Calculating People is a reading group on history and philosophy of social sciences dedicated in Michaelmas 2019 to the theme 'What counts as evidence in social sciences?'. The group reads leading social science research in alternation with methodological and philosophical articles. All participants commit to doing the reading each time and to attending all sessions. The session starts with each participant briefly describing their impressions/questions on the reading assigned, after which the chair conducts a discussion on the recurring themes.
The meetings take place on Thursdays at 2pm in the Board Room (but note the different scheduling for the last meeting). Organised by Anna Alexandrova and Christopher Clarke.
Michaelmas Term 2019
10 October
Daniel Hirschman, 'Stylized Facts in the Social Sciences', Sociological Science, July 19, 2016.
17 October
Wood, Elisabeth Jean (2003). Insurgent collective action and civil war in El Salvador. Cambridge University Press. Chapters 1–2.
24 October
Devault, Marjorie L. 'Talking and Listening from Women's Standpoint: Feminist Strategies for Interviewing and Analysis', Social Problems, vol. 37, no. 1, 1990, pp. 96–116.
31 October
Wood, Elisabeth Jean (2003). Insurgent collective action and civil war in El Salvador. Cambridge University Press. Chapters 3–4.
7 November
Freese, J., & Peterson, D. (2017). 'Replication in social science', Annual Review of Sociology, 43, 147–165.
14 November
Wood, Elisabeth Jean (2003). Insurgent collective action and civil war in El Salvador. Cambridge University Press. Chapters 5–6.
21 November
Freese, J., & Peterson, D. (2018). 'The Emergence of Statistical Objectivity: Changing Ideas of Epistemic Vice and Virtue in Science', Sociological Theory, 36(3), 289–313.
Wednesday 27 November, 2.30–3.30pm
Wood, Elisabeth Jean (2003). Insurgent collective action and civil war in El Salvador. Cambridge University Press. Chapters 7–8 and epilogue.