Читать книгу Political Science For Dummies - Marcus A. Stadelmann - Страница 37

Empirical theory explains human behavior and events and tests them to see whether they’re true. The political scientist stops assuming when trying to explain, and testing of theories becomes the norm for the discipline.

Traditionalism uses normative theory (see earlier section on traditionalism) when engaging in research. It was acceptable for traditionalists to bring their own personal preferences and values into their research. There was no need to test theories. Behavioralists reject this type of research. For them, bringing personal values into research makes findings not just unscientific but also unacceptable and biased. Political science for them needs to be a real science, using theories that have been tested and are value-neutral. For this reason, instead of creating explanations of behavior and events based on personal preferences, behavioralists want to test their theories. This is possible only if you employ empirical theory.