The Coleman Diagram, Small N Inquiry and Ethnographic Causality
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1971-8853/8626Keywords:
Coleman diagram, qualitative methods, quantitative methods, causality, Bayesian narrativesAbstract
Certain key ideas have served to stimulate thought about the nature of sociological inquiry by presenting frameworks which are adjustable to the varying demands of different sorts of data. They provide, as it were, heuristics which enable a systematic debate about the optimal simplifications that are enjoined by varying types of data, notably what are sometimes labelled as quantitative and qualitative. In so doing they facilitate a variety of analyses, generate hypotheses and eventually lead to discoveries that transcend inherited boundaries. Our claim is that the Coleman diagram, though largely interpreted within a quantitative tradition, is one such framework for formalizing qualitative methods and for understanding the interplay between different types of data in the social sciences.References
Abell, P. (2007). Narratives, Bayesian Narratives and Narrative Action. Sociologica, 1(3), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.2383/25959
Abell, P. (2009a). A Case for Cases: Comparative Narratives in Sociological Explanation. Sociological Methods & Research, 38(1), 38–70. https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124109339372
Abell, P. (2009b). History, Case Studies, Statistics, and Causal Inference. European Sociological Review, 25(5), 561–567. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27745236
Abell, P., & Engel, O. (2019). Subjective Causality and Counterfactuals in the Social Sciences: Towards an Ethnographic Causality? Sociological Methods and Research.
Baron, R.M. & Kenny, D.A. (1986). The Moderator-Mediator Variable Distinction in Social Psychological Research: Conceptual, Strategic, and Statistical Considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(6), 1173–1182. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173
Bliemel, M.J., McCarthy, I.P., & Maine, E. (2014). An Integrated Approach to Studying Multiplexity in Entrepreneurial Networks. Entrepreneurship Research Journal, 4(4), 367–402. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/erj-2014-0007
Cardano, M. (2009). Ethnography and Reflexivity: Notes on the Construction of Objectivity. Ethnographic Research, NetPaper Dipartimento di Scienze Sociali, Università di Torino, vol. 1.
Coleman, J.S. (1990). Foundations of Social Theory. Cambridge Mass.: Belknap Press.
Diekmann, A. (1985). Volunteer’s Dilemma. The Journal of Conflict Resolution, 29(4), 605–610. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/174243
Fisher, R.A. (1958). Statistical Methods for Research Workers (13th Ed.). London: Hafner Press.
Hedström, P. (2005). Dissecting the Social. On the Principles of Analytical Sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
King, G., Rosen, O., & Tanner, M.A. (2004). Ecological Inference. New Methodological Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pearl, J. (2009). Causality: Models, Reasoning and Inference (2nd Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Raub, W., & Voss, T. (2017). Micro-Macro Models in Sociology: Antecedents of Coleman’s Diagram. In B. Jann & W. Przepiorka (Eds.), Social Dilemmas, Institutions and the Evolution of Cooperation. Festchrift for Andreas Diekmann (pp.11–36). Berlin: De Gruyter.
Snijders, T.A.B., & Lazega, E. (2016). Multilevel Network Analysis for the Social Sciences. London: Springer.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2018 Peter Abell, Ofer Engel
The copyrights of all the texts on this journal belong to the respective authors without restrictions.
This journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (full legal code).
See also our Open Access Policy.
