Analytical Sociology and Social Mechanisms

Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Figures......Page 9
Tables......Page 10
Contributors......Page 11
Introduction......Page 13
Analytical sociology and methodological individualism......Page 15
From methodological individualism to analytical sociology......Page 22
Mechanisms and causality......Page 24
An overview of the book......Page 36
References......Page 40
Part I: Action and mechanisms......Page 43
Ordinary rationality: the core of analytical sociology......Page 45
The notion of ordinary rationality......Page 46
Deviations from the ideal-typical case......Page 47
Factual statements and principles......Page 48
The main thesis of the Theory of Ordinary Rationality......Page 49
Beliefs in miracles......Page 50
Axiological rationality......Page 51
Feelings of fairness......Page 53
Consensus as a product of ordinary rationality......Page 54
Income tax......Page 55
Long-term evolution as a product of ordinary rationality......Page 56
Avoiding solipsism......Page 57
Solving RCT deadlocks......Page 58
The TOR renders empty dispositional variables ineffective......Page 59
References......Page 60
Introduction......Page 62
Emotion and its antecedents......Page 63
Action tendencies and their emotional antecedents......Page 68
From action tendencies to action......Page 72
Conclusion......Page 73
References......Page 74
A naturalistic ontology for mechanistic explanations......Page 76
References......Page 88
4 Conversation as mechanism: emergence in creative groups......Page 90
Improvisational encounters......Page 92
A broad range of possible action......Page 94
Downward causation......Page 95
Improvisation as explained by methodological individualism......Page 96
An expanded conception of social mechanism......Page 97
Conversations are the mechanisms of social emergence......Page 99
The interaction paradigm......Page 100
Conclusion......Page 104
References......Page 105
Part II: Mechanisms and causality......Page 109
Introduction......Page 111
Analytical theorizing in post-classical perspective......Page 113
Deterministic process models......Page 117
Stochastic process models......Page 118
Example: E-state structuralism......Page 119
Generativity: cybernetic models......Page 123
Example: generating institutionalized social action......Page 124
Generating images of social structure......Page 126
Generativity: computational sociology......Page 128
References......Page 130
Introduction......Page 133
Causal inference in large-N observational studies......Page 134
Singular causality......Page 135
Narratives......Page 137
Colligation and Bayesian narratives......Page 139
Inferential procedures......Page 144
Conclusion......Page 146
References......Page 147
The logic of scientific explanations......Page 148
The logic of microfoundational explanations in the social sciences......Page 150
Interpretations......Page 155
Multi-level analysis and deduction......Page 156
On the heuristics of mechanismic explanation......Page 159
References......Page 161
The purpose of the theory of explanation......Page 166
Explanation and understanding......Page 168
Mechanisms and explanatory relevance......Page 171
The insufficiency of mechanistic ideas......Page 172
The importance of the explanandum......Page 174
Making a difference......Page 176
The explanatory import of mechanisms......Page 179
Conclusion......Page 182
References......Page 183
9 Causal regularities, action and explanation......Page 185
The analytical dimension of ordinary action and causality......Page 189
Social science explanation rests upon regularities in causal action......Page 197
Is a Hempelian approach to explanation non-mechanistic?......Page 201
References......Page 207
Part III: Approaches to mechanisms......Page 211
Introduction......Page 213
What is a social-interaction effect?......Page 214
Types of social-interaction effects......Page 215
Why are social interactions likely to be important for aggregate unemployment?......Page 218
Data......Page 222
Neighborhood variations......Page 223
Peer group effects......Page 226
Conclusion......Page 235
References......Page 237
11 Neighborhood effects, causal mechanisms and the social structure of the city......Page 239
Definitions and background facts......Page 240
Beyond composition......Page 242
“Ecometrics”......Page 243
“Extra local” processes and the larger social order......Page 246
Individual selection and experiments reconsidered......Page 251
Social mechanisms and the reproduction of inequality......Page 253
Conclusion......Page 255
References......Page 258
Social life from the bottom up......Page 262
The microfoundations of social complexity......Page 264
A computational extension of the Schelling model......Page 265
The double edge of networks......Page 267
An agent-based model of naked emperors......Page 268
The virtues and vices of ABC modeling: the problem of double agents......Page 270
References......Page 275
Introduction......Page 278
A useful analytical distinction: RD frequency and RD intensity......Page 281
An agent-based model of RD frequency and RD intensity......Page 284
Simultaneously generating RD frequency and RD intensity patterns......Page 288
The population-based inter-individual comparisons case......Page 293
The neighborhood-based inter-individual comparisons case......Page 295
Concluding remarks......Page 311
References......Page 316
Index......Page 321