Causality in Sociological Research

I. Conditioning of Events versus Causal Conditioning.- 1. Kinds of events and kinds of conditions.- 2. Some properties of the relation of conditioning: symmetry and transitivity.- 3. Temporal relations among events. The broadest interpretation of causal conditioning.- 4. A narrower interpretation of causal conditioning: events as changes.- 5. Other narrower approaches to causal determination.- 5.1. Causal relation as a non-spurious statistical relationship.- 5.2. Causal relationship as a relationship confirmed under experimental conditions.- 5.3. Experiment and spurious relationship.- 6. Relations among events, among features and among variables.- 7. Kinds of methods of establishing causal relations.- 8. Conclusions.- II. The Simplest Case of Causal Analysis.- 1. Preliminary remarks.- 2. Statistical relationship.- 3. Dichotomous systems.- 4. Interactions among variables.- 5. Causal relationship as a relationship which is not spurious.- 6. Probabilistic definition of cause.- 7. Cause as a necessary component of a sufficient condition.- 8. Conclusions.- III. The Causal Interpretation of Relationships in Non-experimental Single Studies.- 1. The occurrence and non-occurrence of causal relationships.- 1.1. Functional relationships and systems of linear equations.- 1.2. The role of coefficients in a linear equation.- 1.3. Causal valuation, the recursive model.- 1.4. The case of three variables.- 1.5. Partial correlation.- 1.6. Variables external to the model.- 1.7. An example of causal analysis.- 2. Intensity of causal relationships.- IV. Verification of Statements on Causal Relationships in Diachronic Research.- 1. Kinds of processes and methods of studying changes.- 1.1. Classification of processes relative to the kind of their dependence on time.- 1.2. The structural classification of processes.- 1.3. Continuous registration and registration in time cuts.- 1.4. Trend analysis.- 2. The panel method and the verification of statements on causal relationships.- 2.1. The study of turnover.- 2.2. Transition matrix.- 2.3. Change of relationship in time.- 2.4. Asymmetry of interactions.- 2.5. Correlation with time lag.- 2.6. Assumptions made in inference about causes.- 2.7. Panel studies and processes with continuous time.- V. Verification of Statements on Causal Relationships in Experimental Research.- 1. Classical experiment.- 2. Experiment with four groups and with the possibility of controlling the effect of the first study.- 3. Incomplete schemata of experiments.- 3.1. Experiment without a control group.- 3.2. Experiment with a double not repeated observation.- 3.3. Experiment with a single time cut.- 3.4. Experiment with a single time cut and without a control group.- 4. Enriched schemata of experiments.- 5. Conclusions.- VI. Causal Analyses and Theoretical Analyses.- 1. Causal analyses as theories.- 2. Causal “models”.- 3. The concept of cause.- 3.1. Exception-free sequence and temporal relations.- 3.2. Agenthood.- 3.3. Operational definitions.- 4. The problem of determinism.- VII. Human Beings and Collectivities. The Problem of the “Level of Analysis” in Sociology.- 1. Three meanings of membership in a collectivity.- 2. Social wholes.- 3. Classification of variables.- 4. Contextual properties.- 5. Ecological correlation.- 6. Reductionism.- Concluding Remarks: Problems Raised and Results Obtained.- Notes.- Bibliographical Postscript.- Index of Names.