Chapter 10: Quantitative Methodology

KENNETH D. BAILEY

Quantitative methodology Quantitative reasoning is widely applied in the discipline of sociology and quantification aids sociologists in at least seven main research areas: quantitative modeling, measurement, sampling, computerization, data analysis, hypothesis testing, and data storage and retrieval. But sociologists differ widely in their views of the role of quantification in sociology. This has apparently always been true to some degree. While Durkheim was a proponent of quantification, Weber was less enthusiastic. However, while Weber advocated the nonquantitative method Verstehen , both Weber and Durkheim saw the importance of method as well as theory, as both authored books on method (Weber 1949; Durkheim [1938] 1964). Today, the situation is much different, as a wide gulf exits between theory and method in twenty-first-century sociology, with only a few authors such as Abell (1971, 2004) and Fararo (1989) simultaneously developing theory and quantitative methodology designed to test theoretical propositions. The most vocal proponent ...

Users without subscription are not able to see the full content on this title. Please, subscribe or login to access all content on this website.

• Buy The Book