The Elements of Social Scientific Thinking

A concise introduction to the fundamental concepts of social scientific thinking, this classic text - a favorite with students of political science, psychology, and sociology for over 25 years - makes research methods and statistics accessible to undergraduates.

Preface

vii

About the Authors

xv

Thinking Scientifically

1

(12)

Why Bother to Be Systematic?

4

(1)

The Role of Reasoned Judgment and Opinion

5

(2)

The Role of Imagination, Intuition, and Custom

7

(4)

Questions for Discussion

11

(2)

The Elements of Science

13

(30)

The Origin and Utility of Concepts

13

(4)

What Is a Variable?

17

(4)

Quantification and Measurement: Turning Concepts into Variables

21

(3)

Validity and Reliability of Variables

24

(3)

The Hypothesis

27

(4)

The Scientific Method

31

(2)

The Many Roles of Theory

33

(7)

Questions for Discussion

40

(3)

Strategies

43

(20)

Thinking Over the Problem

45

(5)

Reality Testing

50

(4)

Understanding the Results

54

(6)

Questions for Discussion

60

(3)

Refinements

63

(24)

Hypotheses

64

(16)

Variables

80

(4)

Questions for Discussion

84

(3)

Measuring Variables and Relationships

87

(44)

Measuring Variables: Levels of Measurement

88

(6)

Measuring the Significance and Representativeness of Data: Probability, Sampling, and Problems in Polling

94

(8)

Measuring Relationships between Variables: Association and Correlation

102

(11)

Regression Analysis

113

(13)

Computers and Statistics

126

(2)

Questions for Discussion

128

(3)

Reflections: Back to the Roots

131

(22)

Factuality, Reality, and Actuality

131

(6)

Morality and the Limits of Science

137

(6)

Of Scientists, Science, and Paradigms

143

(2)

Making Social Science Serve Human Needs

145

(3)

The Radicalism of Science

148

(2)

Science and Politics

150

(3)

Appendix A ``Schematic Assessments of Presidential Candidates'' by Arthur H. Miller, Martin P. Wattenberg, and Oksana Malanchuk

153

(18)

Appendix B ``Minority Representation under Cumulative and Limited Voting'' by David Brockington, Todd Donovan, Shaun Bowler, and Robert Brischetto

171

(22)

Index

193

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The Elements of Social Scientific Thinking

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials