Consideraciones metodológicas en torno al abordaje histórico cuantitativo del conflicto social y el rol del estado

Abstract

This paper addresses the issue of quantitative methodological perspectives in the field of studies on social conflict in recent argentine history. Consequently, the design of a database elaborated to study the ways in which state agencies dealt with social conflict at the end of the 20th century, is presented. First, quantitative history and its implications in the construction of historiographic problems are shown. Secondly, the methodological design of the database is presented, focusing on the relational definition of the unit of analysis, the structure of the database and the variables that compose it. Finally, the use of the newspaper as a historical source is problematized from the reconstruction of the central methodological criticisms formulated by the referents on the field of this study. In addition, a series of methodological precautions adopted in the database to control the biases identified by the critics are exhibited.