The Evolution of the Social Sciences
The Evolution of the Social Sciences

Author: Donald K. Sharpes

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 9780739128121

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Evolution of the Social Sciences charts the development of the main social sciences--religion, history, philosophy, law, sociology, anthropology, and economics--through an examination of the lives and works of each discipline's key historical figures. Sharpes concentrates on areas of convergence, overlap, and disjunction, discussing the many ways that these figures have influenced scholarly development throughout the social sciences. Written in an engaging style accessible to a wide academic audience, this biographical map demonstrates the diversity and range of inquiries into human social behavior.

A History and Theory of the Social Sciences
A History and Theory of the Social Sciences

Author: Peter Wagner

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 2001-07-17

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 1446264513

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Divided into two parts, this book examines the train of social theory from the 19th century, through to the ′organization of modernity′, in relation to ideas of social planning, and as contributors to the ′rationalistic revolution′ of the ′golden age′ of capitalism in the 1950s and 60s. Part two examines key concepts in the social sciences. It begins with some of the broadest concepts used by social scientists: choice, decision, action and institution and moves on to examine the ′collectivist alternative′: the concepts of society, culture and polity, which are often dismissed as untenable by postmodernists today. This is a major contribution to contemporary social theory and provides a host of essential insights into the task of social science today.

The History of the Social Sciences since 1945
The History of the Social Sciences since 1945

Author: Roger E. Backhouse

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2010-05-24

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 1107717779

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This compact volume covers the main developments in the social sciences since the Second World War. Chapters on economics, human geography, political science, psychology, social anthropology, and sociology will interest anyone wanting short, accessible histories of those disciplines, all written by experts in the relevant field; they will also make it easy for readers to make comparisons between disciplines. A final chapter proposes a blueprint for a history of the social sciences as a whole. Whereas most of the existing literature considers the social sciences in isolation from one other, this volume shows that they have much in common; for example, they have responded to common problems using overlapping methods, and cross-disciplinary activities have been widespread.

Cultural Evolution
Cultural Evolution

Author: Alex Mesoudi

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2011-07-30

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 0226520455

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Charles Darwin changed the course of scientific thinking by showing how evolution accounts for the stunning diversity and biological complexity of life on earth. Recently, there has also been increased interest in the social sciences in how Darwinian theory can explain human culture. Covering a wide range of topics, including fads, public policy, the spread of religion, and herd behavior in markets, Alex Mesoudi shows that human culture is itself an evolutionary process that exhibits the key Darwinian mechanisms of variation, competition, and inheritance. This cross-disciplinary volume focuses on the ways cultural phenomena can be studied scientifically—from theoretical modeling to lab experiments, archaeological fieldwork to ethnographic studies—and shows how apparently disparate methods can complement one another to the mutual benefit of the various social science disciplines. Along the way, the book reveals how new insights arise from looking at culture from an evolutionary angle. Cultural Evolution provides a thought-provoking argument that Darwinian evolutionary theory can both unify different branches of inquiry and enhance understanding of human behavior.

Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences
Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences

Author: Alexander L. George

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2005-04-15

Total Pages: 347

ISBN-13: 0262262894

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The use of case studies to build and test theories in political science and the other social sciences has increased in recent years. Many scholars have argued that the social sciences rely too heavily on quantitative research and formal models and have attempted to develop and refine rigorous methods for using case studies. This text presents a comprehensive analysis of research methods using case studies and examines the place of case studies in social science methodology. It argues that case studies, statistical methods, and formal models are complementary rather than competitive. The book explains how to design case study research that will produce results useful to policymakers and emphasizes the importance of developing policy-relevant theories. It offers three major contributions to case study methodology: an emphasis on the importance of within-case analysis, a detailed discussion of process tracing, and development of the concept of typological theories. Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences will be particularly useful to graduate students and scholars in social science methodology and the philosophy of science, as well as to those designing new research projects, and will contribute greatly to the broader debate about scientific methods.

GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED
GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED

Author: E. F. Schumacher

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 1978-05-31

Total Pages: 164

ISBN-13: 0060906111

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The author of the world wide best-seller, Small Is Beautiful, now tackles the subject of Man, the World, and the Meaning of Living. Schumacher writes about man's relation to the world. man has obligations -- to other men, to the earth, to progress and technology, but most importantly himself. If man can fulfill these obligations, then and only then can he enjoy a real relationship with the world, then and only then can he know the meaning of living. Schumacher says we need maps: a "map of knowledge" and a "map of living." The concern of the mapmaker--in this instance, Schumacher--is to find for everything it's proper place. Things out of place tend to get lost; they become invisible and there proper places end to be filled by other things that ought not be there at all and therefore serve to mislead. A Guide for the Perplexed teaches us to be our own map makers. This constantly surprising, always stimulating book will be welcomed by a large audience, including the many new fans who believe strongly in what Schumacher has to say.

The History and Philosophy of Social Science
The History and Philosophy of Social Science

Author: H. Scott Gordon

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2002-09-11

Total Pages: 703

ISBN-13: 1134863071

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Scott Gordon provides a magisterial review of the historical development of the social sciences from their beginnings in renaissance Italy to the present day.

Social Science for What?
Social Science for What?

Author: Mark Solovey

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2020-07-07

Total Pages: 409

ISBN-13: 0262358751

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

How the NSF became an important yet controversial patron for the social sciences, influencing debates over their scientific status and social relevance. In the early Cold War years, the U.S. government established the National Science Foundation (NSF), a civilian agency that soon became widely known for its dedication to supporting first-rate science. The agency's 1950 enabling legislation made no mention of the social sciences, although it included a vague reference to "other sciences." Nevertheless, as Mark Solovey shows in this book, the NSF also soon became a major--albeit controversial--source of public funding for them.

A History and Philosophy of the Social Sciences
A History and Philosophy of the Social Sciences

Author: Peter T. Manicas

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Published: 1991-01-08

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 9780631165835

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This ambitious critical history of the variety of disciplines we group together as the social sciences argues that the defining characteristic of social science, both historically and in the present, is ideology. Based originally on a flawed ideal of science, the 'social sciences' have incorporated and refined a set of assumptions about the nature of state and society, assumptions which have been institutionalized with the growth of modern universities. The book is in three main parts. It deals firstly with the history of certain key ides from the early modern period (assessing thinkers from Hobbes and Marx to Hegel, Weber, and Kuhn), before exploring the institutional and social features which have shaped the emergence of modern social science. Manicas goes on to reveal the ideological component of mainstream social science, concluding by suggesting and alternative realist philosophy for the future. Rigorous in scholarship and engaging in presentation, the book offers a brilliant combination of wide-ranging historical scholarship and a firm location in the current theoretical dilemmas of the social sciences.