Abstract

VERA, Héctor. The Quantitative Assessment of Academic Work: Three Analogies. Sociológica (Méx.) [online]. 2017, vol.32, n.90, pp.277-301. ISSN 2007-8358.

This article first describes how analogies have been used for sociological research and the heuristic functions they can have. Then, the author makes a series of analogies comparing quantitative methods of evaluating academic work with three places in which quantitative methods have been introduced to assess, classify, and manage work and human aptitudes: 1) slave plantations; 2) sabermetrics; and 3) credit ratings. The author makes these comparisons by analogy in order to find relationships of similarity that make it possible to better understand the logic, function, and consequences of quantification processes, regardless of the specific social context in which they are found.

Keywords : analogy; quantification; evaluation.

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