Evidential Pluralism in the Social Sciences
Abstract
This volume contends that Evidential Pluralism—an account of the epistemology of causation, which maintains that in order to establish a causal claim one needs to establish the existence of a correlation and the existence of a mechanism—can be fruitfully applied to the social sciences. Through case studies in sociology, economics, political science and law, it advances new philosophical foundations for causal enquiry in the social sciences. The book provides an account of how to establish and evaluate causal claims and it offers a new way of thinking about evidence-based policy, basic social science research and mixed methods research. As such, it will appeal to scholars with interests in social science research and methodology, the philosophy of science and evidence-based policy.
Keywords
causality;correlation;economics;evidence;evidence-based policy;evidential pluralism;law;legal studies;mechanism;mixed methods research;psychology;research methods;science;social science;sociologyDOI
10.4324/9781003143000ISBN
9780367697228, 9781003143000, 9780367697266, 9781000890365Publisher
Taylor & FrancisPublisher website
https://taylorandfrancis.com/Publication date and place
2023Grantor
Imprint
RoutledgeSeries
Philosophy and Method in the Social Sciences,Classification
Social research and statistics
Philosophy