Abstract
We welcome the animated debate raised byAnalytic Narrativesconcerning social scientific methods and the scope of rational choice. Advocates of mathematical and rational models have long claimed they have much to tell us about situations where behavior can be quantified or where the situation under study recurs many times. However, it was thought impermissible for rational choice theories (and rational choice) to venture into the analysis of big events. Political scientists like Gary King, Robert Keohane, and Sidney Verba (1994) implicitly conceded the issue by concentrating on the problem of case selection when the number of cases is small but greater than one.We believe unique events are too important to leave aside, and we use rational choice, particularly game theory, as a means to study unique events.
Highlights
How do we transform an approach to problems into a research area in social science? We argue that analytic narrative is a useful approach in a large number of settings
We had hoped that the chapters would demonstrate that analytic narrative has value two ways
The symposium consists of scholars interested in comparative analysis and big events, half of the audience that we sought to attract
Summary
Robert, Avner Greif, Margaret Levi, Jean-Laurent Rosenthal, and Barry Weingast. 2000. We welcome the animated debate raised by Analytic Narratives concerning social scientific methods and the scope of rational choice. Advocates of mathematical and rational models have long claimed they have much to tell us about situations where behavior can be quantified or where the situation under study recurs many times. It was thought impermissible for rational choice theories (and rational choice) to venture into the analysis of big events. 686 Social Science History (1994) implicitly conceded the issue by concentrating on the problem of case selection when the number of cases is small but greater than one. Rather than responding to each of their criticisms individually we recognize that they fundamentally concern four issues: (1) Does AN deliver what the introduction promises? (2) Where is the narrative? (3) Where is the analytical method? (4) How do we transform an approach to problems into a research area in social science?
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