Model Discipline Political Science and the Logic of Representations

Name: Model Discipline Political Science and the Logic of Representations
Price: 18.53 USD
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ISBN: 9780195382204

ISBN-10: 019538220X

ISBN-13: 9780195382204

Edition: 2011

Authors: Kevin A. Clarke, David M. Primo

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Description:

Political science is an intensely quantitative discipline, and models are central. Political scientists use models--formal and informal, statistical and qualitative--to investigate and illuminate causal mechanisms, generate comparative data, and understand the conditions under which certain outcomes are expected to occur. But even though the use of models has grown dramatically in the discipline, there is very little understanding among political scientists of the role or function that models play in the scientific enterprise more generally. Moreover, theoretical models and empirical models have traditionally been treated as separate (hence the division between theorists and empiricists).…

Book details

List price: $24.99
Copyright year: 2011
Publisher: Oxford University Press, Incorporated
Publication date: 2/16/2012
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 232
Size: 6.00" wide x 9.00" long x 0.75" tall
Weight: 0.682
Language: English



Preface



A Model Discipline



The Model in Political Science



Metaphors and Analogies, Fables and Fictions



The broad themes of the book



Science is not what we think it is



Current practice is not "philosophy-free"



Models are objects



Models are not tested with data



Explanation



Plan of the Book



What this Book is Not



The Science in Political Science



Introduction



What Political Scientists Say They Are Doing



Hypothetico-Deductivism



Problems with H-D



Deductions are Truth-Preserving



Data Can't Speak for Themselves



Other Problems with H-D



How We Got Here



Logical Positivism



Pathologies of Rational Choice



Methods and Models



The Empirical Implications of Theoretical Models



Conclusion



What is a Model?



Introduction



Models as Maps



A Few Examples



The Received View of Scientific Theories



The Semantic Conception of Scientific Theories



The Model-Based View of Scientific Theories



Models and Theories



Conclusion



Theoretical Models



Introduction



Aspects of Theoretical Models



The Purposes of Models



Foundational Models



Organizational Models



Exploratory Models



Predictive Models



Judging a Theoretical Model



Prediction is the Wrong Standard (Usually)



The Illusion of Precise Standards



Dimensions of Usefulness



Conclusion



Empirical Models



Introduction



What is an Empirical Model?



A Model-Based Understanding



The Purposes of Empirical Models



The Illogic of Theory Testing



Falsificationism



Verificationism



Bayesian Confirmation



The Other Uses of Empirical Modeling



Conclusion



Explanation



Introduction



Existing justifications



Explanation



What constitutes an explanation?



Explanation in Political Science



Models as explanations



Choosing among explanations



Comparative Model Testing



Is choosing necessary?



Conclusion



Conclusion



Introduction



Review of the argument



Issues and counterarguments


Bibliography