tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4058766287077382431.post4074302602620667246..comments2024-03-23T04:01:39.348-04:00Comments on Understanding Society: Objectivity in the social sciencesDan Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15953897221283103880noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4058766287077382431.post-50394304536825120372008-12-25T17:13:00.000-05:002008-12-25T17:13:00.000-05:00Alain Desrosières' Politics of Large Numbers also ...Alain Desrosières' <I>Politics of Large Numbers</I> also has more on the topic.Fr.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00949205875058796064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4058766287077382431.post-73652941381051881702008-12-09T14:56:00.000-05:002008-12-09T14:56:00.000-05:00I highly recommend Theodore Porter's Trust in Numb...I highly recommend Theodore Porter's <EM>Trust in Numbers: The Pursuit of Objectivity in Science and Public Life</EM> if you haven't come across it. Porter examines the pursuit of objectivity through quantification in a variety of interesting empirical cases, principally in France and the US in the 19th and 20th centuries. He distinguishes "mechanical objectivity", or the ability to make seemingly unbiased, impartial decisions (which often relates to the 'routine' application of quantitative decision rules) and 'disciplinary objectivity', which has to do with disiciplinary consensus (connected to your points 4 and 5). He deals less with objectivity in the sense of "access to truth", though he touches on it a bit conceptually. The discussion of the history of cost-benefit analysis is superb (one of the middle chapters). I recommend it!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com