Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Department of Political and Social Sciences
Seminar Advanced Research Design A
Second Term 2013-2014
Jaume López
jaume.lopez@upf.edu
Lecture 1. From 'back to basics' to the ultimate problems of philosophy of social sciences
 What are the ultimate objectives of your research? (What are social sciences for?)
 Epistemological objectives, validity criteria: scientific “families”
 The epistemological debates in social sciences: the philosophy of social sciences
Reading:
 King, Gary, Robert O. Keohane, Sidney Verba. 1994. Designing Social Inquiry. Scientific Inference in
Qualitative Research. Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 3-33.
 Kincaid, H. (2002): “Social Sciences” in P. Machamer and M. Silberstein (eds.) The Blackwell Guide to the
Philosophy of Science. Oxford: Blackwell.
Lecture 2. Causation and mechanisms in the core of the social sciences: scientific realism
 What is scientific realism?
 Models or mechanisms?
 Causation and mechanisms in the core of social sciences
Reading:
 Bevir, Mark. 2008. Meta-methodology: Clearing the Underbrush. Ch. 3 in Box-Steffensmeier, Janet M.;
Henry E. Brady & David Collier (eds., 2008).
 Box-Steffensmeier, Janet M.; Henry E. Brady & David Collier (2008). Political Science Methodology. Ch.
1 in Box-Steffensmeier, Janet M.; Henry E. Brady & David Collier (eds., 2008).
 Box-Steffensmeier, Janet M.; Henry E. Brady & David Collier (2008): The Oxford Handbook of Political
Methodology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
 Brady, Henry E. 2008. Causation and Explanation in Social Science. Ch. 10 in Box-Steffensmeier, Janet
M.; Henry E. Brady & David Collier (eds., 2008).
 Della Porta, Donatella, Michael Keating (Ed.). 2008. Approaches and Methodologies in the Social Sciences.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapt. 2
 Hedström, Peter. 2008. Studying Mechanisms to Strengthen Causal Inferences in Quantitative Research.
Ch. 13 in Box-Steffensmeier, Janet M.; Henry E. Brady & David Collier (eds., 2008).
 Shepsle, Kenneth A. & Mark S. Bonchek (1997): Analyzing Politics. Rationality, Behavior and Institutions. New
York: Norton. Chapt. 5: 82-136.
Lecture 3. Social theory approaches and models of explanation: scientific paradigmes
 Idioms, paradigmes, language games in social sciences
 Structure – action, causes and reasons
 Weber – Durkheim: narratives and epistemology
 Hollis, M. (1994): ‘Introduction’ in M. Hollis. The Philosophy of Social Science. An introduction. Cambridge
University Press, 1-22.
 Skocpol, Theda. 1979. States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia, and China.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 3-43
 Weale, Albert (1992): The New Politics of Pollution. Manchester: Manchester University Press: 37-65 & 210223.
Lecture 4. The case of rational choice theory
 Rational choice theory (RCT) and recent developments in social sciences: the economic approach's
leading role
 Critics and defenders of RCT
 New interpretations of the success of RCT: a realist perspective
Reading:
 Brusattin, Lorenzo (2011): “Candidate Visual Appearance as a Shortcut for Both Sophisticated and
Unsophisticated Voters: Evidence from a Spanish Online Study”, International Journal of Public Opinion
Research, published on line.
 Cox, Gary W. (1999): “The Empirical Content of Rational Choice Theory. A reply to Green and
Shapiro”, Journal of Theoretical Politics 11(2): 147-169.
 Della Porta, Donatella, Michael Keating (Ed.). 2008. Approaches and Methodologies in the Social Sciences.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapt. 8
 Grofman, Bernard (1999): “Credo of a 'reasonable choice' modeler”. Journal of Theoretical Politics 11(2):
203-206.
 Opp, Karl-Dieter Opp (1999): “Contending Conceptions of the Theory of Rational Choice”, Journal of
Theoretical Politics 11(2): 171-202.
Additional Reading:
Chwieroth, Jeffrey M. 2007. “Testing and Measuring the Role of Ideas: The Case of Neoliberalism in the IMF.”
International Studies Quarterly, 51 (1): 5-30
Lecture 5. Conclusions and recap: problem-driven social sciences or method-driven social sciences?
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In search of unification: biology and social sciences
Evolutionary synthesis: the Darwinian approach to culture
Game theory and biology: from rational choice to irrational behaviour
Politics and genetics: genes, attitudes, cultures
Methodological integration, scientific integration
Readings:
 Aldrich, John H.; James E. Alt, Arthur Lupia. 2008. The EITM Approach: Origins and Interpretations.
Ch. 37 in Box-Steffensmeier, Janet M.; Henry E. Brady & David Collier (eds.). 2008.
 Barkow, J.; L. Cosmides & J. Tooby (1992): The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and the generation of
culture. N. York: Oxford Univ. Press, p.3-15.
 Box-Steffensmeier, Janet M.; Henry E. Brady & David Collier (eds.). 2008. The Oxford Handbook of
Political Methodology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
 Collier, David & Colin Elman. 2008. Qualitative and Multimethod Research: Organizations, Publication,
and Reflections on Integration. Ch. 34 in Box-Steffensmeier, Janet M.; Henry E. Brady & David Collier
(eds.). 2008.
 Daly, Martin and Margot Wilson (1996): “Homicidal tendencies” in Matters of life and death, Demos
Quarterly, 10, 123-145.
 Smith, Kevin et al. (2012): “Biology, Ideology, and Epistemology : How Do We Know Political Attitudes
Are Inherited and Why Should We Care?” American Journal of Political Science, Volume 56, Issue 1, pages
17–33.
 Wilson, Edward O. (1998): Consilience : the unity of knowledge. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Chapter 9