Summary of Questions and Claims Types in Social Sciences

Types of Questions & Claims

• Descriptive Questions
• Focus on observational data about the world.
• Examples include:
  • Number of "Black Lives Matter" protests
  • Firearm-related deaths in comparison with other countries
• Causal Questions
• Explore the cause-and-effect relationship.
• Examples include:
  • Reasons for higher gun murder rates in the U.S. vs Canada
• Prescriptive (Normative) Questions
• Discuss what should or shouldn't be done.
• Examples include:
  • Should the U.S. adopt stricter gun control?

Types of Claims

• Descriptive Claims
• State facts without implying a cause.
• Example: "There were 7,750 BLM protests in the U.S."
• Causal Claims
• Explain how one event influences another.
• Example: "U.S. gun laws cause more gun murders per capita than Canadian laws."
• Prescriptive Claims
• State opinions about what should happen based on value judgments.
• Example: "Canada should increase taxes on the rich."

Understanding Relationships Between Questions and Claims

• Answering prescriptive questions often requires understanding descriptive and causal claims first.
• Example: Deciding whether to implement stricter gun controls requires knowing current firearm homicide rates and causal connections to laws.

Empirical Social Science Focus

• Primarily concerned with establishing causal relationships in society.
• Important to differentiate between correlation and causation.
• Key puzzles include:
• Why do governments not always make the best decisions from a prescriptive viewpoint?