Methodology and epistemology of multilevel analysis

The purpose of this book's multilevel approach is to understand individual behaviour taking into account the social context in which it occurs. This book deals with concepts and methods underlying this approrach. It's scope is larger than solely statistical multilevel modelling, even though this does enjoy a prominent place in the volume. Through examples drawn from different social sciences, this book considers the methodological challenges that multilevel analysis allows to answer and points out some limitations of these models. It also considers the more general philosophical issues raised by their use, as they permit to discard the dualistic approach, which pits society against the individual. Finally it allows us to resume the theme of the first volume of this series on the explanatory power of models, offering a means of combining causal explanation and systemic explanation. This book is of interest to a broad audience of social scientists, statisticaians and philosphers concerned with new issues raised by the multilevel approach, and more generally with explanation in the social sciences.