Door meten tot weten in de sociale wetenschappen*)

In: Statistica Neerlandica, Band 16, Heft 4, S. 321-336

Abstract

SummaryKnowledge by measurement in the social sciences, address to the general meeting of the Netherlands Statistical Society.The motto "Knowledge by measurement" of the great Dutch physicist Kamerlingh Onnes is also valid in the social sciences. Knowledge about economic and social phenomena must be obtained to a large extent by measuring quantities, ratios, mutual relations and growth factors.During the past 20 years a considerable progress is made in this field, which is shown by two examples.In a certain sense the motto mentioned above is a euphemism: however much our measurements may be improved, our knowledge remains incomplete. The observation of social phenomena is unique, they cannot be reproduced and the research worker meets different kinds of restrictions in practical experience. A careful criticism of the results of experimental research is all the more necessary, particularly in the case that these results have to be used as a tool for general economic planning.