Thinking about causality with both numbers and reason

When you move from area studies to a social science, there are bound to be some changes of pace. Perhaps the most interesting problem to arise for me is how to understand causality and how to weigh the discipline’s emphasis on quantitative analysis with my considerably more developed skills in qualitative research and reasoning.

A professor of mine, Victor Menaldo, was kind enough to share with me his research note on two modes of causality after he read a book excerpt by another of our colleagues, Prof. James Caporaso. I found the discussions sufficiently interesting to write a note of my own, and Victor has posted all three on his blog, Pláwlotic.

If you’re interested in causality (and you should be!), I would love to hear comments. The post is largely my research note, but for the full story, the order should be Caporaso->Menaldo->Webster.