Kwantificering in de sociale wetenschappen

W. H. Somermeyer

Statistica Neerlandica, 1953, vol. 7, issue 4, 209-222

Abstract: Quantification in the social sciences After some remarks about the psychological background of quantification, four kinds of entities are distinguished: measurable, scalable, modal or classifiable variables, and finally variables that cannot even be classified Difficulties of characterizing entities with respect quantifiability are exemplified by the notion of utility in economics, and to toleration in sociology. Practical problems of measurement in the social sciences are traced back to man's ability to lie and his dis inclination to speak, when questioned about matters of importance to him. The limitations of summarizing measures, such as totals and averages, are brought to the fore, while the neglect of variances in social sciences is criticized. Because the mathemical form of economic and social relationships is rarely specified by theory, measures such as coefficients of elasticity cannot be determined with precision. Moreover, the latter are not really constants, since time cannot be explained away altogether.

Date: 1953
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