Philosophy and Methods of Political Science. (2015)

• Record Type: Book
• Other Names: Dowding, Keith
• Contents: Cover; Contents; List of Illustrative Materials; Preface and Acknowledgements; 1 Introduction; 2 Isms; 2.1 Introduction; 2.2 Realism and anti-realism; 2.3 Nominalism, idealism; 2.4 Empiricism and positivism; 2.5 Instrumentalism, conventionalism, pragmatism; 2.6 Essentialism, objectivism; 2.7 Critical theory; 2.8 Postmodernism; 2.9 Interpretivism; 2.10 Critical realism; 2.11 Naturalism; 2.12 Constructivism; 2.13 Realism and relativism in ethics; 2.14 A few isms not in Figure 2.1; 3 What Is an Explanation?; 3.1 Introduction; 3.2 Language and the world. 3.3 The attempt to produce a model of explanation3.4 Proximate and ultimate; type and token; 3.5 Description, causation and understanding; 3.6 Generalizations, laws and mechanisms; 3.7 Conclusion; 4 What Is a Theory?; 4.1 Introduction; 4.2 Organizing perspectives; 4.3 Explanatory theories or models; 4.4 Explanatory theory: non-formal models; 4.5 Mechanisms and constraints; 4.6 Cumulative and non-cumulative research; 4.7 Conclusion; 5 Hypotheses and Theory Testing; 5.1 Introduction; 5.2 How evidence bears on theories: preliminaries; 5.3 Confirmation, induction and theory. 5.4 Hempel's paradox and Popper's falsifiability5.5 Concepts are theory-laden; 5.6 Conclusion; 6 Narratives, Mechanisms and Causation; 6.1 Introduction; 6.2 Causation as narrative; 6.3 Dichotomies in causal accounts; 6.4 Case studies and causation: process tracing; 6.5 Conclusion; 7 Methods and Methodologies; 7.1 Introduction; 7.2 Qualitative and quantitative research; 7.3 Data access and research transparency; 7.4 Policy-oriented research; 7.5 Different methods: institutional-structural; 7.6 Different methods: behavioural; 7.7 Different methods: interpretative; 7.8 Conclusion. 8 Concepts and Conceptual Analysis8.1 Introduction; 8.2 Principles of conceptual analysis; 8.3 The existence of concepts; 8.4 Natural kinds; 8.5 Measurement; 8.6 Some principles of classification; 8.7 Contests and contestability of concepts; 9 Analytic Political Philosophy; 9.1 Introduction; 9.2 Interpreting the work of dead people; 9.3 Moral problems and grand theory; 9.4 Conceptual analysis, thought experiments and intuition pumps; 9.5 Conclusion; 10 Political Science as a Vocation; 10.1 Political science; 10.2 Belief and opinion; 10.3 Surface and structure; 10.4 The profession; References.
• Publisher Details: Place of publication not identified : Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication Date: 2015
• Extent: 1 online resource
• Subjects: 320.01; POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Reference; Political science -- Philosophy; POLITICAL SCIENCE / Essays; POLITICAL SCIENCE / Government / General; POLITICAL SCIENCE / Government / National; POLITICAL SCIENCE / Reference; Electronic books
• Languages: English
• ISBNs: 1137572701; 9781137572707
• Notes: Note: Print version record.
• Access Rights: Legal Deposit; Only available on premises controlled by the deposit library and to one user at any one time; The Legal Deposit Libraries (Non-Print Works) Regulations (UK).
• Access Usage: Restricted: Printing from this resource is governed by The Legal Deposit Libraries (Non-Print Works) Regulations (UK) and UK copyright law currently in force.