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(1989) The qualitative-quantitative distinction in the social sciences, Dordrecht, Springer.
Few questions have the capacity to provoke as intense an emotional response among social scientists as that dealing with the utility of quantitative methods for explaining human/social behavior.1 On the one hand, there are those who argue that only through the application of quantitative measurements and methods can the social sciences ever hope to become "real" sciences; on the other hand, there are those who claim that the subject matter of the social sciences is simply not amenable to quantification and all attempts to impose such measures and methods upon social behavior is just so much nonsense. What makes this situation somewhat puzzling is that in most cases, each side presents the opposing side, or at least the more sophisticated spokesmen for the other side, in what can only be called caricature form.
Publication details
DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-3444-8_3
Full citation:
Smith, C. W. (1989)., The qualitative significance of quantitative representation, in B. Glassner & J. D. Moreno (eds.), The qualitative-quantitative distinction in the social sciences, Dordrecht, Springer, pp. 29-42.
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