A Model Discipline:
Political Science and the Logic of Representations
by Kevin A. Clarke
(Author), David M. Primo (Author)
In A Model Discipline,
Kevin A. Clarke and David M. Primo turn a critical eye to the methodological
approach that dominates modern political science. Clarke and Primo contend that
the field's emphasis on model testing has led to a distortion of both the
modeling process and the art of data analysis and cannot be logically
justified. The authors argue that models should be seen as "objects"
and thus regarded as neither true nor false. Models should instead be evaluated
for their usefulness for a particular purpose. Divided into two parts, the book
first establishes that current practice is not philosophy-free and rests on a
number of questionable assumptions. The second part focuses on the different
ways that theoretical and statistical models can be useful, and closes with a
defensible justification for integrating theoretical and statistical models. A
novel work of methodology, A Model Discipline offers a new perspective on
long-held assumptions about the way research in the social sciences should be
conducted.
