The Conduct of Inquiry: Methodology for Behavioural Science

In arguably the finest text ever written in the philosophy of social science, Abraham Kaplan emphasizes what unites the behavioral sciences more than what distinguishes them from one another. Kaplan avoids the bitter disputes among people doing methodology, claiming instead that what is important are those qualities intrinsic to the overall aspirations of the social sciences. He deals with special problems of various disciplines only so far as may be helpful in clarifying the general method of inquiry.

The Conduct of Inquiry is a systematic, rounded, and wide-ranging inquiry into behavioral science. Kaplan is guided by the experience of sciences with longer histories, but he is bound neither to their problems nor to their solutions. Instead, he addresses the methodology of behavioral science in the broad sense of both method and science. The work is not a formal exercise in the philosophy of science but rather a critical and constructive assessment of the developing standards and strategies of contemporary social inquiry. He emphasizes the tasks, achievements, limitations, and dilemmas of the newer disciplines.

Philosophers of science usually choose to write about the most fully developed sciences because problems are clearer there. The result is ordinarily of little benefit to the behavioral scientist, whose task is clarification of method; here the precedents and analogies of physical science are obscure or inappropriate. The Conduct of Inquiry goes a long way in drawing upon the strengths of social research insights without simplifying the common concerns of the scientific enterprise as a whole. As Leonard Broom noted when the book initially appeared: "Kaplan fills a gap and does so with admirable clarity and often engaging wit. It lacks pomposity, pedantry, and pretension, and it is bound to make an impact on the teaching of and, with luck, research in the behavioral sciences."

Author: Abraham Kaplan
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 04/30/1998
Pages: 452
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.61lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.08w x 1.18d
ISBN: 9780765804488

About the Author
Kaplan, Abraham: -

Abraham Kaplan (1918-1993) taught at RAND Graduate School, Harvard University, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He is widely published, and is perhaps best known for Power and Society, co-authored with Harold D. Lasswell.

Wolf, Jr. Charles: -

Charles Wolf, Jr. is distinguished chair in international economics and senior economic adviser at the Rand Corporation. In addition he is senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and is on the advisory board of the Center for International Business and Economic Research at the University of California-Los Angeles' Anderson School of Management. Some of his writings include Enhancement by Enlargement: The Proliferation Security Initiative; Modernizing the North Korean System: Objectives, Method, and Application; and Public Diplomacy: How to Think About and Improve It.