TY - JOUR
T1 - Taking temporality seriously
T2 - Modeling history and the use of narratives as evidence
AU - Büthe, Tim
PY - 2002/9
Y1 - 2002/9
N2 - Social scientists interested in explaining historical processes can, indeed should, refuse the choice between modeling causal relationships and studying history. Identifying temporality as the defining characteristic of processes that can be meaningfully distinguished as "history," I show that modeling such phenomena engenders particular difficulties but is both possible and fruitful. Narratives, as a way of presenting empirical information, have distinctive strengths that make them especially suited for historical scholarship, and structuring the narratives based on the model allows us to treat them as data on which to test the model. At the same time, this use of narratives raises methodological problems not identified in recent debates. I specify these problems, analyze their implications, and suggest ways of solving or minimizing them. There is no inherent incompatibility between - but much potential gain from - modeling history and using historical narratives as data.
AB - Social scientists interested in explaining historical processes can, indeed should, refuse the choice between modeling causal relationships and studying history. Identifying temporality as the defining characteristic of processes that can be meaningfully distinguished as "history," I show that modeling such phenomena engenders particular difficulties but is both possible and fruitful. Narratives, as a way of presenting empirical information, have distinctive strengths that make them especially suited for historical scholarship, and structuring the narratives based on the model allows us to treat them as data on which to test the model. At the same time, this use of narratives raises methodological problems not identified in recent debates. I specify these problems, analyze their implications, and suggest ways of solving or minimizing them. There is no inherent incompatibility between - but much potential gain from - modeling history and using historical narratives as data.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0036735372&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S0003055402000278
DO - 10.1017/S0003055402000278
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:0036735372
SN - 0003-0554
VL - 96
SP - 481
EP - 493
JO - American Political Science Review
JF - American Political Science Review
IS - 3
ER -