Theory and Evidence in Comparative Politics and International Relations (New Visions in Security)

Annotation This book explores the epistemology and the methodology of political knowledge and social inquiry: what can we know, and how do we know? Contributing authors offer a variety of answers, addressing the purpose and methods of research and analyzing concepts, including the relationship of theory and evidence, the changing formulation of neopositivism, and the importance of medicine to social science This Book Explores The Epistemology And The Methodology Of Political Knowledge And Social Inquiry. What Can We Know, And How Do We Know? Friedrich V. Kratochwil And Ted Hopf Question All Foundational Claims Of Inquiry And Envisage Science As A Self-reflective Practice. Brian Pollins And Fred Chernoff Accept Their Arguments To Some Degree And Explore The Implications For Logical Positivism. David A. Waldner, Jack Levy, And Andrew Lawrence Address The Purpose And Methods Of Research. They Debate The Role Of Explanation Versus Prediction, The Relationship Of Theory To Evidence, And Their Implications For The Democratic Peace Research Program. A Concluding Chapter By Mark Lichbach Offers A Pluralistic Reformulation Of Neopositivism. An Alternative Conclusion By Steven Bernstein, Richard Ned Lebow, Janice Gross Stein And Steven Weber Contends That Social Science Should Be Modeled On Medicine And Reformulated As A Set Of Case-based Diagnostic Tools. The Distinguishing Feature Of The Book Is The Inclusion Of Authors Who Represent Different Approaches To Social Science And Their Willingness To Engage With One Another In A Constructive Debate. Front Matter....Pages i-x What Can We Know? How Do We Know?....Pages 1-22 Front Matter....Pages 23-23 Evidence, Inference, and Truth as Problems of Theory Building in the Social Sciences....Pages 25-54 The Limits of Interpreting Evidence....Pages 55-84 Front Matter....Pages 85-85 Beyond Logical Positivism: Reframing King, Keohane, and Verba....Pages 87-106 Methodological Pluralism and the Limits of Naturalism in the Study of Politics....Pages 107-141 Front Matter....Pages 143-143 Transforming Inferences into Explanations: Lessons from the Study of Mass Extinctions....Pages 145-175 Theory, Evidence, and Politics in the Evolution of International Relations Research Programs....Pages 177-197 Imperial Peace or Imperial Method? Skeptical Inquiries into Ambiguous Evidence for the “Democratic Peace”....Pages 199-226 Front Matter....Pages 227-227 Social Science as Case-Based Diagnostics....Pages 229-260 Theory and Evidence....Pages 261-284 Back Matter....Pages 285-290 Contributing authors offer a variety of answers, addressing the purpose and methods of research and analysing concepts, including the relationship of theory and evidence, the changing formulation of neopositivism, and the importance of medicine to social science