Nowak Understanding and Prediction

Essays in the Methodology of Social and Behavioural Theories
Erscheinungsjahr 2012
ISBN: 978-94-010-9930-1
Verlag: Springer Netherland
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, Band 94, 507 Seiten, eBook

Reihe: Synthese Library

One of the more characteristic features of contemporary sociology is an increasing interest in theories. More and more theories are being developed in various areas of social investigation; we observe also an increasing number of verificational studies aimed primarily toward the verification of various theories. The essays presented in this volume deal with theories too, but they approach this problem from a methodological perspective. There fore it seems worthwhile in the preface to this volume to make a kind of general declaration about the author's aims and his approach to the subject of his interest, and about his view of the role of methodological reflection in the development of sciences. First let me say what methodology cannot do. It cannot be a substitute for the formulation of substantive theories, nor can it substitute for the empirical studies which confirm or reject such theories. Therefore its impact upon the development of any science, including the social sciences, is only indirect, by its undertaking the analysis of research tools and rules of scientific procedures. It can also propose certain standards for scientific procedures, but the application of these standards is the domain of substan tive researchers, and it is the substantive researchers who ultimately develop any science. Nevertheless the potential impact-of methodological reflection, even if only indirect, should not be underestimated.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Nowak, S.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

I / Concepts and Indicators in Humanistic Sociology.- II / Verbal Communications As Indicators of Sociological Variables.- III / Meaning and Measurement in Comparative Studies.- IV / Comparative Social Research and Methodological Problems of Sociological Induction.- V / Causal Interpretation of Statistical Relationships in Social Research.- VI / Inductive Inconsistencies and The Problems of Probabilistic Predictions.- VII / Logical and Empirical Assumptions of Validity of Inductions.- VIII / Empirical Knowledge and Social Values in The Cumulative Development of Sociology.- IX / Cultural Norms As Explanatory Constructs in Theories of Social Behavior.- X / Role and Limits of The ‘Functional Approach’ In Formulation of Theories of Attitudes.- XI / The Logic of Reductive Systematizations of Social and Behavioral Theories.- XII / Values and Knowledge in The Theory of Education: A Paradigm for an Applied Social Science.- Index of Names.