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Rational choice theory and quantitative analysis - A comment on Goldthorpe's sociological alliance

Edling, Christofer LU orcid (2000) In European Sociological Review 16. p.1-8
Abstract
There is a growing interest in empirical applications of rational choice theory in contemporary European Sociology. One major proponent for an explicit link between rational choice theory and large scale data analysis is John Goldthorpe. This is a critical comment on Goldthorpe's (1996a) programmatic article in the European Sociological Review, "The Quantitative Analysis of Large-Scale Data-Sets and Rational Action Theory: For a Sociological Alliance". It is argued that the link is treated in an unproblematic and oversimplified way in that article. His claim that quantitative data analysis need rational choice theory is an overstatement, rather, it is argued, rational choice theory might sometimes be used in explanations of statistical... (More)
There is a growing interest in empirical applications of rational choice theory in contemporary European Sociology. One major proponent for an explicit link between rational choice theory and large scale data analysis is John Goldthorpe. This is a critical comment on Goldthorpe's (1996a) programmatic article in the European Sociological Review, "The Quantitative Analysis of Large-Scale Data-Sets and Rational Action Theory: For a Sociological Alliance". It is argued that the link is treated in an unproblematic and oversimplified way in that article. His claim that quantitative data analysis need rational choice theory is an overstatement, rather, it is argued, rational choice theory might sometimes be used in explanations of statistical regularities. The claim that rational choice theory needs quantitative data is rejected for being based on a dubious understanding of rational choice theory. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
sociologi, sociology
in
European Sociological Review
volume
16
pages
1 - 8
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:0034339284
ISSN
0266-7215
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
1
id
9fbc4301-d602-4006-9aa0-773445877141 (old id 2300993)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 07:59:48
date last changed
2022-01-29 02:54:27
@article{9fbc4301-d602-4006-9aa0-773445877141,
  abstract     = {{There is a growing interest in empirical applications of rational choice theory in contemporary European Sociology. One major proponent for an explicit link between rational choice theory and large scale data analysis is John Goldthorpe. This is a critical comment on Goldthorpe's (1996a) programmatic article in the European Sociological Review, "The Quantitative Analysis of Large-Scale Data-Sets and Rational Action Theory: For a Sociological Alliance". It is argued that the link is treated in an unproblematic and oversimplified way in that article. His claim that quantitative data analysis need rational choice theory is an overstatement, rather, it is argued, rational choice theory might sometimes be used in explanations of statistical regularities. The claim that rational choice theory needs quantitative data is rejected for being based on a dubious understanding of rational choice theory.}},
  author       = {{Edling, Christofer}},
  issn         = {{0266-7215}},
  keywords     = {{sociologi; sociology}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{1--8}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{European Sociological Review}},
  title        = {{Rational choice theory and quantitative analysis - A comment on Goldthorpe's sociological alliance}},
  volume       = {{16}},
  year         = {{2000}},
}