Rational choice theory and quantitative analysis - A comment on Goldthorpe's sociological alliance

There is a growing interest in empirical applications of rational choice theory in contemporary European Sociology. One major proponent for an explicit link between rational choice theory and large scale data analysis is John Goldthorpe. This is a critical comment on Goldthorpe's (1996a) programmatic article in the European Sociological Review, "The Quantitative Analysis of Large-Scale Data-Sets and Rational Action Theory: For a Sociological Alliance". It is argued that the link is treated in an unproblematic and oversimplified way in that article. His claim that quantitative data analysis need rational choice theory is an overstatement, rather, it is argued, rational choice theory might sometimes be used in explanations of statistical regularities. The claim that rational choice theory needs quantitative data is rejected for being based on a dubious understanding of rational choice theory.