Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T19:47:09.641Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Evidential Diversity and the Triangulation of Phenomena

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Jaakko Kuorikoski  and
Caterina Marchionni
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The article argues for the epistemic rationale of triangulation, namely, the use of multiple and independent sources of evidence. It claims that triangulation is to be understood as causal reasoning from data to phenomenon, and it rationalizes its epistemic value in terms of controlling for likely errors and biases of particular data-generating procedures. This perspective is employed to address objections against triangulation concerning the fallibility and scope of the inference, as well as problems of independence, incomparability, and discordance of evidence. The debate on the existence of social preferences is used as an illustrative case.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 83 , Issue 2 , April 2016 , pp. 227 - 247
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

†

This article was presented at the Causality and Experimentation in the Sciences conference in Paris 2013, the CamPos seminar in Cambridge 2014, the British Society for Philosophy of Science conference in Cambridge 2014, the Evidence in Science and Epistemology workshop in Helsinki 2014, and the Working Seminar on Robustness Analysis in Helsinki 2014. We thank the audiences in these meetings for their comments. We would especially like to thank Casey Helgeson, Chiara Lisciandra, Aki Lehtinen, Jonah Schupbach, Kent Staley, Jacob Stegenga, and two anonymous referees for their invaluable constructive critiques. This research has been supported by the Academy of Finland. Caterina carried out part of this work while visiting the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science, London School of Economics.

