Anna Alexandrova
Biographic Data
| ID | 321788 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Anna Alexandrova |
| GIVEN NAMES | Anna |
| FAMILY NAME | Alexandrova |
| SIGNATURE | ALEXANDROVA A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Cambridge |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3226-6044 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 178 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 21 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Why do we argue about the specialness of the social sciences
Measurement requires compromises
We examine considerations that enter into design and evaluation of measures in social science, categorizing them into four drivers: epistemic, ethical, pragmatic, and metrological. We call them drivers to highlight their role in guiding researchers' decisions without determining them. Through an analysis of the World Inequality Report 2022, we reveal tensions among these drivers, illustrating the complex interplay between the various demands a me…
Coproducing Wellbeing Policy
We describe a replicable process for coproducing a theory of ‘thriving’, or more broadly ‘wellbeing’, in partnership with stakeholders to inform an area of policy. Coproduction promotes effectiveness, practicality, and legitimacy of wellbeing policies by combining insights from people with lived experience of that policy, the practitioners who implement it, and technical experts with relevant area specific knowledge. We illustrate our methodology…
Annual All-Russian Scientific Conference of Center for Chinese Economy and Social Studies Icca RAS «Modernization of the PRC Economy in the Light of the Decisions of the Twentieth CPC Congress»
Values in Psychometrics
When it originated in the late 19th century, psychometrics was a field with both a scientific and a social mission: Psychometrics provided new methods for research into individual differences and at the same time considered these methods a means of creating a new social order. In contrast, contemporary psychometrics—because of its highly technical nature and its limited involvement in substantive psychological research—has created the impression …
Respecting the subject in wellbeing public policy
We compare and evaluate two competing paradigms in the ‘wellbeing public policy’ (WPP) space with the intention of promoting interdisciplinary dialogue. We argue that most WPP proposals adopt the same ‘social planner perspective’ (SPP) that undergirds conventional economic policy analysis. The SPP is broadly technocratic, emphasising scientific standards for what constitutes good policy and empowering ‘dispassionate’ experts. We argue that WPP co…
Well-Being and Pluralism
It is a commonly expressed sentiment that the science and philosophy of well-being would do well to learn from each other. Typically such calls identify mistakes and bad practices on both sides that would be remedied if scientists picked the right bit of philosophy and philosophers picked the right bit of science. We argue that the differences between philosophers and scientists thinking about well-being are more difficult to reconcile than such …
Management of Overtourism Problems in Small Historical Towns. Case of Suzdal, Russia
Active tourism development in Suzdal – world-famous town-museum and UNESCO Heritage site in Vladimir region, Russia – forms the growing pressure on its heritage and the local community. The tourist flows, extremely uneven both in time and space, cause overcrowding and substantial discontent of the local residents. The research discusses the ways of managing overtourism problems through the long-term engagement with the local community using diver…
Happiness economics as technocracy
Happiness economics as advocated by Frijters et al. makes three assumptions: that policy should be based on facts about the net effect of a factor on happiness; that wellbeing policy should be technocratic and centralized; and that the only credible objections come from critics who do not value happiness. We argue that all three should be rejected and that the science and policy of wellbeing should instead be pluralistic, context-sensitive and pa…
The Role and Limits of Principles in AI Ethics
The last few years have seen a proliferation of principles for AI ethics. There is substantial overlap between different sets of principles, with widespread agreement that AI should be used for the common good, should not be used to harm people or undermine their rights, and should respect widely held values such as fairness, privacy, and autonomy. While articulating and agreeing on principles is important, it is only a starting point. Drawing on…
The Impact of 2014 Olympic Games on Sochi Tourism Life Cycle
Sochi is a unique destination. The combination of the Caucasus and the Black Sea gives the opportunity to develop winter recreation in the mountains and summer activities in the coastal zone in parallel. Sochi evolved as a spa resort in the beginning of the 1900s and gained its specialization as a health resort for mass tourism in the 1930s. Consolidation and saturation stages took place in the 1970-80s on the rise of domestic tourism when Sochi …
Can the Science of Well-Being Be Objective
Well–being, health and freedom are some of the many phenomena of interest to science whose definitions rely on a normative standard. Empirical generalizations about them thus present a special case of value-ladenness. I propose the notion of a ‘mixed claim’ to denote such generalizations. Against the prevailing wisdom, I argue that we should not seek to eliminate them from science. Rather, we need to develop principles for their legitimate use. P…
