The Content Of Social Explanation

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The Content of Social Explanation

Author : Susan James
Publisher : CUP Archive
Page : 208 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 1984-11-15
Category : Health & Fitness
ISBN : 052126667X

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The Content of Social Explanation by Susan James Pdf

This is a study of the central questions of explanation in the social sciences, and a defence of 'holism' against 'individualism'. In the first half of the book Susan James sets out very clearly the philosophical background to this controversy. She locates its source not at the analytical level at which most of the debate is usually conducted but at a more fundamental, moral level, in different conceptions of the human individual. In the second half of the book she examines critically three case studies of holistic approaches - Althusser, Poulantzas and the Annales historians - and progressively refines our sense of the strengths and deficiencies of their programmes. She ends by arguing for a form of concessive holism, which offers some accommodation to liberal conceptions of individual autonomy but continues to emphasise the explanatory importance of social regularities and environments.

Varieties Of Social Explanation

Author : Daniel Little
Publisher : Westview Press
Page : 294 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 1991
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : STANFORD:36105035127088

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Varieties Of Social Explanation by Daniel Little Pdf

Professor Little presents an introduction to the philosophy of social science with an emphasis on the central forms of explanation in social science: rational-intentional, causal, functional, structural, materialist, statistical and interpretive. The book is very strong on recent developments, particularly in its treatment of rational choice theory, microfoundations for social explanation, the idea of supervenience, functionalism, and current discussions of relativism.Of special interest is Professor Little's insight that, like the philosophy of natural science, the philosophy of social science can profit from examining actual scientific examples. Throughout the book, philosophical theory is integrated with recent empirical work on both agrarian and industrial society drawn from political science, sociology, geography, anthropology, and economics.Clearly written and well structured, this text provides the logical and conceptual tools necessary for dealing with the debates at the cutting edge of contemporary philosophy of social science. It will prove indispensible for philosophers, social scientists and their students.

The Explanation of Social Action

Author : John Levi Martin
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 400 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2011-06-01
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780199773442

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The Explanation of Social Action by John Levi Martin Pdf

The Explanation of Social Action is a sustained critique of the conventional understanding of what it means to "explain" something in the social sciences. It makes the strong argument that the traditional understanding involves asking questions that have no clear foundation and provoke an unnecessary tension between lay and expert vocabularies. Drawing on the history and philosophy of the social sciences, John Levi Martin exposes the root of the problem as an attempt to counterpose two radically different types of answers to the question of why someone did a certain thing: first person and third person responses. The tendency is epitomized by attempts to explain human action in "causal" terms. This "causality" has little to do with reality and instead involves the creation and validation of abstract statements that almost no social scientist would defend literally. This substitution of analysts' imaginations over actors' realities results from an intellectual history wherein social scientists began to distrust the self-understanding of actors in favor of fundamentally anti-democratic epistemologies. These were rooted most defensibly in a general understanding of an epistemic hiatus in social knowledge and least defensibly in the importation of practices of truth production from the hierarchical setting of institutions for the insane. Martin, instead of assuming that there is something fundamentally arbitrary about the cognitive schemes of actors, focuses on the nature of judgment. This implies the need for a social aesthetics, an understanding of the process whereby actors intuit intersubjectively valid qualities of complex social objects. In this thought-provoking and ambitious book, John Levi Martin argues that the most promising way forward to such a science of social aesthetics will involve a rigorous field theory.

The Limits of Social Science

Author : Martyn Hammersley
Publisher : SAGE
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2014-06-16
Category : Reference
ISBN : 9781473906327

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The Limits of Social Science by Martyn Hammersley Pdf

What forms of knowledge can social science claim to produce? Does it employ causal analysis, and if so what does this entail? What role should values play in the work of social scientists? These are the questions addressed in this book. They are closely interrelated, and the answers offered here challenge many currently prevailing assumptions. They carry implications both for research practice, quantitative or qualitative, and for the public claims that social scientists make about the value of their work. The arguments underpinning this challenge to conventional wisdom are laid out in detail in the first half of the book. In later chapters their implications are explored for two substantive areas of intrinsic importance: the study of social mobility and educational inequalities; and explanations for urban riots, notably those that took place in London and other English cities in the summer of 2011.

