The Logic Of Social Research

by Stinchcombe, Arthur L.

• ISBN13: 9780226774923
• ISBN10: 0226774929
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-07-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

Arthur L. Stinchcombe has earned a reputation as a leading practitioner of methodology in sociology and related disciplines. Throughout his distinguished career he has championed the idea that to be an effective sociologist, one must use many methods. This incisive work introduces students to the logic of those methods. The Logic of Social Researchorients students to a set of logical problems that all methods must address to study social causation. Almost all sociological theory asserts that some social conditions produce other social conditions, but the theoretical links between causes and effects are not easily supported by observation. Observations cannot directly show causation, but they can reject or support causal theories with different degrees of credibility. As a result, sociologists have created four main types of methods that Stinchcombe termsquantitative,historical,ethnographic, andexperimentalto support their theories. Each method has value, and each has its uses for different research purposes. Accessible and astute,The Logic of Social Researchoffers an image of what sociology is, what it's all about, and what the craft of the sociologist consists of.

Author Biography

Arthur L. Stinchcombe is professor emeritus of sociology, political science, and organizational behavior at Northwestern University. He is the author of many books, including Constructing Social Theories and, most recently, When Formality Works: Authority and Abstraction in Law and Organizations, both published by the University of Chicago Press.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	xi
1 Methods for Sociology and Related Disciplines	1	(21)
What Kinds of Theory Do Sociologists Study?	1	(8)
The Formation of Methodological Factions	9	(2)
An Outline of the Argument	11	(1)
Problem I: The Centrality of Distances in Study Design for Causal Theories	11	(2)
Problem II: Economy in Data Collection	13	(1)
Problem III: Using Data to Refine Concepts and "Measurements" of Concepts	14	(2)
Problem IV: Contexts; Differences and Distances between Contexts; Contexts Shaping Causal Processes	16	(1)
Problem V: Using Data to Find Mechanisms and Processes; Relation of Such Process Concepts to Concepts of Units of Analysis	17	(1)
Problem VI: Testing Theories by Testing Hypotheses with Data	18	(1)
Problem VII: Using Data to Refine Theories	19	(1)
Self-Evaluation	20	(2)
2 Distances as Central to Causal Reasoning and Methods	22	(14)
The Minimum Piece of Causal Information Is Two Distances	22	(2)
Difference, Distance, Units, Causes within Units	24	(5)
Closer and Farther: Numbers, Lines, and Curves	29	(3)
The Centrality of Distances in Later Chapters of This Book	32	(4)
3 The Basic Structure of Economy in Social Research	36	(41)
The Centrality of Distances in Study Design	36	(1)
Differences among Cultures or Societies	37	(2)
Intensity of Observation	39	(3)
Sparse Fields and the Expense of Getting a Grip on a Case	42	(1)
Stinchcombe Methods Slavery Short Version	43	(9)
Clemens Books Short Version	52	(3)
Theoretical Methods to Increase Economies in Data Collection	55	(2)
Theory Allowing One to Use Data from a "Lower" Level	57	(1)
The Theoretical Penumbra and Exploratory Research	58	(1)
Getting Unconfounded Distances	59	(3)
When Not to Follow My Advice on Sampling Extreme Cases Intensively	62	(6)
"Nearby" Theories and the Value of Data	68	(2)
Process Data	70	(1)
Becker Short Version	70	(3)
Context	73	(2)
Appendix: General Note on American "Random" Samples	75	(2)
4 Using Data to Refine Concepts of Distances between Units of Analysis	77	(40)
"Sensitizing Concepts" and Improving Them	80	(1)
Institutionalized Definitions	81	(2)
"Informal" Institutions	83	(2)
Methodological Implications of the Examples	85	(1)
Extending the Notion	86	(2)
Distances between Situations	88	(1)
Quantitative and Qualitative Distances	89	(2)
