A bibliographic journey through Madagascar: References by topic

casadeugeneh 1974Casad, Eugene H. 1974. Dialect intelligibility testing. Publications in linguistics and related fields 38. Norman: Summer Institute of Linguistics and The University of Oklahoma.

language(s):: English

topic(s):: Quantitative research,; Research,; Sociolinguistics,; Linguistics,

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ddssinstat 1996DDSS-INSTAT. 1996. Le recencement général de la population et de l'habitat. Report, Direction de la Démographie et des Statistiques Sociales de l'INSTAT (Madagascar). Antananarivo.

language(s):: French

topic(s):: Quantitative research,; Research,; Madagascar,; Indian Ocean region,; Social sciences - other,; Austronesian,

Malagasy ethnie(s):: Malagasy,

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grimesjosephe 1998Grimes, Joseph E. 1998. The logic of survey information. Notes on Linguistics 3(2):71-82.

language(s):: English

topic(s):: Quantitative research,; Research,; Qualitative research,; Sociolinguistics,; Linguistics,

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instat 1996INSTAT. 1996. Recensement général de la population et de l'habitat. Résultats définitifs:Tableaux statistiques. Report, Institut National de la Statistique. Antananarivo.

language(s):: French

topic(s):: Quantitative research,; Research,; Madagascar,; Indian Ocean region,; Social sciences - other,; Austronesian,

Malagasy ethnie(s):: Malagasy,

A general census was done in 1993, in collaboration between the Institut National de la Statistique, the Recencement général de la population et de l'habitat, US AID, FNUAP, and PNUD. Much helpful information was published.

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jeffersjnr 1979Jeffers, J. N. R. 1979. Sampling. Cambridge: Institute of Terrestrial Ecology.

language(s):: English

topic(s):: Quantitative research,; Research,

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letsonben 1995Letson, Ben. 1995. Richard Rorty and the meaning of social science. International Social Science Review 70(1-2):43-52.

language(s):: English

topic(s):: Quantitative research,; Research,; Qualitative research,; Social sciences - other,

Pragmatists such as Richard Rorty do not see the natural sciences as an ideal, able to offer methodological lessons to the social sciences. In other words, success in the natural sciences does not guarantee fruitful application of the same methods in other areas of research. To Rorty there is no such thing "as scientific method in any sense that would set this method apart from what most of us do all the time (Letson, nd:44). This makes the "search for scientific method (to be) misguided" (Ibid) except if by method we mean "approach." Rorty's holistic way of thinking teasingly brings the scientific ideal back down to earth, indicating that "while scientists may bristle at the suggestion that what they do is no more rational or objective than what ethicists do, ethicists (and theologians) can take comfort in the fact that, contrary to what most of the culture believes, what they do is every bit as rational and objective as what scientists do" (47). Rorty's view offers a "useful protest against the fetishism of old-fashioned 'behaviourist' social scientists who worry about whether they are being 'scientific'" (49). He does not subscribe however, to views that draw "a principled distinction between man and nature, announcing that the ontological difference dictates a methodological difference" (49). The value of the interpretive approach is in the beginning stages of any inquiry, "when we are searching for a useful vocabulary in which to cast a problem"(49) and in dealing with human beings as "moral creatures."

Selected quotes:

No sooner does one discover the categories of the pure understanding for a Newtonian age than somebody draws up another list that would do nicely for an Aristotelian or an Einsteinian one. No sooner does one draw up a categorical imperative for Christians than somebody draws up one which works for cannibals (.). The reason this game is so easy to play is that none of these philosophical theories have to do much work. The real work has been done by scientists who have developed the explanatory theories by patience and genius, or the societies which developed the moralities and institutions in struggle and pain. All the Platonic or Kantian philosopher does is to take the finished first-level product, jack it up a few levels of abstraction, invent a metaphysical or epistemologiocal or semantical vocabulary into which to translate it, and announce that he has grounded it (45: from Rorty, 1982:168).
"Explanation" is merely the sort of understanding one looks for when one wants to predict and control. It does not contrast with something else called "understanding" as the abstract contrasts with the concrete, or the artificial with the natural, or the "repressive" with the "liberating." To say that something is better "understood" in one vocabulary than another is always an ellipsis for the claim that a description in the preferred vocabulary is more useful for a certain purpose. If the purpose is prediction, then one will want one sort of vocabulary. If it is evaluation, one may or may not want a different sort of vocabulary. (In the case of evaluating artillery fire, for example, the predictive vocabulary of ballistics will do nicely. In the case of evaluating human character, the vocabulary of stimulus and response is beside the point (48: from Rorty 1982:197).

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one 1994ONE. 1994. Rapport sur l'etat de l'environnement à Madagascar. Report, Office National de l'Environnement. Antananarivo.

language(s):: French

topic(s):: Quantitative research,; Research,; Madagascar,; Indian Ocean region,; Social sciences - other,; Austronesian,

Malagasy ethnie(s):: Malagasy,

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shavelsonrichardj 1988Shavelson, Richard J. 1988. Statistical reasoning for the behavioral sciences. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

language(s):: English

topic(s):: Quantitative research,; Research,

spiegelmurrayr 1972Spiegel, Murray R. 1972. Schaum's outline of theory and problems of statistics. London: McGraw-Hill.

language(s):: English

topic(s):: Quantitative research,; Research,

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unicef 1993UNICEF. 1993. Analyse de la situation des enfants et des femmes à Madagascar. Document de travail. Report, UNICEF.

language(s):: French

topic(s):: Quantitative research,; Research,; Madagascar,; Indian Ocean region,; Social sciences - other,; Austronesian,

Malagasy ethnie(s):: Malagasy,

Pertinent statistical and demographical facts.

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vausdade 1986Vaus, D. A. de. 1986. Surveys in social research. Contemporary social research series. London, Boston, Sydney: George Allen & Unwin.

language(s):: English

topic(s):: Quantitative research,; Research,; Sociolinguistics,; Linguistics,