The Logic of Analysis

Abstract

Science involves many things-theory, technique, method, and apparatus. to name just a few. But it is particularly useful to speak of science in terms which reflect some of the things that scientists do as well as some of the more formal views of science, Science can be thought of as a strategy for explanation. Social scientists are particularly concerned with explaining why events occur and why people behave as they do. Social scientists try to describe and explain social and individual processes so that events can be understood. Once the dynamics of an event are understood, it is then possible to predict such an event. Sometimes it is possible to control occurrences of similar events. Why do racial riots occur? What can be done about these causes? What impact will specific actions have both on racial uprisings and on other areas of society at the same time? In advancing explanations and descriptions of events, scientists do three kinds of things: They exercise imagination and creative insight; they per-form logical analysis; and they make judgments that are based on observations of the events that they wish to explain.