A Sociologist Meets History Critical Reflections upon Practice

Abstract

Abstract ‘Why be quantitative?’Harold D. Lasswell asked that question several decades ago. His answer was: to take advantage of the rigor and precision that comes with quantification. Since then, quantification has spread across social science disciplines, putting qualitative approaches on the defensive. This paper examines the practices of quantitative sociologists in their study of historical processes. Much ritualism is found in those practices; much rhetoric in quantification. Alas, Lasswell's good intentions seem to have gone lost in a ritual called ‘hypothesis testing.’The author reflects critically upon his own practices and on the forms of quantification and the strategies of explanations that he has adopted.