Methodology of social sciences / František Ochrana.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ochrana, František, 1952- author.

Standardized Title:

Metodologie sociálních věd. English

Language:

Czech

English

Subjects (All):

Social sciences--Methodology.

Social sciences.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (143 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

First English edition.

Place of Publication:

Prague : Karolinum, 2015.

Summary:

The methodology of science is of a crucial importance for the building of science as a whole as well as for the forming of the different scientific branches. That is, it seeks (among other things) to find out what is the nature of the “scientific image of the world,” what is the substance of the “scientific law,” what methods and procedures could and should be used within scientific research. In the field of social sciences, these issues are also associated with the question of the nature of clarifying statements that social sciences provide. Are the statements of social sciences similar to the explanations from natural sciences, or is it rather a revelation of the meaning and understanding of social phenomena based on a clarification of the system of rules? Is social cognition by its nature a causal explanation and is it rather an interpretation? All these are questions of the methodological nature that show the way towards the answer with respect to the character of the resulting scientific statement based on the examined issues, and based on what the given scientific statement provides evidence. This publication attempts to look for the answers to these questions and to establish possible grounds for their solutions.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

Introduction

1. Specification of the Issue. The Subject of Social Sciences. The Issue of Commensurability and InIncommensurability of Social and Natural Sciences

1.1 The Subject of Social Sciences

1.2 The Issue of So-called Commensurability and Incommensurability, Respectively, Social and Natural Sciences

1.3 The Subject as a Deciding Agent

1.4 The Decision-making of a Subject under Various Information Conditions

1.5 "Conceivable worlds" in social sciences

2. Cognition of social reality

2.1 Cognitive function of social sciences. Normative and non-normative view of social sciences on examined issues

2.2 "Time" within reflection of social sciences. Historical time

2.3 Issue of the meaning in history and the role of social sciences in its exposure

2.4 Issue of causality in social sciences

2.5 Society as a dynamic system. Idea of the "dynamic system" in social sciences and issue of causality in history

3. Deductively and inductively formed theories

3.1 Deductively formed theories in social sciences

3.2 Deductive procedure in a normatively formed social theory

3.3 Inductively formed social theory

3.4 Deductively-inductively derived theoretical system

4. Functions of terminology in scientific communication and the methods of defining terms in social sciences

4.1 Issue of defining terms and their importance in scientific communication

4.2 Classification of terms

4.3 Most frequent methods of defining terms in sciences exploring social issues

5. Scientific discourse and paradigm in social sciences. Explanation in social sciences

5.1 Non-normative and normative discourse in social sciences

5.2 Issue of paradigm in social sciences

5.3 Explanation

5.4 Explanation using the form of subsumption under the explanatory theory.

5.5 Explanation, prediction, post diction

6. Narrative as a method of interpreting examined social events

6.1 Narrative and discourse formations

6.2 Role of a narrator in the narrative discourse

6.3 Interpretative role of a narrator

7. Customary dichotomy in social sciences and possible basis of its bridging

7.1 Outline of a customary dichotomy in social sciences

7.2 Explanatory concept of cause and interpretative concept of meaning

7.3 Individualism versus "collectivism" in social sciences

7.4 Idea of "homo economicus" as an example of ontological atomism and its modification in social sciences

7.5 Social ("collectivist") conception of social evolution

Conclusions

Bibliography

Summary

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 123-139) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9788024631424

8024631423

OCLC:

1038496090