Theory and Evidence
Title | Theory and Evidence PDF eBook |
Author | Barbara Koslowski |
Publisher | MIT Press |
Pages | 326 |
Release | 1996 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 9780262112093 |
Koslowski boldly criticizes many of the currently classic studies and musters a compelling set of arguments, backed by an exhaustive set of experiments carried out during the last decade.
How to Build Social Science Theories
Title | How to Build Social Science Theories PDF eBook |
Author | Pamela J. Shoemaker |
Publisher | SAGE Publications |
Pages | 241 |
Release | 2003-12-10 |
Genre | Language Arts & Disciplines |
ISBN | 1452210438 |
Click ′Additional Materials′ to read the foreword by Jerald Hage As straightforward as its title, How to Build Social Science Theories sidesteps the well-traveled road of theoretical examination by demonstrating how new theories originate and how they are elaborated. Essential reading for students of social science research, this book traces theories from their most rudimentary building blocks (terminology and definitions) through multivariable theoretical statements, models, the role of creativity in theory building, and how theories are used and evaluated. Authors Pamela J. Shoemaker, James William Tankard, Jr., and Dominic L. Lasorsa intend to improve research in many areas of the social sciences by making research more theory-based and theory-oriented. The book begins with a discussion of concepts and their theoretical and operational definitions. It then proceeds to theoretical statements, including hypotheses, assumptions, and propositions. Theoretical statements need theoretical linkages and operational linkages; this discussion begins with bivariate relationships, as well as three-variable, four-variable, and further multivariate relationships. The authors also devote chapters to the creative component of theory-building and how to evaluate theories. How to Build Social Science Theories is a sophisticated yet readable analysis presented by internationally known experts in social science methodology. It is designed primarily as a core text for graduate and advanced undergraduate courses in communication theory. It will also be a perfect addition to any course dealing with theory and research methodology across the social sciences. Additionally, professional researchers will find it an indispensable guide to the genesis, dissemination, and evaluation of social science theories.
Theory and Reality
Title | Theory and Reality PDF eBook |
Author | Peter Godfrey-Smith |
Publisher | University of Chicago Press |
Pages | 412 |
Release | 2021-07-16 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 022677113X |
How does science work? Does it tell us what the world is “really” like? What makes it different from other ways of understanding the universe? In Theory and Reality, Peter Godfrey-Smith addresses these questions by taking the reader on a grand tour of more than a hundred years of debate about science. The result is a completely accessible introduction to the main themes of the philosophy of science. Examples and asides engage the beginning student, a glossary of terms explains key concepts, and suggestions for further reading are included at the end of each chapter. Like no other text in this field, Theory and Reality combines a survey of recent history of the philosophy of science with current key debates that any beginning scholar or critical reader can follow. The second edition is thoroughly updated and expanded by the author with a new chapter on truth, simplicity, and models in science.
Readings in Family Theory
Title | Readings in Family Theory PDF eBook |
Author | Thomas R. Chibucos |
Publisher | SAGE |
Pages | 406 |
Release | 2005 |
Genre | Family & Relationships |
ISBN | 9781412905701 |
Readings in Family Theory is an anthology of classic and contemporary articles that provides a context for student learning by demonstrating how theory fits into the overall process of scientific research on families. The book provokes student interest in theory by providing examples of the scholarly application of family theory to compare how people use similar processes in everyday life. Using this contextual orientation, the selected readings examine nine prevalent theoretical perspectives from both family and human development sciences.
The Nature and Types of Sociological Theory
Title | The Nature and Types of Sociological Theory PDF eBook |
Author | Don Martindale |
Publisher | Routledge |
Pages | 573 |
Release | 2013-11-05 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 1136225803 |
First Published in 1998. This is Volume XI of twenty-two in a series on Social Theory and Methodology. Notions are widespread that sociological theory is either an industrious activity on the drawing boards of the architects of fantasy or a branch of esoterics operating in a shadowy realm of semi-darkness. The present study holds neither of these conceptions of sociological. The present study’s function is to illuminate the difference between one theory and another. The power and reliability of a theory are not always evident all at once. A theory may have a power to explain what was not originally anticipated; it may also disclose the existence of problems it cannot explain.
A Basic Theory of Everything
Title | A Basic Theory of Everything PDF eBook |
Author | Atle Ottesen Søvik |
Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |
Pages | 509 |
Release | 2022-04-04 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 3110771047 |
What are the basic building blocks of the world? This book presents a naturalistic theory saying that the universe and everything in it can be reduced to three fundamental entities: a field, a set of values that can be actualized at different places in the field, and an actualizer of the values. The theory is defended by using it to answer the main questions in metaphysics, such as: What is causality, existence, laws of nature, consciousness, thinking, free will, time, mathematical entities, ethical values, etc.? The theory is compared with the main alternatives and argued to solve problems better than the existing theories. Several new theories are suggested, such as how to understand mental causation, free will and the truth of ethics and mathematics.
Theory at a Glance
Title | Theory at a Glance PDF eBook |
Author | Karen Glanz |
Publisher | |
Pages | 52 |
Release | 1997 |
Genre | Health behavior |
ISBN |