There is an ongoing methodological debate in philosophy of science concerning the use of case studies as evidence for and/or against theories about science. In this paper, I aim to make a contribution to this debate by taking an empirical approach. I present the results of a systematic survey of the PhilSci-Archive, which suggest that a sizeable proportion of papers in philosophy of science contain appeals to case studies, as indicated by the occurrence of the indicator words "case study" and/or "case studies." These results are confirmed by data mined from the JSTOR database on research articles published in leading journals in the field: Philosophy of Science, the British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (BJPS), and the Journal for General Philosophy of Science (JGPS), as well as the Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association (PSA). The data also show upward trends in appeals to case studies in articles published in Philosophy of Science, the BJPS, and the JGPS. The empirical work I have done for this paper provides philosophers of science who are wary of the use of case studies as evidence for and/or against theories about science with a way to do philosophy of science that is informed by data rather than case studies.
...MoreSimilar Citations
Article
Daniel Steel;
Chad Gonnerman;
Michael O'Rourke;
(2017)
Scientists’ Attitudes on Science and Values: Case Studies and Survey Methods in Philosophy of Science
(/isis/citation/CBB928094650/)
Article
Krist Vaesen;
Joel Katzav;
(2019)
The National Science Foundation and philosophy of science's withdrawal from social concerns
(/isis/citation/CBB596202361/)
Book
John Forrester;
(2016)
Thinking in Cases
(/isis/citation/CBB874043385/)
Essay Review
Marsha L. Richmond;
(2016)
STS Meets Environmental History
(/isis/citation/CBB804516343/)
Article
Eric Giannella;
(May 2016)
Expert Judgment versus Market Accounting in an Industrial Research Lab
(/isis/citation/CBB650423114/)
Article
Guy Longworth;
(2018)
The Ordinary and the Experimental: Cook Wilson and Austin on Method in Philosophy
(/isis/citation/CBB482153359/)
Article
Matthews, Michael R.;
(2001)
Methodology and Politics in Science: The Fate of Huygens' 1673 Proposal of the Seconds Pendulum as an International Standard of Length and Some Educational Suggestions
(/isis/citation/CBB000101868/)
Article
Brandon Boesch;
(2018)
Representing in the Student Laboratory
(/isis/citation/CBB947401532/)
Article
James Miller;
(December 2018)
Media and mobility: Two fields, one subject
(/isis/citation/CBB849792594/)
Book
Eric Scerri;
(2016)
A Tale of Seven Scientists and a New Philosophy of Science
(/isis/citation/CBB667473113/)
Article
Guerra, Andreia;
Braga, Marco;
Reis, José Claudio;
(2013)
History, Philosophy, and Science in a Social Perspective: A Pedagogical Project
(/isis/citation/CBB001211972/)
Article
Arianna Borrelli;
(2015)
The Making of an Intrinsic Property: “Symmetry heuristics” in Early Particle Physics
(/isis/citation/CBB351817034/)
Article
Mary S. Morgan;
(2020)
‘If p? Then What?’ Thinking within, with, and from cases
(/isis/citation/CBB998231894/)
Article
Christopher Pincock;
(2022)
Concrete Scale Models, Essential Idealization, and Causal Explanation
(/isis/citation/CBB484696849/)
Article
Tinne Hoff Kjeldsen;
Morten Blomhøj;
(2013)
Developing Students’ Reflections on the Function and Status of Mathematical Modeling in Different Scientific Practices: History as a Provider of Cases
(/isis/citation/CBB066871358/)
Article
Mary S. Morgan;
(2019)
Exemplification and the use-values of cases and case studies
(/isis/citation/CBB151505081/)
Book
Kevin C. Elliott;
Ted Richards;
(2017)
Exploring Inductive Risk: Case Studies of Values in Science
(/isis/citation/CBB115450433/)
Article
Shaul Bar-Haim;
(2020)
Proving Nothing and Illustrating Much: The Case of Michael Balint
(/isis/citation/CBB689739909/)
Article
De Cruz, Helen;
De Smedt, Johan;
(2013)
The Value of Epistemic Disagreement in Scientific Practice: The Case of Homo Floresiensis
(/isis/citation/CBB001211896/)
Book
Christie, Maureen;
(2001)
The Ozone Layer: A Philosophy of Science Perspective
(/isis/citation/CBB000102429/)
Be the first to comment!