Methodological Misconceptions in the Social Sciences

Methodological Misconceptions in the Social Sciences PDF

Author: Angelo Fusari

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2014-03-31

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 9401786755

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This book offers a systematic view of social analysis that will advance the communication of results between different academic disciplines. It overcomes misunderstandings that are due to the use of an unstructured variety of methodological traditions in the analysis of complex socioeconomic and political processes. The book focuses on the special features of human society: humans as subjects, non-repetitiveness and irreversibility of social actions and the peculiar relations between necessity and possibility in human action. It defines methodological criteria, procedures and rules that enable researchers to select and classify realistic hypotheses to derive general principles and basic organizational features. It then applies these criteria in critical reviews of major theories and interpretations of society and history, offering clarifications and alternative proposals with regard to crucial aspects of anthropological, political, juridical, sociological and religious thought.

Statistical and Methodological Myths and Urban Legends

Statistical and Methodological Myths and Urban Legends PDF

Author: Charles E. Lance

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2010-10-18

Total Pages: 433

ISBN-13: 1135269653

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This book provides an up-to-date review of commonly undertaken methodological and statistical practices that are sustained, in part, upon sound rationale and justification and, in part, upon unfounded lore. Some examples of these "methodological urban legends", as we refer to them in this book, are characterized by manuscript critiques such as: (a) "your self-report measures suffer from common method bias"; (b) "your item-to-subject ratios are too low"; (c) "you can’t generalize these findings to the real world"; or (d) "your effect sizes are too low". Historically, there is a kernel of truth to most of these legends, but in many cases that truth has been long forgotten, ignored or embellished beyond recognition. This book examines several such legends. Each chapter is organized to address: (a) what the legend is that "we (almost) all know to be true"; (b) what the "kernel of truth" is to each legend; (c) what the myths are that have developed around this kernel of truth; and (d) what the state of the practice should be. This book meets an important need for the accumulation and integration of these methodological and statistical practices.

Statistical and Methodological Myths and Urban Legends

Statistical and Methodological Myths and Urban Legends PDF

Author: Charles E. Lance

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2010-10-18

Total Pages: 433

ISBN-13: 1135269661

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This book provides an up-to-date review of commonly undertaken methodological and statistical practices that are sustained, in part, upon sound rationale and justification and, in part, upon unfounded lore. Some examples of these "methodological urban legends", as we refer to them in this book, are characterized by manuscript critiques such as: (a) "your self-report measures suffer from common method bias"; (b) "your item-to-subject ratios are too low"; (c) "you can’t generalize these findings to the real world"; or (d) "your effect sizes are too low". Historically, there is a kernel of truth to most of these legends, but in many cases that truth has been long forgotten, ignored or embellished beyond recognition. This book examines several such legends. Each chapter is organized to address: (a) what the legend is that "we (almost) all know to be true"; (b) what the "kernel of truth" is to each legend; (c) what the myths are that have developed around this kernel of truth; and (d) what the state of the practice should be. This book meets an important need for the accumulation and integration of these methodological and statistical practices.

More Statistical and Methodological Myths and Urban Legends

More Statistical and Methodological Myths and Urban Legends PDF

Author: Charles E. Lance

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-11-05

Total Pages: 418

ISBN-13: 1135039429

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This book provides an up-to-date review of commonly undertaken methodological and statistical practices that are based partially in sound scientific rationale and partially in unfounded lore. Some examples of these “methodological urban legends” are characterized by manuscript critiques such as: (a) “your self-report measures suffer from common method bias”; (b) “your item-to-subject ratios are too low”; (c) “you can’t generalize these findings to the real world”; or (d) “your effect sizes are too low.” What do these critiques mean, and what is their historical basis? More Statistical and Methodological Myths and Urban Legends catalogs several of these quirky practices and outlines proper research techniques. Topics covered include sample size requirements, missing data bias in correlation matrices, negative wording in survey research, and much more.

Methods, Methodologies, and Perspectives in the Humanities and Social Sciences With Particular Reference to Islamic Studies: A Critical Rationalist Interpretation

Methods, Methodologies, and Perspectives in the Humanities and Social Sciences With Particular Reference to Islamic Studies: A Critical Rationalist Interpretation PDF

Author: Ali Paya

Publisher: ICAS Press

Published: 2021-01-01

Total Pages: 752

ISBN-13: 1907905529

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This book presents the first comprehensive introduction to methods and methodologies in the humanities and social sciences in general, and Islamic Studies in particular, from a critical rationalist point of view. The book aims to be a self-sufficient theoretical and practical guide to the topics that it introduces. It contains a large selection of fully worked out review activities and review questions plus topics for further discussion which are devised to assist readers to better understand the issues which are discussed in the book. Last but not least, all efforts have been made to make sure that most (if not all) of the reading materials which are recommended in the book are not only of the highest quality but also freely available on the internet.

Understanding the Course of Social Reality

Understanding the Course of Social Reality PDF

Author: Angelo Fusari

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-08-27

Total Pages: 145

ISBN-13: 3319430718

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This book offers a comparison between our earthly society and the society of a hypothetical twin planet with the aim to understand and deal with some of the main problems of our global society, as well as to advance interaction with some extra-terrestrial society no less advanced than ours that sooner or later will be discovered. The underlying premise of the book is that the contemporary world finds itself in what may well be the most confused age of human history. Growing technological changes and innovation make it difficult to understand the course of social reality, while the intensification of the relations between different regions of the Earth and the power achieved by financial capital on a world scale amplify the dimensions and visibility of disequilibria and iniquities, and sharpen frustration and sentiments of insecurity. Social thought, as it has developed at the service of a quasi-stationary world, lacks the ability to understand and govern the tumultuous economic and social processes in progress. The most efficacious way to meet this fleeting social reality is to scientifically highlight basic institutions and values and their steady changes caused by the accumulation of creative and choice processes. In doing so, long-run trends can be explored in order to understand and manage the disequilibrating-reequilibrating motion characterizing the life of dynamic societies. This book shows the ‘necessity’ of institutional and ethical transformations utilizing an utopian flavour.

Building Methodological Bridges

Building Methodological Bridges PDF

Author: Donald D. Bergh

Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing

Published: 2011-06-08

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13: 1780520271

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Strategic management relies on an array of complex methods drawn from various allied disciplines to examine how managers attempt to lead their firms toward success. This book provides a forum for critique, commentary, and discussion about key research methodology issues in the strategic management field.

Basic Concepts in the Methodology of the Social Sciences

Basic Concepts in the Methodology of the Social Sciences PDF

Author: Johann Mouton

Publisher: HSRC Press

Published: 1988

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 9780796906489

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This book consists of three major sections. In the first, which includes chapters 1 to 7, the basic concepts of the methodology of the social social sciences are discussed. In the second, chapters 8 and 9, the most important concepts of part one are integrated in discussions on the writing of research proposals and research reports. The third section (appendices) consists of three "case studies" in which the most important methodological principles which were discussed in the preceding sections are illustrated.

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