POLS 3180 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Causal Model, Necessity And Sufficiency, Falsifiability
9 Oct 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Variables: category" of characteristics of the things we study. Variables can take on different values or attributes. Variables vary from one case to the next. Often posits the existence of a causal relationship between two or more variables. Purpose of theories: simplify reality, understand and explain, predict. If you cannot falsify it then it is not a good theory. Must apply to at least more than one case. The theory needs to make sense in light of what we already know about the world. How the cause leads to the effect must be clear. A specified, testable expectation about empirical reality that follows from a more general proposition . Most often explanatory: formulates an expectation regarding the relationship between two or more variables. We often visualize our hypotheses in a causal model. There are many types of causal relationships including: deterministic causation. Necessary condition: b never occurs without a. Sufficient condition: whenever a, b will follow: probabilistic causation.
