A SOCIOLOGIST MEETS HISTORY - CRITICAL REFLECTIONS UPON PRACTICE

'Why be quantitative?' Harold D. Lasswell asked that question several decades ago. His answer was: to take advantage of the rigor and precis ion that comes with quantification, Since then, quantification has spr ead across social science disciplines, putting qualitative approaches on the defensive. This paper examines the practices of quantitative so ciologists in their study of historical processes, Much ritualism is f ound in those practices; much rhetoric in quantification. Alas, Lasswe ll's good intentions seem to have gone lost in a ritual called 'hypoth esis testing.' The author reflects critically upon his own practices a nd on the forms of quantification and the strategies of explanations t hat he has adopted.