A Philosophy for the Science of Well-Being
Well-being, happiness, and quality of life are now established objects of social and medical research. Does this science produce knowledge that is properly about well-being? What sort of well-being? The definition and measurement of these objects rest on assumptions that are partly normative, partly empirical, and partly pragmatic, producing a great diversity of definitions depending on the project and the discipline. This book, written from the …
Is Construct Validation Valid
What makes a measure of well-being valid? The dominant approach today, construct validation, uses psychometrics to ensure that questionnaires behave in accordance with background knowledge. Our first claim is interpretive—construct validation obeys a coherentist logic that seeks to balance diverse sources of evidence about the construct in question. Our second claim is critical—while in theory this logic is defensible, in practice it does not sec…
Well-being and Philosophy of Science
This article is a mutual introduction of the science of well-being to philosophy of science and an explanation of how the two disciplines can benefit each other. In the process, I argue that the science of well-being is not helpfully viewed as a social or a natural, but rather as a mixed, science. Hence, its methodology will have to attend to its specific features. I discuss two of its methodological problems: justifying the role of values, and v…
Toward a Theory of Child Well-Being
Well-Being as an Object of Science
The burgeoning science of well-being makes no secret of being value laden: improvement of well-being is its explicit goal. But in order to achieve this goal its concepts and claims need to be value adequate; that is, they need, among other things, to adequately capture well-being. In this article I consider two ways of securing this adequacy—first, by relying on philosophical theory of prudential value and, second, by the psychometric approach. I…
When Analytic Narratives Explain
Rational choice modeling originating in economics is sweeping across many areas of social science. This paper examines a popular methodological proposal for integrating formal models from game theory with more traditional narrative explanations of historical phenomena, known as "analytic narratives". Under what conditions are we justified in thinking that an analytic narrative provides a good explanation? In this paper I criticize the existing cr…
Making Models Count
What sort of claims do scientific models make and how do these claims then underwrite empirical successes such as explanations and reliable policy interventions? In this paper I propose answers to these questions for the class of models used throughout the social and biological sciences, namely idealized deductive ones with a causal interpretation. I argue that the two main existing accounts misrepresent how these models are actually used, and pr…
Connecting Economic Models to the Real World
Can social phenomena be understood by analyzing their parts? Contemporary economic theory often assumes that they can. The methodology of constructing models which trace the behavior of perfectly rational agents in idealized environments rests on the premise that such models, while restricted, help us isolate tendencies, that is, the stable separate effects of economic causes that can be used to explain and predict economic phenomena. In this pap…
Probabilistic Causality, Selection Bias, and the Logic of the Democratic Peace
Rosato (2003) claims to have discredited democratic peace theories. However, the methodological approach adopted by the study cannot reliably generate the conclusions espoused by the author. Rosato seems to misunderstand the probabilistic nature of most arguments about democratic peace and ignores issues that an appropriate research design should account for. Further, the study's use of case studies and data sets without attention to selection-bi…
A Philosophy for the Science of Well-Being
Well-being, happiness, and quality of life are now established objects of social and medical research. Does this science produce knowledge that is properly about well-being? What sort of well-being? The definition and measurement of these objects rest on assumptions that are partly normative, partly empirical, and partly pragmatic, producing a great diversity of definitions depending on the project and the discipline. This book, written from the …
Can the Science of Well-Being Be Objective
Well–being, health and freedom are some of the many phenomena of interest to science whose definitions rely on a normative standard. Empirical generalizations about them thus present a special case of value-ladenness. I propose the notion of a ‘mixed claim’ to denote such generalizations. Against the prevailing wisdom, I argue that we should not seek to eliminate them from science. Rather, we need to develop principles for their legitimate use. P…
Toward a Theory of Child Well-Being
Making Models Count
What sort of claims do scientific models make and how do these claims then underwrite empirical successes such as explanations and reliable policy interventions? In this paper I propose answers to these questions for the class of models used throughout the social and biological sciences, namely idealized deductive ones with a causal interpretation. I argue that the two main existing accounts misrepresent how these models are actually used, and pr…
Probabilistic Causality, Selection Bias, and the Logic of the Democratic Peace
