Philosophical Foundations of Quantitative Research Methodology

This book is a crystallization of author Chong Ho Yu’s contemplation on the meaning of quantitative methods from the perspectives of history and the philosophy of science. Emphasizing the importance of a data analyst ‘always knowing where the numbers come from,’ Yu broadens the search to include a gamut of questions exploring the foundations of quantitative research. These questions include: How did the Fisherian and Pearsonian frameworks originate? Is quantitative methodology based upon logical positivism? How could statisticians synthesize abductive, deductive, and inductive methods while they are substantively different in their logics? How could researchers make a causal inference while a strong correlation does not necessarily entail a causal structure? This informative book is written for readers with an intermediate knowledge of statistics and philosophy.