Derivation of Theory by Means of Factor Analysis, or Tom Swift and His Electric Factor Analysis Machine #272525

It has not been uncommon for social scientists to draw upon analogies from the physical sciences in their discussions of scientific methods. They look with envy at some of the mathematical advances in the physical sciences and one gets the impression that the social sciences are currently on the verge of some major mathematical advances. Perhaps they are but there are many social scientists who would disagree. Their position is that we really don't know enough about what goes into our mathematical models in order to expect results which are meaningfully related to anything in the real world. In other words, the complaint is not that the models are no good or that they don't really give us optimum results; rather it is that the assumptions on which the model is based do not provide a realistic representation of the world as it exists. And it is in this area where the social sciences differ from the physical sciences.