Causality and Causal Modelling in the Social Sciences

Abstract

"Few books in philosophy specifically deal with causality in the social sciences. Fewer still draw on real examples taken from the social science literature. Here is an exception to the rule. Though a philosopher, Dr. Russo has an extensive background in the social sciences and has collaborated with social scientists in several of her research projects. Causality and Causal Modelling in the Social Sciences: Measuring Variations is therefore a compulsory reading both for philosophers of science and for social scientists. For philosophers on the one hand, reading this book is a good way of experiencing how social science is actually done, far from the arm-chair view of scientific practice. For social scientists on the other hand, it is a way of confronting their practice in causal research to broader concerns in the philosophy of science. Strongly recommended also to the sceptics who believe that, because there are no general laws in the social sphere, causal explanations are impossible. They will think twice after reading this book." (Prof. Guillaume Wunsch, Institute of Demography, University of Louvain, Belgium) http://books.google.com/books?id=xbNeQ99IYvEC&pg=PP1&dq=russo+causality#v=onepage&q=&f=false