Overview

Ithiel de Sola Pool was a distinguished scholar of the political process, and one of the most original thinkers in the development of an integrated social science. This volume focuses upon his contributions to the development of research methods that deepen our understanding of human behaviour. The book is divided into five parts treating the analysis of communications, computer simulation, forecasting, network theory, and the social sciences in political contexts. The first part considers the problems and possibilities of analysis raised by the unprecedented quantity of data made available by widespread and improved communications technology; what should be counted and how should inferences be made. Part two explores computer simulation in the study of presidential election patterns and how it can provide in-depth analyses of crisis situations in history. Part three focuses on strategies for predicting the future of international politics and methods to forecast the impacts of new communications technologies, while part four offers a rigorous analysis of domestic and global contact networks and the so-called ""small world"" phenomenon. Part five is concerned with external challenges to the use of social science to create more humane politics, including the question of value neutrality, ideology, ""deconstructive"" critical theory, and threats by government to the health of universities. In a concluding essay Lloyd Etheredge draws upon Pool's work to discuss several new ways in which the methods treated in this volume can be applied to contemporary social change.

Full Product Details

9781412857093

Table of Contents

Reviews

Political science at its best: empirically grounded, driven by the desire for a more humane politics, and dedicated to a social science methodology that provides a more realistic framework for democratic decision-making. Lloyd Etheredge has done us all a great service in collecting these essays. --Kristen Renwick, Monroe University of California at Irvine

"-Political science at its best: empirically grounded, driven by the desire for a more humane politics, and dedicated to a social science methodology that provides a more realistic framework for democratic decision-making. Lloyd Etheredge has done us all a great service in collecting these essays.- --Kristen Renwick, Monroe University of California at Irvine -This excellent volume provides a concise and interesting retrospective of the pioneering contributions of Ithiel de Sola Pool to the development of social science theory and practice... Editor Etheredge provides introductory commentary for each section and a fine summary of Pool's current and potential future legacy. Recommended for graduate and professional collections.- --C. J. Luna, Choice ""Political science at its best: empirically grounded, driven by the desire for a more humane politics, and dedicated to a social science methodology that provides a more realistic framework for democratic decision-making. Lloyd Etheredge has done us all a great service in collecting these essays."" --Kristen Renwick, Monroe University of California at Irvine ""This excellent volume provides a concise and interesting retrospective of the pioneering contributions of Ithiel de Sola Pool to the development of social science theory and practice... Editor Etheredge provides introductory commentary for each section and a fine summary of Pool's current and potential future legacy. Recommended for graduate and professional collections."" --C. J. Luna, Choice ""Political science at its best: empirically grounded, driven by the desire for a more humane politics, and dedicated to a social science methodology that provides a more realistic framework for democratic decision-making. Lloyd Etheredge has done us all a great service in collecting these essays."" --Kristen Renwick, Monroe University of California at Irvine ""This excellent volume provides a concise and interesting retrospective of the pioneering contributions of Ithiel de Sola Pool to the development of social science theory and practice... Editor Etheredge provides introductory commentary for each section and a fine summary of Pool's current and potential future legacy. Recommended for graduate and professional collections."" --C. J. Luna, Choice"

Author Information

Ithiel de Sola Pool (1917-1984) directed the research program in communications at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for thirty years. Lloyd S. Etheredge, a political scientist and psychologist, is project director at the Policy Sciences Center, Inc.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available