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Courgeau, Daniel

Probability and social science : Methodological relationships between the two approaches / By Daniel Courgeau - New York Springer 2012 - xxxiii, 308 pages 23 cm. - Methodos series 10 .

Part 1 - From Probability to Social Science:
Introduction to part 1;
1. The Objectivist Approach;
2. The Epistemic Approach: Subjectivist Interpretation;
3. The Epistemic Approach: Logicist Interpretation;
Conclusion of Part I;
Part 2 - From Population Sciences to Probability:
Introduction to part 2;
4. The Dispersion of Measures in Population Sciences;
5. Closer Links Between Population Sciences and Probability;
Conclusion to Part II;
General conclusion.


This work examines in depth the methodological relationships that probability and statistics have maintained with the social sciences from their emergence. It covers both the history of thought and current methods.
First it examines in detail the history of the different paradigms and axioms for probability, from their emergence in the seventeenth century up to the most recent developments of the three major concepts: objective, subjective and logicist probability. It shows the statistical inference they permit, different applications to social sciences and the main problems they encounter.
On the other side, from social sciences—particularly population sciences—to probability, it shows the different uses they made of probabilistic concepts during their history, from the seventeenth century, according to their paradigms: cross-sectional, longitudinal, hierarchical, contextual and multilevel approaches. While the ties may have seemed loose at times, they have more often been very close: some advances in probability were driven by the search for answers to questions raised by the social sciences; conversely, the latter have made progress thanks to advances in probability.
This dual approach sheds new light on the historical development of the social sciences and probability, and on the enduring relevance of their links. It permits also to solve a number of methodological problems encountered all along their history.

ISBN: 9789400796126 (Paperback)

Subjects--Topical Terms:
Distribution (Probability theory)
Mathematical statistics
Probability Theory and Stochastic Processes
Social Science Methodology
Probability Theory and Stochastic Processes

Dewey Class. No.: 300.1