Rosato (2003) claims to have discredited democratic peace theories. However, the methodological approach adopted by the study cannot reliably generate the conclusions espoused by the author. Rosato seems to misunderstand the probabilistic nature of most arguments about democratic peace and ignores issues that an appropriate research design should account for. Further, the study's use of case studies and data sets without attention to selection-bi…
Is Construct Validation Valid
What makes a measure of well-being valid? The dominant approach today, construct validation, uses psychometrics to ensure that questionnaires behave in accordance with background knowledge. Our first claim is interpretive—construct validation obeys a coherentist logic that seeks to balance diverse sources of evidence about the construct in question. Our second claim is critical—while in theory this logic is defensible, in practice it does not sec…
When Analytic Narratives Explain
Rational choice modeling originating in economics is sweeping across many areas of social science. This paper examines a popular methodological proposal for integrating formal models from game theory with more traditional narrative explanations of historical phenomena, known as "analytic narratives". Under what conditions are we justified in thinking that an analytic narrative provides a good explanation? In this paper I criticize the existing cr…
Well-Being as an Object of Science
The burgeoning science of well-being makes no secret of being value laden: improvement of well-being is its explicit goal. But in order to achieve this goal its concepts and claims need to be value adequate; that is, they need, among other things, to adequately capture well-being. In this article I consider two ways of securing this adequacy—first, by relying on philosophical theory of prudential value and, second, by the psychometric approach. I…
Connecting Economic Models to the Real World
Can social phenomena be understood by analyzing their parts? Contemporary economic theory often assumes that they can. The methodology of constructing models which trace the behavior of perfectly rational agents in idealized environments rests on the premise that such models, while restricted, help us isolate tendencies, that is, the stable separate effects of economic causes that can be used to explain and predict economic phenomena. In this pap…
Well-being and Philosophy of Science
This article is a mutual introduction of the science of well-being to philosophy of science and an explanation of how the two disciplines can benefit each other. In the process, I argue that the science of well-being is not helpfully viewed as a social or a natural, but rather as a mixed, science. Hence, its methodology will have to attend to its specific features. I discuss two of its methodological problems: justifying the role of values, and v…
Respecting the subject in wellbeing public policy
We compare and evaluate two competing paradigms in the ‘wellbeing public policy’ (WPP) space with the intention of promoting interdisciplinary dialogue. We argue that most WPP proposals adopt the same ‘social planner perspective’ (SPP) that undergirds conventional economic policy analysis. The SPP is broadly technocratic, emphasising scientific standards for what constitutes good policy and empowering ‘dispassionate’ experts. We argue that WPP co…
Probabilistic Causality, Selection Bias, and the Logic of the Democratic Peace
Rosato (2003) claims to have discredited democratic peace theories. However, the methodological approach adopted by the study cannot reliably generate the conclusions espoused by the author. Rosato seems to misunderstand the probabilistic nature of most arguments about democratic peace and ignores issues that an appropriate research design should account for. Further, the study's use of case studies and data sets without attention to selection-bi…
Connecting Economic Models to the Real World
Can social phenomena be understood by analyzing their parts? Contemporary economic theory often assumes that they can. The methodology of constructing models which trace the behavior of perfectly rational agents in idealized environments rests on the premise that such models, while restricted, help us isolate tendencies, that is, the stable separate effects of economic causes that can be used to explain and predict economic phenomena. In this pap…
Making Models Count
What sort of claims do scientific models make and how do these claims then underwrite empirical successes such as explanations and reliable policy interventions? In this paper I propose answers to these questions for the class of models used throughout the social and biological sciences, namely idealized deductive ones with a causal interpretation. I argue that the two main existing accounts misrepresent how these models are actually used, and pr…
When Analytic Narratives Explain
Rational choice modeling originating in economics is sweeping across many areas of social science. This paper examines a popular methodological proposal for integrating formal models from game theory with more traditional narrative explanations of historical phenomena, known as "analytic narratives". Under what conditions are we justified in thinking that an analytic narrative provides a good explanation? In this paper I criticize the existing cr…
Well-Being as an Object of Science
The burgeoning science of well-being makes no secret of being value laden: improvement of well-being is its explicit goal. But in order to achieve this goal its concepts and claims need to be value adequate; that is, they need, among other things, to adequately capture well-being. In this article I consider two ways of securing this adequacy—first, by relying on philosophical theory of prudential value and, second, by the psychometric approach. I…