References

Andreoni, James, and Bernheim, B. Douglas. 2009. “Social Image and the 50–50 Norm: A Theoretical and Experimental Analysis of Audience Effects.” Econometrica 77:1607–36.Google Scholar
Baumgartner, Thomas, Heinrichs, Markus, Vonlanthen, Aline, Fischbacher, Urs, and Fehr, Ernst. 2008. “Oxytocin Shapes the Neural Circuitry of Trust and Trust Adaptation in Humans.” Neuron 59:639–50.Google Scholar
Binmore, Ken. 2005. “Economic Man—or Straw Man?” Behavioral and Brain Sciences 28:23–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blaikie, Norman. 1991. “A Critique of the Use of Triangulation in Social Research.” Quality and Quantity 25:115–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bogen, James, and Woodward, James. 1988. “Saving the Phenomena.” Philosophical Review 47:303–52.Google Scholar
Bovens, Luc, and Hartmann, Stephan. 2002. “Bayesian Networks and the Problem of Unreliable Instruments.” Philosophy of Science 69:29–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Camerer, Camerer. 2013. “Experimental, Cultural, and Neural Evidence of Deliberate Prosociality.” Trends in Cognitive Science 17:106–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Campbell, Donald T., and Fiske, Donald W.. 1959. “Convergent and Discriminant Validation by Multitrait-Multimethod Matrix.” Psychological Bulletin 56:81–105.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cartwright, Nancy. 1991. “Replicability, Reproducibility, and Robustness: Comments on Collins.” History of Political Economy 23:143–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, Cristopher. 2014. “Neuroeconomics and Confirmation Theory.” Philosophy of Science 81:195–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Claveau, François. 2011. “Evidential Variety as a Source of Credibility for Causal Inference: Beyond Sharp Designs and Structural Models.” Journal of Economic Methodology 18:233–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craver, Carl, and Alexandrova, Anna. 2008. “No Revolution Necessary: Neural Mechanisms for Economics.” Economics and Philosophy 24:381–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fehr, Ernst, and Krajbich, Ian. 2014. “Social Preferences and the Brain.” In Neuroeconomics: Decision Making and the Brain, 2nd ed., ed. Glimcher, Paul W. and Fehr, Ernst, 193–218. London: Elsevier.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitelson, Branden. 2001. “A Bayesian Account of Independent Evidence with Applications.” Philosophy of Science 68:123–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Franklin, Allan. 1986. The Neglect of Experiment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fumagalli, Roberto. 2013. “The Futile Search for True Utility.” Economics and Philosophy 29:325–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gospic, Katarina, Mohlin, Erik, Fransson, Peter, Petrovic, Predrag, Johannesson, Magnus, and Ingvar, Martin. 2011. “Limbic Justice: Amygdala Involvement in Immediate Rejection in the Ultimatum Game.” PLOS Biology 9:1–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Guala, Francesco. 2012. “Reciprocity: Weak or Strong? What Punishment Experiments Do (and Do Not) Demonstrate?” Behavioral and Brain Sciences 35:1–59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gul, Faruk, and Pesendorfer, Wolfgang. 2008. “The Case for Mindless Economics.” In The Foundations of Positive and Normative Economics: A Hand Book, ed. Caplin, Andrew and Schotter, Andrew, 3–39. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hacking, Ian. 1983. Representing and Intervening: Introductory Topics in the Philosophy of Natural Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammersley, Martyn. 2008. “Troubles with Triangulation.” In Advances in Mixed Method Research, ed. Bergman, Manfred, 22–36. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Hey, Spencer. 2015. “Robust and Discordant Evidence: Methodological Lessons from Clinical Research.” Philosophy of Science 82:55–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hudson, Robert. 1999. “Mesosomes: A Study in the Nature of Experimental Reasoning.” Philosophy of Science 66:289–309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hudson, Robert 2009. “The Methodological Strategy of Robustness in the Context of Experimental WIMP Research.” Foundations of Physics 39:174–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hudson, Robert 2013. Seeing Things: The Philosophy of Reliable Observation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuorikoski, Jaakko, Lehtinen, Aki, and Marchionni, Caterina. 2010. “Economic Modelling as Robustness Analysis.” British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 61:541–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuorikoski, Jaakko, Lehtinen, Aki, and Marchionni, Caterina 2012. “Robustness Analysis Disclaimer: Please Read the Manual before Use!” Biology and Philosophy 27:891–902.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuorikoski, Jaakko, and Ylikoski, Petri. 2010. “Explanatory Relevance across Disciplinary Boundaries: The Case of Neuroeconomics.” Journal of Economic Methodology 17:219–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levitt, Steven, and List, John. 2007. “What Do Laboratory Experiments Measuring Social Preferences Reveal about the Real World?” Journal of Economic Perspectives 21:151–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Odenbaugh, Jay, and Alexandrova, Anna. 2011. “Buyer Beware: Robustness Analyses in Economics and Biology.” Biology and Philosophy 26:757–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearl, Judea. 2000. Causality: Models, Reasoning, and Inference. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ross, Don. 2008. “Two Styles of Neuroeconomics.” Economics and Philosophy 24:473–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salmon, Wesley. 1984. Scientific Explanation and the Causal Structure of the World. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Schickore, Jutta, and Coko, Klodian. 2013. “Using Multiple Means of Determination.” International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 27:195–313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schupbach, Jonah. 2015. “Robustness, Diversity of Evidence, and Probabilistic Independence.” In Recent Developments in the Philosophy of Science: EPSA13 Helsinki, ed. Mäki, Uskali, Votsis, Ioannis, Ruphy, Stéphanie, and Schurz, Gerhard, 305–16. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Sober, Elliott. 1989. “Independent Evidence about a Common Cause.” Philosophy of Science 56:275–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soler, Léna, Trizio, Emiliano, Nickles, Thomas, and Wimsatt, William. 2012. Characterizing the Robustness of Science. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science. Dordrecht: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Staley, Kent W. 2004. “Robust Evidence and Secure Evidence Claims.” Philosophy of Science 71:467–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stegenga, Jacob. 2009. “Robustness, Discordance, and Relevance.” Philosophy of Science 76:650–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stegenga, Jacob 2012. “Rerum Concordia Discors: Robustness and Discordant Multimodal Evidence.” In Soler et al. 2012, 207–26.Google Scholar
Weisberg, Michael. 2006. “Robustness Analysis.” Philosophy of Science 73:730–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wimsatt, William. 1981. “Robustness, Reliability, and Overdetermination.” In Scientific Inquiry in the Social Sciences, ed. Brewer, M. and Collins, B., 123–62. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Wimsatt, William 2007. Re-engineering Philosophy for Limited Beings. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodward, James. 2000. “Data, Phenomena, and Reliability.” Philosophy of Science 67:163–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodward, James 2003. Making Things Happen. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Woodward, James 2006. “Some Varieties of Robustness.” Journal of Economic Methodology 13:219–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodward, James 2009. “Experimental Investigations of Social Preferences.” In The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Economics, ed. Kincaid, Harold and Ross, Don, 189–222. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar