The document discusses different types of explanations in social science, including event-event, fact-event, and fact-fact explanations. It outlines the hypothetico-deductive method for developing explanations, which involves choosing a theory, specifying a hypothesis, considering alternative explanations, refuting rivals, and strengthening the hypothesis. The document also distinguishes between different types of causal statements and explanations, such as true causal statements, statements about correlations, necessitation, storytelling, statistics, and answers to "why" questions.

1. “Explaining Social Behavior”
Explanation
Jon Elster

2. Explanation: General
• Main task of social science is to explain social
phenomena
• Event-event pattern of explanation
• Fact-event, event-fact, and fact-fact
explanation
• Nonevents
– Kitty Genovese case

3. The Structure of Explanations
• First; is fact a fact or did the event actually
take place?
• Puzzles
– Explanatory puzzles should be addressed in the
five-step sequence. This is called the hypothetico-
deductive method

4. hypothetico-deductive method:
1. Choose the theory
2. Specify a hypothesis
3. Identify plausible accounts that might provide
alternative explanations
4. For each rival accounts, refute it by pointing to
additional testable (not observed) implications
5. Strengthen the proposed hypothesis by showing
testable (observed) implications

5. Broadway shows example
Why do more Broadway shows receive
standing ovations today than twenty years
ago?

6. Statement should be distinguished from casual
explanation
1. True casual statements. Ex: food poisoning
2. Statements about correlations. Ex: Alexis de Tocqueville about
marriage for love
– Direction of causality is also important
3. Statements about necessitation
4. Statements about storytelling
5. Statistical explanations
6. Answers to “why questions”
7. Predictions

7. The End
Farhad Safarov