Overview
Challenges the view on causality as a key concept in social science
Focusses on research practices rather than on classical discussions of the philosophy of science
Contains 25 questions relevant for students and researchers
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Table of contents (3 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
The book critically discusses whether “causality” deserves the central position in social science that its advocates desire. The text shows how methodological rules about causal inference are used to protect causal studies from critique, even in situations where these rules are not followed. It is argued that institutionalization of these rules as symbols of good and trustworthy social science is highly problematic and comes with a price. One of the casualties of causality is that there is less motivation to study complex and pressing issues in society which do not lend themselves to causal study designs.
The sections are short. The argument unfolds in a lively, engaged form with examples from many fields, including public health, evaluation and organizational studies. The case examples include classical experiments as well as contemporary research, e.g. studies of the effectiveness of restrictions targeting the spread of coronavirus.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Casualties of Causality
Authors: Peter Dahler-Larsen
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18246-4
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)
Copyright Information: The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-18245-7Published: 08 November 2022
eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-18246-4Published: 07 November 2022
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: VII, 105
Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations