In a post over at orgtheory.net, Fabio Rojas makes the case for more math in sociology:
“By ‘math’ I mean models and proofs, not statistics. That’s an important distinction. Statistics is using math to test hypotheses (verbal or otherwise) with quantitative data. Math is used to express statistical ideas and prove things about them. However, math can also be used to express sociological ideas and derive ideas through logical proof. By ‘math in sociology,’ I mean ‘writing down equations describing social processes (the models) and proving new things about the models.'”
Fabio then goes on to give six reasons why he thinks sociology needs more mathematical theoretical models.
I fully agree with his assessment and, for me, this is part of the methodological convergence that is currently taking place in the social sciences. Let me explain.