A groundbreaking logic-based approach to bridging the scientific-constructivist divide in social science

The 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.

About the Author
James Mahoney is the Gordon Fulcher Professor in Decision-Making and professor of sociology and political science at Northwestern University. His many books include Advances in Comparative-Historical Analysis and A Tale of Two Cultures (Princeton).

Reviews
"[The Logic of Social Science] provides a compelling and accessible introduction to scientific constructivism and the methodology of the set-theoretic analysis, and it provides ready-for-use set-theoretic tools for researchers in the social sciences."---Hein Duijf, Metascience



Book Information
ISBN 9780691214955
Author James Mahoney
Format Paperback
Page Count 416
Imprint Princeton University Press
Publisher Princeton University Press