Social scientists are often vexed because their work does not satisfy the criteria of "scientific" methodology developed by philosophers of science and logicians who use the natural sciences as their model. In this study, Paul Diesing defines science not by reference to these arbitrary norms delineated by those outside the field but in terms of norms implicit in what social scientists actually do in their everyday work.

The purpose of this book is to examine how ideology operates - in the sense of influencing the conduct of inquiry - in the policy sciences, defined as economics, political science, and sociology. In it, Diesing critically explores all the major schools of policy-related social thought from 1930 to 1975. Richard Hartwig, in his new introduction, notes, 'In 1982, Diesing published a remarkable book entitled Science and Ideology in the Policy Sciences. [It] was the best book I had read in a decade, and it related directly to all the policy sciences.... I consider this to be the most brilliant of Diesing's books. Like all of Diesing's works, it remains highly relevant today.'

Social scientists are often vexed because their work does not satisfy the criteria of "scientific" methodology developed by philosophers of science and logicians who use the natural sciences as their model. In this study, Paul Diesing defines science not by reference to these arbitrary norms delineated by those outside the field but in terms of norms implicit in what social scientists actually do in their everyday work.

"Patterns of Discovery in the Social Sciences" is a detailed and systematic report on the full range of methods and procedures as they are actually practiced. Neither a how-to-do-it handbook nor a lofty philosophical treatise, this is a truly interdisciplinary study of the basic modes of procedure in scientific inquiry, with a special emphasis on normative politics. Diesing treats scientific methods as inductive logics of discovery in continuous evolution. He emphasizes the variety of methods available, discusses the advantages and disadvantages of specific methods, and, in particular, provides an account of mathematical modeling and of participant observation.

The book will be of immense interest to all working social scientists, graduate students in any of the social science disciplines, and philosophers of science. It can also be employed as a text or supplement in courses in sociological methods and philosophy of science. This book is also a noteworthy companion to Diesing's major work on "Science and Ideology in the Policy Sciences."

"Paul Diesing" is professor emeritus of political science at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He did his graduate studies in philosophy from the University of Chicago and has taught at that university, the University of Illinois, and the University of Colorado. Diesing has also been a faculty associate at the Buffalo Center for International Conflict Studies, where he participated in the Center's program of researching in bargaining theory and international crises. He is the author of "Reason in Society: Five Types of Decisions and Their Social Conditions" and "Science and Ideology in the Policy Sciences."

The purpose of this book is to examine how ideology operates--in the sense of influencing the conduct of inquiry--in the policy sciences, defined as economics, political science, and sociology. In it, Diesing critically explores all the major schools of policy-related social thought from 1930 to 1975. Richard Hartwig, in his new introduction, notes, "In 1982, Diesing published a remarkable book entitled Science and Ideology in the Policy Sciences. It] was the best book I had read in a decade, and it related directly to all the policy sciences.... I consider this to be the most brilliant of Diesing's books. Like all of Diesing's works, it remains highly relevant today."

How do nations act in a crisis? This book seeks to answer that question both theoretically and historically. It tests and synthesizes theories of political behavior by comparing them with the historical record. The authors apply theories of bargaining, game theory, information processing, decision-making, and international systems to case histories of sixteen crises that occurred during a seventy-five year period. The result is a revision and integration of diverse concepts and the development of a new empirical theory of international conflict. Originally published in 1978. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

How do nations act in a crisis? This book seeks to answer that question both theoretically and historically. It tests and synthesizes theories of political behavior by comparing them with the historical record. The authors apply theories of bargaining, game theory, information processing, decision-making, and international systems to case histories of sixteen crises that occurred during a seventy-five year period. The result is a revision and integration of diverse concepts and the development of a new empirical theory of international conflict. Originally published in 1978. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

The culmination of a lifetime spent in a variety of fields - sociology, anthropology, economics, psychology, and philosophy of science - -How Does Social Science Work? takes an innovative, sometimes iconoclastic look at social scientists at work in many disciplines. It describes how they investigate and the kinds of truth they produce, illuminating the weaknesses and dangers inherent in their research. At once an analysis, a critique, and a synthesis, this major study begins by surveying philosophical approaches to hermeneutics, to examine the question of how social science ought to work. It illustrates many of its arguments with untraditional examples, such as the reception of the work of the political biographer Robert Caro to show the hermeneutical problems of ethnographers. The major part of the book surveys sociological, political, and psychological studies of social science to get a rounded picture of how social science works, Paul Diesling warns that \u201csocial science exists between two opposite kinds of degeneration, a value-free professionalism that lives only for publications that show off the latest techniques, and a deep social concern that uses science for propaganda.\u201d He argues for greater self-awareness and humility among social scientists, although he notes that \u201csome social scientists . . . will angrily reject the thought that their personality affects their research in any way.\u201d This profound and sometimes witty book will appeal to students and practitioners in the social sciences who are ready to take a fresh look at their field. An extensive bibliography provides a wealth of references across an array of social science disciplines.