A Model Discipline: Political Science and the Logic of Representations

In A Model Discipline, Kevin A. Clarke and David M. Primo turn a critical eye to the methodological approach that dominates modern political science. Clarke and Primo contend that the field's emphasis on model testing has led to a distortion of both the modeling process and the art of data analysis and cannot be logically justified. The authors argue that models should be seen as "objects" and thus regarded as neither true nor false. Models should instead be evaluated for their usefulness for a particular purpose. Divided into two parts, the book first establishes that current practice is not philosophy-free and rests on a number of questionable assumptions. The second part focuses on the different ways that theoretical and statistical models can be useful, and closes with a defensible justification for integrating theoretical and statistical models. A novel work of methodology, A Model Discipline offers a new perspective on long-held assumptions about the way research in the
social sciences should be conducted.


Author: Kevin A. Clarke, David M. Primo
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 01/20/2012
Pages: 232
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.77lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.53d
ISBN: 9780195382204

About the Author

Kevin A. Clarke, an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Rochester, received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Michigan. His research focuses on political methodology and model discrimination tests. Clarke's articles have appeared in American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Political Analysis, and many other journals.

David M. Primo is Associate Professor of Political Science and Business Administration at the University of Rochester. His research focuses on American politics and political economy. He is the author of two other books, Rules and Restraint (2007) and The Plane Truth (with Roger W. Cobb, 2003), and many journal articles.

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