Evidence for Causal Mechanisms in Social Science: Recommendations from Woodward’s Manipulability Theory of Causation

Philosophy of Science 82 (5):1296-1307 (2015)
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Abstract

In a backlash against the prevalence of statistical methods, recently social scientists have focused more on studying causal mechanisms. They increasingly rely on a technique called process-tracing, which involves contrasting the observable implications of several alternative mechanisms. Problematically, process-tracers do not commit to a fundamental notion of causation, and therefore arguably they cannot discern between mere correlation between the links of their purported mechanisms and genuine causation. In this paper, I argue that committing to Woodward's interventionist notion of causation would solve this problem: process-tracers should take into account evidence for possible interventions on the mechanisms they study.

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Rosa W. Runhardt
Radboud University

References found in this work

Thinking about mechanisms.Peter Machamer, Lindley Darden & Carl F. Craver - 2000 - Philosophy of Science 67 (1):1-25.
Methodology, ontology, and interventionism.James Woodward - 2015 - Synthese 192 (11):3577-3599.
A glimpse of the.Stathis Psillos - 2004 - Perspectives on Science 12 (3):288-319.

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