Philosophy of the Social Sciences

Author : C. Mantzavinos
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 345 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2009-09-10
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781139479820

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Philosophy of the Social Sciences by C. Mantzavinos Pdf

This volume is a unique contribution to the philosophy of the social sciences, presenting the results of cutting-edge philosophers' research alongside critical discussions by practicing social scientists. The book is motivated by the view that the philosophy of the social sciences cannot ignore the specific scientific practices according to which social scientific work is being conducted, and that it will be valuable only if it evolves in constant interaction with theoretical developments in the social sciences. With its unique format guaranteeing a genuine discussion between philosophers and social scientists, this thought-provoking volume extends the frontiers of the field. It will appeal to all scholars and students interested in the interplay between philosophy and the social sciences.

Explanation and Social Theory

Author : John Holmwood,A. Stewart
Publisher : Springer
Page : 254 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 1993-06-18
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781349132164

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Explanation and Social Theory by John Holmwood,A. Stewart Pdf

Modern social science is largely pessimistic about social life and inquiry and this text traces the reasons for this. It argues for a creative and progressive social science to tackle the real problems of society and to find a solution which would expand human competence and practical resources.

Social Science Research

Author : Anol Bhattacherjee
Publisher : CreateSpace
Page : 156 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2012-04-01
Category : Science
ISBN : 1475146124

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Social Science Research by Anol Bhattacherjee Pdf

This book is designed to introduce doctoral and graduate students to the process of conducting scientific research in the social sciences, business, education, public health, and related disciplines. It is a one-stop, comprehensive, and compact source for foundational concepts in behavioral research, and can serve as a stand-alone text or as a supplement to research readings in any doctoral seminar or research methods class. This book is currently used as a research text at universities on six continents and will shortly be available in nine different languages.

Theory and Educational Research

Author : Jean Anyon
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 349 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2008-08-18
Category : Education
ISBN : 9781135854430

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Theory and Educational Research by Jean Anyon Pdf

Most empirical researchers avoid the use of theory in their studies, providing data but little or no social explanation. Theoreticians, on the other hand, rarely test their ideas with empirical projects. As this groundbreaking volume makes clear, however, neither data nor theory alone is adequate to the task of social explanation—rather they form and inform each other as the inquiry process unfolds. Theory and Educational Research bridges the age-old theory/research divide by demonstrating how researchers can use critical social theory to determine appropriate empirical research strategies, and extend the analytical, critical – and sometimes emancipatory – power of data gathering and interpretation. Each chapter models a theoretically informed empiricism that places the data research yields in constant conversation with theoretical arsenals of powerful concepts. Personal reflections following each chapter chronicle the contributors’ trajectories of struggle and triumph utilizing theory and its powers in research. In the end this rich collection teaches education scholars how to deliberately engage with critical social theory in research to produce work that is simultaneously theoretically inspired, politically engaged, and empirically evocative.

Logics of Critical Explanation in Social and Political Theory

Author : Jason Glynos,David Howarth
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 279 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2007-09-12
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781134138364

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Logics of Critical Explanation in Social and Political Theory by Jason Glynos,David Howarth Pdf

This book develops a novel approach to critical explanation as a function of logics, taking a distinctive approach to social science explanation, and political studies more specifically, which avoids the problem of scientism.

Reduction, Explanation, and Realism

Author : David Owain Maurice Charles
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 500 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 1992
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 0198751311

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Reduction, Explanation, and Realism by David Owain Maurice Charles Pdf

The contributors to this volume evaluate the view that the phenomena studied in such varied fields as moral and mental philosophy, psychology, organic biology and social science are grounded in, but cannot be reduced to, phenomena that can be explained by the basic sciences.

