ISBN-13: 9780202303147 / Angielski / Miękka / 1985 / 227 str.
ISBN-13: 9780202303147 / Angielski / Miękka / 1985 / 227 str.
Causal models are formal theories stating the relationships between precisely defined variables, and have become an indispensable tool of the social scientist. This book draws upon the best writing in a variety of fields to provide a comprehensive picture of contemporary work on this subject. This collection of articles stands alone as a course book on the causal modeling approach to theory construction and data analysis. There is a growing literature on causal models and structural systems of equations that crosscuts a number of different fields. However, much of this material remains widely scattered throughout the journal literature and varies considerably in terms of both level of difficulty and substantive application. This classic text by Blalock addresses and resolves this concern. The most systematic discussions of this general approach have appeared in the econometrics literature, where several general texts are available. However, many of these discussions are too technical for most sociologists, political scientists, scholars, and researchers who lack a strong background in mathematics. This book attempts to integrate a few of the less technical papers written by econometricians such as Koopmans, Wold, Strotz, and Fisher with discussions of causal approaches in the biological sciences and with relatively more exploratory treatments by sociologists and other social scientists.