Linguistic Fuzzy-Logic Data Analysis

Abstract

Data analysis is at the core of much of what counts as social sciences today. Yet, the tools that have been designed for these purposes remain rather limited in social sciences, and more so in political science and International Relations. For the most part scholars use statistical means to analyze data. However, as succinctly put by Braumoeller (2003:209), ”theories that posit complex causation, or multiple causal paths, pervade the study of politics but have yet to find accurate statistical expression ... To date, however, no one has made a concerted effort to describe how the empirical implications of theoretical models that posit causal complexity could be captured by statistical methods.” Without belittling the gap in statistical methodology that Braumoeller highlights, there is a need for other types of tools – nonstatistical approaches - that could be used to address issues that statistical analyses cannot reach such as conceptual vagueness.