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(1974) Developments in the methodology of social science, Dordrecht, Springer.
The aim of this paper is to present a model for the expression of law statements which allows for the exploration and recognition of patterns and regularities in observed social interactions. The argument is divided into three parts. First, some comments about the nature of social laws will be rephrased and an attempt will be made to explicate an operational definition of an "evolutionary law". In particular, the notion of an "evolutionary law" will be defined by two conditions: (possible) non-stationarity and a non-orthodox interpretation of probability. (Sections 2 and 3.) Second, the use of some of the notions of discrete space stochastic processes will be proposed as a means for modelling such laws. (Section 4.) Finally, several methods will be outlined for discerning regularities in low-level statements of social interaction patterns. (Section 5.)
Publication details
DOI: 10.1007/978-94-010-2259-0_10
Full citation:
Gale, S. (1974)., Evolutionary laws in the social sciences, in W. Leinfellner & E. Köhler (eds.), Developments in the methodology of social science, Dordrecht, Springer, pp. 309-336.
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