Exemplification of Discrete Variables	91	(2)
Stinchcombe Logic of Analogy Short Version	93	(8)
The Opposite End: Exact Concepts	101	(3)
Criteria for Good Concepts with Good
Measurements	104	(1)
Stinchcombe Psychology of Rebellion Short Version	104	(6)
Uses of Exactness	110	(2)
Principles of Refining Concepts of Distances	112	(5)
5 Refining Concepts about Contexts	117	(32)
Concepts about Context, and Context-Specific Concepts	120	(3)
Books for Context, Articles for Causation with Assumed Context	123	(3)
Contexts to Study Meanings	126	(2)
The Relation of Context to Distances between Units of Analysis	128	(2)
Periodization and Localization in Historical Sociology	130	(2)
Clemens Time Short Version	132	(3)
Geographical and Temporal Boundaries of Context	135	(2)
Exactness of Concepts of Context; Institutions as Contexts of Organizations	137	(1)
Schneiberg-Clemens Institutionalism Methods Short Version	138	(6)
Concepts and Variables about Contexts	144	(2)
Summary on Concepts of Context	146	(3)
6 Units of Analysis and Mechanisms: Turning Causes into Effects	149	(90)
The Interdependence of Concepts and Units of Analysis	152	(6)
Abbott Short Version	158	(2)
Investigating Analogies and Their Causal Meaning	160	(2)
Analogies between Distances as the Core of Analogies between Units of Analysis	162	(4)
An Example of a Mechanism Paper	166	(4)
Five Main Kinds of Mechanisms and Units of Analysis	170	(6)
Stinchcombe Mechanisms Short Version	176	(6)
A Basic Mechanism with Variants: Complex Cultural Objects, Their Creators, and Their Users	182	(2)
Methodological Strategy on Texts, Discourse, and Reception	184	(1)
Objects and Actions, Griswold and the Artist-Audience Relation	185	(1)
Griswold Short Version	186	(2)
Back to Books versus Articles	188	(2)
Reception versus Production	190	(2)
Scholarly Citations as Evidence of "Serious" Reception	192	(2)
Interpretation	194	(4)
Explanation by Interpretation	198	(1)
Summary: Methods for the Sociology of High Culture	198	(2)
Bargains as Social Systems and Creators of Social Orders	200	(10)
Summary on Bargains	210	(1)
Methods to Study When Bargains Hold	211	(3)
Mobilization as a Mechanism	214	(1)
Social Movement Theory and Diffusion Theory	214	(3)
"Seekers," "Cosmopolitans," "Other Adopters," and "Opponents"	217	(3)
Stinchcombe Time Short Version	220	(4)
Ties of Trust	224	(3)
Adoption and Rejection after Adoption: New Things in the Life World	227	(3)
Comparative Racism: Methods for Sorting Out Mechanisms	230	(4)
Why Historical?	234	(4)
Conclusion	238	(1)
7 Testing Theories by Testing Hypotheses with Data	239	(55)
Regression as Creating a Parameterized Comparison Group, as a "Null Hypothesis" for "Residual Analysis"	241	(5)
A Note on R2	246	(1)
Hierarchical Models	246	(3)
Observations on Partial Distances	249	(1)
Rules of Thumb for Increasing Power of Observations for Causal Studies	250	(5)
Stinchcombe Causes Short Version	255	(5)
Strong Hierarchical Reasoning: Statistical Form	260	(2)
Back to the Residuals Method	262	(4)
The Character of "Resolution" as a Methodological Criterion	266	(1)
Refining Fieldwork Observations	267	(2)
Resolution on a Grand Scale	269	(2)
The "Preferences" of Organizations	271	(4)
Strategic Questions in "Testing" Theories	275	(1)
An Overall View of What These Strategies Do	276	(3)
Variances, Interactions, Boundaries, Scope Conditions, and General Complexification	279	(9)
Complexification and Fish Scale Models of Science	288	(3)
Summary on Testing	291	(3)
8 Improving Theories with Data	294	(41)
Theories as Crafted	296	(2)
What Does Crafting Mean?	298	(3)
Crafting Methods	301	(2)
Stinchcombe Slavery Short Version	303	(6)
Stinchcombe Information Short Version	309	(5)
Heimer and Staffen Methods Short Version	314	(6)
Elegance, Power, and Economy	320	(1)
Stinchcombe Rebellion No Answers Short Version	321	(4)
Responsibility	325	(2)
Heimer and Staffen Responsibility Short Version	327	(5)
Complex Causal Roles of Concepts, Complex Concepts, and Complex Fieldwork Studies	332	(2)
Conclusion	334	(1)
References	335	(12)
Index	347