norm (social) • Objectivity (philosophy) • Objectivity (science) • obstacle • Ontology • path dependence • perception • phenomenon • Philosophy • philosophy of science • Political Science • possible world • Prediction • Principle • Probability • Prototype theory • Psychology • Public Policy • Qualitative Comparative Analysis • quantitative research • Quantity • Rational Choice Theory • Rationalism • Reality • reason • rebuttal • reductionism • Regime • Regression Analysis • Relativism • Requirement • result • role theory • Scientific Method • Scientist • Self-Organization • Sequence Analysis • Social capital • Social Choice Theory • Social class in the United States • Social constructionism • social constructivism • Socialization • Social Movement • Social Order • Social Policy • Social Psychology • Social reality • social revolution • Social Science • Social science research • Social Structure • Social Theory • Society • Sociology • Sociology of Culture • State of affairs (sociology) • Statistic • statistician • Subset • Supply (economics) • Systems Theory • Theda Skocpol • theory • Theory of Mind • Thought • Uncertainty • Understanding • Unit of analysis • Utilitarianism • Value (ethics) • Welfare State
• ISBN-10: 0-691-21499-9 / 0691214999
• ISBN-13: 978-0-691-21499-3 / 9780691214993