The Philosophy of Quantitative Methods
This book is concerned with the conceptual foundations of research methods. In particular, it undertakes a philosophical examination of a number of different quantitative research methods that are prominent in, or relevant for, the conduct of research in the behavioral sciences. By doing so, the deep structure of the methods is examined in order to overcome the shallow and uncritical understanding that is typically provided by textbooks and other instructional sources. The methods submitted to critical examination are important and mostly well known. They are exploratory data analysis, statistical significance testing, Bayesian confirmation theory and statistics, meta-analysis, and exploratory factor analysis. The treatment of the research methods examined is consistent with a philosophy of scientific realism. Theories of scientific method feature prominently in the discussions of the research methods. Each chapter contains a Further Reading section in order to help the reader extend their thinking beyond what the chapters contain.