by Robert Philip Weber (1985)
This second edition has been completely updated to include new studies, new computer applications and an additional chapter on problems and issues that can arise when carrying out content analysis in four major categories: measurement, indication, representation and interpretation.
Mary Kane and William M.K. Trochim
This is a complete guide to the concept mapping methodology and strategies behind using it for a broad range of social scientists - including students, researchers and practitioners.
Rein Taagepera
"In his challenging new book Rein Taagepera argues that society needs more from social sciences than they have delivered. One reason for falling short is that social sciences have depended excessively on regression and other statistical approaches, neglecting logical model building. Science is not only about the empirical 'What is?' but also very much about the conceptual 'How should it be on logical grounds?' Statistical approaches are essentially descriptive, while quantitatively formulated logical models are predictive in an explanatory way. Making Social Sciences More Scientific contrasts the predominance of statistics in today's social sciences and predominance of quantitatively predictive logical models in physics. It shows how to construct predictive models and gives social science examples. Making Social Sciences More Scientific is useful to students who wish to learn the basics of the scientific method and to all those researchers who look for ways to do better social science."--Jacket.
Mary Kane and William M.K. Trochim
This is a complete guide to the concept mapping methodology and strategies behind using it for a broad range of social scientists - including students, researchers and practitioners.
Ann F. Ramenofsky and Anastasia Steffen
The relativity of measurement is one of the paradoxes of science. Even as we seek evidence to explain the world around us, the nature of that knowledge depends on our tools. The apparent inconsistency between what we know and how and what we measure points to the importance of scientific method as a bridge between ideas and entities. This volume emphasizes one aspect of scientific method: units of measure and their construction as applied to archaeology. Attributes, artifact classes, locational designations, temporal periods, sampling universes, culture stages, and geographic regions are all examples of constructed units. Unit Issues in Archaeology discusses how units are defined, described, and evaluated within specified research contexts. Topics include projectile points as chronological markers, the Pecos classification, obsidian and ceramic sourcing, ceramic typology, the "Folsom problem," and landscape-scale units. Throughout the volume, emphasis is placed on the relationship between research goal and measurement. Because research drives the selection and construction of units, units are not treated as unvarying sets of absolutes.