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Usable Knowledge

Social Science and Social Problem Solving

By: Charles E. Lindblom

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Paperback | 1 July 1979 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
140 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
2.15 x 1.39 x 0.03

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The problem that gives rise to this book is dissatisfaction with social science and social research as instruments of social problem solving. Policy makers and other practical problem solvers frequently voice disappointment with what they are offered. And many social scientists and social researchers think they should be more drawn upon, more useful, and more influential. Out of the discontent have come numerous diagnoses and prescriptions.

This thoughtful contribution to the discussion provides an agenda of basic questions that should be asked and answered by those who are concerned about the impact of social science and research on real life problems. In general, Cohen and Lindblom believe that social scientists are crippled by a misunderstanding of their own trade, and they suggest that the tools of their trade be applied to the trade itself.

Social scientists do not always fully appreciate that professional social inquiry is only one of several ways of solving a problem. They are also often engaged in a mistaken pursuit of authoritativeness, not recognizing that their contribution can never be more than a partial one. Cohen and Lindblom suggest that they reexamine their criteria for selecting subjects for research, study their tactics as compared to those of policy makers, and consider more carefully their role in relation to other routes to problem solving. To stimulate further inquiry into these fundamental issues, they also provide a comprehensive bibliography.

Industry Reviews

Old wine in a new flask. Professors Lindblom and Cohen (Yale: Institution for Social and Policy Studies) tell us that professional social inquiry - what they term PSI - is only one of many routes to knowledge and problem-solving. Including endeavors as diverse as historical research and mathematical modeling, PSI must often be combined with a good measure of social interaction and more than a dash of common sense to arrive at a successful policy mix. They question authoritativeness as a goal for the social sciences, offering instead the functions of enlightenment and engineering. Such highly-controlled inquiry should be not Godhead but tool; it should forego ethical neutrality to become a political weapon wielded by political forces. Yet Lindblom and Cohen never distinguish among these forces, never question the ends to which PSI, increasingly in use, is put - whether in government or in the courts (as in, for instance, selecting a jury). They do admit that PSI can sometimes be deleterious to the making of policy; hyper-rationalism, waste, and "noise" render it at times "overblown, pretentious, and meddling." Throughout, the authors set up, then knock down straw men - hard-nosed believers in social-science mastery. This analysis will startle only such straw men: the rest of us will find it more in the nature of intellectual exercise than first-page news. (Kirkus Reviews)

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