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A Crazy Methodology?On the Limits of Macro-Quantitative Social Science ResearchCarl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg Despite the great popularity of macro-quantitative comparative research in the social sciences during the past two decades, it has only had a limited lasting impact on the development of our understanding of social macro-phenomena. The lack of robustness appears to be symptomatic of research findings. The cause of this problem is the difficulty in dealing with complex macro-phenomena by means of statistical analysis. If international comparative research relates to independent and identical behaviour of individuals, which can be portrayed at the macro-level by the idea of the representative agent, the analysis is indeed tricky, but not impossible. However, this road is closed for macro-level characteristics of social systems, since the model cannot be based on assumptions about modal behaviour. In this instance, the sole solution seems to be to accept the limits of small numbers and to improve the elaboration of a macro-narrative based on robust micro-correlations.
Key Words: collective action • comparative analysis • micro-foundations • political economy • social macro-phenomena • welfare state
International Sociology, Vol. 21, No. 5,
647-677 (2006) This article has been cited by other articles:
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