A model discipline : political science and the logic of representations / Kevin A. Clarke and David M. Primo.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

A Model Discipline: The Model in Political Science ; Metaphors and Analogies, Fables and Fictions ; The broad themes of the book ; Science is not what we think it is ; Current practice is not "philosophy-free" ; Models are objects ; Models are not tested with data ; Explanation ; Plan of the Book ; What this Book is Not. -- The Science in Political Science: Introduction ; What Political Scientists Say They Are Doing ; Hypothetico-Deductivism ; Problems with H-D ; Deductions are Truth-Preserving ; Data Can't Speak for Themselves ; Other Problems with H-D ; How We Got Here ; Logical Positivism ; Pathologies of Rational Choice ; Methods and Models ; The Empirical Implications of Theoretical Models ; Conclusion. -- What is a Model?: Introduction ; Models as Maps ; A Few Examples ; The Received View of Scientific Theories ; The Semantic Conception of Scientific Theories ; The Model-Based View of Scientific Theories ; Models and Theories ; Conclusion. -- Theoretical Models: Introduction ; Aspects of Theoretical Models ; The Purposes of Models ; Foundational Models ; Organizational Models ; Exploratory Models ; Predictive Models ; Judging a Theoretical Model ; Prediction is the Wrong Standard (Usually) ; The Illusion of Precise Standards ; Dimensions of Usefulness ; Conclusion. -- Empirical Models: Introduction ; What is an Empirical Model? ; A Model-Based Understanding ; The Purposes of Empirical Models ; The Illogic of Theory Testing ; Falsificationism ; Verificationism ; Bayesian Confirmation ; The Other Uses of Empirical Modeling ; Conclusion. -- Explanation: Introduction ; Existing justifications ; Explanation ; What constitutes an explanation? ; Explanation in Political Science ; Models as explanations ; Choosing among explanations ; Comparative Model Testing ; Is choosing necessary? ; Conclusion. -- Conclusion: Introduction ; Review of the argument ; Issues and counterarguments.

Machine converted from AACR2 source record.