Theory and Methods in the Social Sciences Book

	Introduction	7
1	The Weber/Merton Thesis: Protestantism and the Breakthrough of Modern Natural Science	21
2	Kuhn's Theory of Scientific Revolutions	39
3	The Hermeneutic Circle: On Limits for Interpretation and Conditions for Understanding	56
4	The Finitism Thesis: On Social Roots and Limits to Knowledge	72
5	The Hysteresis Thesis: Path Dependence in Economic and Social Systems	87
6	The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy	99
7	The Placebo Effect: On Imaginary, Real and Measurable Effects	111
8	The Hawthorne Effect or the Human Relations Theory: On Experiment Situation and Influence	125
9	Adam Smith and 'The Invisible Hand': The Market Mechanism	141
10	Von Thunen's Isolated State: The Law of Area Utilization in Agricultural Production	157
11	Hart's Inverse Health Care Law: On the Distribution of Health Resources	175
12	The Tragedy of the Commons: Collective Resources and Individual Interests	197
13	Durkheim's Suicide Hypothesis	215
14	The Cross-Pressure Hypothesis: On Influences and Voting	225
15	The "Two-Step-Flow-of-Communication" Hypothesis	236
16	The Theoretical Challenge	249
	Contributors	268
	Index	272