Rational Choice Theory And Large-scale Data Analysis

The relationship between rational choice theory and large-scale data analysis has become an important issue for sociologists. Though rational choice theory is well established in both sociology and economics, its influence on quantitative empirical sociology has been surprisingly limited. This book examines why there is hardly a link between the two and discusses how they could be more fruitfully integrated in the future.Contributors to the volume discuss the weaknesses and limitations of rational choice theory and possibilities for linking rational action theory and large-scale data analysis in specific application. The book then outlines the fields of sociological investigation in which the combination of quantitative analysis and large-scale data sets and rational action theories could be necessary or useful and which assumptions have to be made to link the two. Finally, the contributors propose a strategy for a dynamic combination of microsociological action theory and structural analysis on the macrosociological level.