Data Analysis for Social Science

Author : Elena Llaudet,Kosuke Imai
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2022-11-29
Category : Computers
ISBN : 9780691199436

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Data Analysis for Social Science by Elena Llaudet,Kosuke Imai Pdf

"Data analysis has become a necessary skill across the social sciences, and recent advancements in computing power have made knowledge of programming an essential component. Yet most data science books are intimidating and overwhelming to a non-specialist audience, including most undergraduates. This book will be a shorter, more focused and accessible version of Kosuke Imai's Quantitative Social Science book, which was published by Princeton in 2018 and has been adopted widely in graduate level courses of the same title. This book uses the same innovative approach as Quantitative Social Science , using real data and 'R' to answer a wide range of social science questions. It assumes no prior knowledge of statistics or coding. It starts with straightforward, simple data analysis and culminates with multivariate linear regression models, focusing more on the intuition of how the math works rather than the math itself. The book makes extensive use of data visualizations, diagrams, pictures, cartoons, etc., to help students understand and recall complex concepts, provides an easy to follow, step-by-step template of how to conduct data analysis from beginning to end, and will be accompanied by supplemental materials in the appendix and online for both students and instructors"--

Social Learning Theory and the Explanation of Crime

Author : Ronald L. Akers,Gary F. Jensen
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 378 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2017-07-28
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781351490115

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Social Learning Theory and the Explanation of Crime by Ronald L. Akers,Gary F. Jensen Pdf

Social learning theory has been called the dominant theory of crime and delinquency in the United States, yet it is often misrepresented. This latest volume in the distinguished Advances in Criminological Theory series explores the impact of this theory. Some equate it with differential association theory. Others depict it as little more than a micro-level appendage to cultural deviance theories. There have been earlier attempts to clarify the theory's unique features in comparison to other theories, and others have applied it to broader issues. These efforts are extended in this volume, which focuses on developing, applying, and testing the theory on a variety of criminal and delinquent behavior. It applies the theory to treatment and prevention, moving social learning into a global context for the twenty-first century. This comprehensive volume includes the latest work, tests, and theoretical advances in social learning theory and will be particularly helpful to criminologists, sociologists, and psychologists. It may also be of interest to those concerned with current issues relating to delinquency, drug use/abuse, and drinking/alcohol abuse.

Mind, Morality, and Explanation

Author : Frank Jackson,Philip Pettit,Michael Smith
Publisher : Clarendon Press
Page : 440 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2004-02-19
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 019156897X

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Mind, Morality, and Explanation by Frank Jackson,Philip Pettit,Michael Smith Pdf

Frank Jackson, Philip Pettit, and Michael Smith have been at the forefront of philosophy in Australia for much of the last two decades, and their collaborative work has had widespread influence throughout the world. Mind, Morality, and Explanation collects the best of that work in a single volume, showcasing their seminal contributions to philosophical psychology, the theory of psychological and social explanation, moral theory, and moral psychology.

Logics of History

Author : William H. Sewell Jr.
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 425 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2009-07-27
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780226749198

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Logics of History by William H. Sewell Jr. Pdf

While social scientists and historians have been exchanging ideas for a long time, they have never developed a proper dialogue about social theory. William H. Sewell Jr. observes that on questions of theory the communication has been mostly one way: from social science to history. Logics of History argues that both history and the social sciences have something crucial to offer each other. While historians do not think of themselves as theorists, they know something social scientists do not: how to think about the temporalities of social life. On the other hand, while social scientists’ treatments of temporality are usually clumsy, their theoretical sophistication and penchant for structural accounts of social life could offer much to historians. Renowned for his work at the crossroads of history, sociology, political science, and anthropology, Sewell argues that only by combining a more sophisticated understanding of historical time with a concern for larger theoretical questions can a satisfying social theory emerge. In Logics of History, he reveals the shape such an engagement could take, some of the topics it could illuminate, and how it might affect both sides of the disciplinary divide.

Theory and Explanation in Social Psychology

Author : Bertram Gawronski,Galen V. Bodenhausen
Publisher : Guilford Publications
Page : 449 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2015-01-07
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9781462518487

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Theory and Explanation in Social Psychology by Bertram Gawronski,Galen V. Bodenhausen Pdf

This volume provides the first authoritative explication of metatheoretical principles in the construction and evaluation of social-psychological theories. Leading international authorities review the conceptual foundations of the field's most influential approaches, scrutinizing the range and limits of theories in various areas of inquiry. The chapters describe basic principles of logical inference, illustrate common fallacies in theoretical interpretations of empirical findings, and outline the unique contributions of different levels of analysis. An in-depth look at the philosophical foundations of theorizing in social psychology, the book will be of interest to any scholar or student interested in scientific explanations of social behavior.