Choice, Rationality and Social Theory (RLE Social Theory)

Choice, Rationality and Social Theory (RLE Social Theory)
Title Choice, Rationality and Social Theory (RLE Social Theory) PDF eBook
Author Barry Hindess
Publisher Routledge
Pages 102
Release 2014-08-21
Genre Social Science
ISBN 1317652134

Download Choice, Rationality and Social Theory (RLE Social Theory) Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Choice, Rationality and Social Theory is a powerful rebuttal of the remarkably influential theories underlying 'rational choice analysis'. Rational choice analysis maintains that social life is principally to be explained as the outcome of rational choices on the part of individual actors. Adherents of this view include not only philosophers, political scientists and sociologists, but also prominent politicians in Western governments – notably of the United Kingdom and the United States. Rational choice analysis is said to be rigorous, capable of great technical sophistication, and able to generate powerful explanations on the basis of a few, relatively simple theoretical assumptions. Barry Hindess argues that the theory is seriously deficient, first, because there are important actors in the modern world other than human individuals, and second, because it says nothing about those processes of deliberation that play an important part in actors' decisions. The use of highly questionable assumptions about actors and their rationality has the effect of closing off important areas of intellectual inquiry and ignoring the reality of certain forms of thought and the social conditions on which they depend. These points are established through detailed examination of the concepts of the actor and of rationality – providing an overall argument that constitutes a serious challenge to any adherent of rational choice analysis.

Choice, Rationality and Social Theory (RLE Social Theory)

Choice, Rationality and Social Theory (RLE Social Theory)
Title Choice, Rationality and Social Theory (RLE Social Theory) PDF eBook
Author Barry Hindess
Publisher Routledge
Pages 142
Release 2014-08-21
Genre Social Science
ISBN 1317652142

Download Choice, Rationality and Social Theory (RLE Social Theory) Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Choice, Rationality and Social Theory is a powerful rebuttal of the remarkably influential theories underlying 'rational choice analysis'. Rational choice analysis maintains that social life is principally to be explained as the outcome of rational choices on the part of individual actors. Adherents of this view include not only philosophers, political scientists and sociologists, but also prominent politicians in Western governments – notably of the United Kingdom and the United States. Rational choice analysis is said to be rigorous, capable of great technical sophistication, and able to generate powerful explanations on the basis of a few, relatively simple theoretical assumptions. Barry Hindess argues that the theory is seriously deficient, first, because there are important actors in the modern world other than human individuals, and second, because it says nothing about those processes of deliberation that play an important part in actors' decisions. The use of highly questionable assumptions about actors and their rationality has the effect of closing off important areas of intellectual inquiry and ignoring the reality of certain forms of thought and the social conditions on which they depend. These points are established through detailed examination of the concepts of the actor and of rationality – providing an overall argument that constitutes a serious challenge to any adherent of rational choice analysis.

Choice, Rationality, and Social Theory

Choice, Rationality, and Social Theory
Title Choice, Rationality, and Social Theory PDF eBook
Author Barry Hindess
Publisher Routledge
Pages 132
Release 1988
Genre Social Science
ISBN 9780043013069

Download Choice, Rationality, and Social Theory Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

The Handbook of Rational Choice Social Research

The Handbook of Rational Choice Social Research
Title The Handbook of Rational Choice Social Research PDF eBook
Author Rafael Wittek
Publisher Stanford University Press
Pages 625
Release 2013-06-05
Genre Social Science
ISBN 0804785503

Download The Handbook of Rational Choice Social Research Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

The Handbook of Rational Choice Social Research offers the first comprehensive overview of how the rational choice paradigm can inform empirical research within the social sciences. This landmark collection highlights successful empirical applications across a broad array of disciplines, including sociology, political science, economics, history, and psychology. Taking on issues ranging from financial markets and terrorism to immigration, race relations, and emotions, and a huge variety of other phenomena, rational choice proves a useful tool for theory- driven social research. Each chapter uses a rational choice framework to elaborate on testable hypotheses and then apply this to empirical research, including experimental research, survey studies, ethnographies, and historical investigations. Useful to students and scholars across the social sciences, this handbook will reinvigorate discussions about the utility and versatility of the rational choice approach, its key assumptions, and tools.

Pathologies of Rational Choice Theory

Pathologies of Rational Choice Theory
Title Pathologies of Rational Choice Theory PDF eBook
Author Donald Green
Publisher Yale University Press
Pages 415
Release 1994-09-28
Genre Political Science
ISBN 0300187084

Download Pathologies of Rational Choice Theory Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

This is the first comprehensive critical evaluation of the use of rational choice theory in political science. Writing in an accessible and nontechnical style, Donald P. Green and Ian Shapiro assess rational choice theory where it is reputed to be most successful: the study of collective action, the behavior of political parties and politicians, and such phenomena as voting cycles and Prisoner's Dilemmas. In their hard-hitting critique, Green and Shapiro demonstrate that the much heralded achievements of rational choice theory are in fact deeply suspect and that fundamental rethinking is needed if rational choice theorists are to contribute to the understanding of politics. In their final chapters, they anticipate and respond to a variety of possible rational choice responses to their arguments, thereby initiating a dialogue that is bound to continue for some time.

Rational Choice Theory

Rational Choice Theory
Title Rational Choice Theory PDF eBook
Author Margaret S. Archer
Publisher Routledge
Pages 276
Release 2013-04-03
Genre Social Science
ISBN 1134546521

Download Rational Choice Theory Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Rational Choice Theory is flourishing in sociology and is increasingly influential in other disciplines. Contributors to this volume are convinced that it provides an inadequate conceptualization of all aspects of decision making: of the individuals who make the decisions, of the process by which decisions get made and of the context within which decisions get made. The ciritique focuses on the four assumptions which are the bedrock of rational choice: rationality: the theory's definition of rationality is incomplete, and cannot satisfactorily incorporate norms and emotions individualism: rational choice is based upon atomistic, individual decision makers and cannot account for decisions made by ;couples', 'groups' or other forms of collective action process: the assumption of fixed, well-ordered preferences and 'perfect information' makes the theory inadequate for situations of change and uncertainty aggregation: as methodological individualists, rational choice theorists can only view structure and culture as aggregates and cannot incorporate structural or cultural influences as emergent properties which have an effect upon decision making. The critique is grounded in discussion of a wide range of social issues, including race, marriage, health and education.

Rational Choice Theory and Organizational Theory

Rational Choice Theory and Organizational Theory
Title Rational Choice Theory and Organizational Theory PDF eBook
Author Mary Zey
Publisher SAGE
Pages 156
Release 1998
Genre Business & Economics
ISBN 9780803951365

Download Rational Choice Theory and Organizational Theory Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Rational Choice Theory and Organizational Theory is written in response to the neo-classical economic rational choice theories and organizational economic theories which have emerged in the past decade and gained center stage in current organizational analysis.