My+Final+Notes+(TGB)

toc =General Notes=

Social Sciences methods
KKV talks about quantifying qualitative methods. __Inference:__ using known facts to create new knowledge. can be descriptive or causal. fundamental problem of causal inference is the inability to replicate. Unit homogeneity. Guide to building good causal theories: 1- falsifyability 2- internal consistency 3- selecting dvs that are not endogenous and vary across the cases. 4- concrete observable implications 5- state the theory in an encompassing manner.

Mahoney talks about what we can do after KKV. KKV was a good 'start'. 1- process tracing an d causal process observations (CPO): independent CPO, mechanism CPO, auxiliary outcome CPO 2- set theory and logic 3- multi method research.

Gerring talks about case studies for theory testing versus theory building. population-sample-case study-case-observation

3 traditions
this is a nomothetic tyheory interested in discerning covering laws that will apply across people and places. more of the good - strategic interaction. vs behavioral economics. behavioral economics combines psychology and economics. behavioralism - behavioral laws that cover all phenomena.
 * Rational Choice**

RCT: 2 questions you can ask to the model: (1) how closely it resembles reality (2) what its predictive power. __Pareto efficiency:__ nobody can be made better off without anybody else being made worse off. __Kuhnian shift:__ paradigm shift __Prisoner's dilemma:__ cooperation is better for both. incomplete information.

Olson looks at collective action problems. Elster looks at expected utility. Levi: (i) assumption of rationality, (ii) nature of constraints on behavior, (iii) determinants of strategic interaction (iv) equilibrium conditions.

Critics: Green & Shapiro: too method-driven and too universalistic.

Elster: variety of reasons can break it down. Moe: power Bates: apprehension, explanation, conviction.

a nomothetic tradition with idiographic tendencies Context matters. March and Olson : it is a reaction to behavioralism.
 * Institutionalism**

An institution is not an organization, it is a constraint on actions or rules of the game. Economic, historical, political.

Change can be explained through four shifts: displacement, drift, conversion, exhaustion __Critical junctures:__ there is room for change. __Path dependency:__ switching points, switching costs. __Punctuated equilibrium:__ institutions can withstand change for some time before they are forced to collapse. __Learning effect:__ At first an IV won't affect a DV much, but with learning more robust relationship.

Hall and Taylor talks about three institutionalism: __HI__: kinda marxist. __RCT:__ economic __Sociological__

Poerson and Skocpol: defend HI against RC and behabioralism

March and Olsen: time for institutional change stuff and theories.

Hacker: policy drift, conversion, layering.

North: talks about institutions, change, and organizations.


 * Constructivist/Critical Theory**

Three kinds of readings first set: marxist+postmodernism we are talking about alienation and emancipation. second set: postmodernist: social interaction and language critics:they are stupid.

=Middle range theory= Nomothetic:looks for a covering law, or a general rule. Idiographoc: deeper understanding.

Bates argues three complementary (not contrasting) levels of comprehension: apprehension, explanation, conviction.

L&Z Rational choice, culturalist, structuralist

=Reading Citations= talks about contemporary comparative and historical rational choice theory. We are trying to find the sophistication in RC theory for comparative and historical analysis. CHRC mixes and matches methods, uses sophisticated tools, and is more aware of the irrationality of the self and outside influences.
 * Levi**

causal explanation, causal statement. opportunity and desire.
 * Elster**

RCT: when faced with several courses of action, people usually do what they believe is likely to have the best overall outcome. Preference ordering: utility function: assigning numbers truth: is a relation between a belief and the grounds on which it is held.