Well-being and Philosophy of Science
This article is a mutual introduction of the science of well-being to philosophy of science and an explanation of how the two disciplines can benefit each other. In the process, I argue that the science of well-being is not helpfully viewed as a social or a natural, but rather as a mixed, science. Hence, its methodology will have to attend to its specific features. I discuss two of its methodological problems: justifying the role of values, and v…
Toward a Theory of Child Well-Being
Is Construct Validation Valid
What makes a measure of well-being valid? The dominant approach today, construct validation, uses psychometrics to ensure that questionnaires behave in accordance with background knowledge. Our first claim is interpretive—construct validation obeys a coherentist logic that seeks to balance diverse sources of evidence about the construct in question. Our second claim is critical—while in theory this logic is defensible, in practice it does not sec…
A Philosophy for the Science of Well-Being
Well-being, happiness, and quality of life are now established objects of social and medical research. Does this science produce knowledge that is properly about well-being? What sort of well-being? The definition and measurement of these objects rest on assumptions that are partly normative, partly empirical, and partly pragmatic, producing a great diversity of definitions depending on the project and the discipline. This book, written from the …
Can the Science of Well-Being Be Objective
Well–being, health and freedom are some of the many phenomena of interest to science whose definitions rely on a normative standard. Empirical generalizations about them thus present a special case of value-ladenness. I propose the notion of a ‘mixed claim’ to denote such generalizations. Against the prevailing wisdom, I argue that we should not seek to eliminate them from science. Rather, we need to develop principles for their legitimate use. P…
The Role and Limits of Principles in AI Ethics
The last few years have seen a proliferation of principles for AI ethics. There is substantial overlap between different sets of principles, with widespread agreement that AI should be used for the common good, should not be used to harm people or undermine their rights, and should respect widely held values such as fairness, privacy, and autonomy. While articulating and agreeing on principles is important, it is only a starting point. Drawing on…
The Impact of 2014 Olympic Games on Sochi Tourism Life Cycle
Sochi is a unique destination. The combination of the Caucasus and the Black Sea gives the opportunity to develop winter recreation in the mountains and summer activities in the coastal zone in parallel. Sochi evolved as a spa resort in the beginning of the 1900s and gained its specialization as a health resort for mass tourism in the 1930s. Consolidation and saturation stages took place in the 1970-80s on the rise of domestic tourism when Sochi …
Management of Overtourism Problems in Small Historical Towns. Case of Suzdal, Russia
Active tourism development in Suzdal – world-famous town-museum and UNESCO Heritage site in Vladimir region, Russia – forms the growing pressure on its heritage and the local community. The tourist flows, extremely uneven both in time and space, cause overcrowding and substantial discontent of the local residents. The research discusses the ways of managing overtourism problems through the long-term engagement with the local community using diver…
Happiness economics as technocracy
Happiness economics as advocated by Frijters et al. makes three assumptions: that policy should be based on facts about the net effect of a factor on happiness; that wellbeing policy should be technocratic and centralized; and that the only credible objections come from critics who do not value happiness. We argue that all three should be rejected and that the science and policy of wellbeing should instead be pluralistic, context-sensitive and pa…
Well-Being and Pluralism
It is a commonly expressed sentiment that the science and philosophy of well-being would do well to learn from each other. Typically such calls identify mistakes and bad practices on both sides that would be remedied if scientists picked the right bit of philosophy and philosophers picked the right bit of science. We argue that the differences between philosophers and scientists thinking about well-being are more difficult to reconcile than such …
Values in Psychometrics
When it originated in the late 19th century, psychometrics was a field with both a scientific and a social mission: Psychometrics provided new methods for research into individual differences and at the same time considered these methods a means of creating a new social order. In contrast, contemporary psychometrics—because of its highly technical nature and its limited involvement in substantive psychological research—has created the impression …
Respecting the subject in wellbeing public policy
We compare and evaluate two competing paradigms in the ‘wellbeing public policy’ (WPP) space with the intention of promoting interdisciplinary dialogue. We argue that most WPP proposals adopt the same ‘social planner perspective’ (SPP) that undergirds conventional economic policy analysis. The SPP is broadly technocratic, emphasising scientific standards for what constitutes good policy and empowering ‘dispassionate’ experts. We argue that WPP co…
Coproducing Wellbeing Policy
We describe a replicable process for coproducing a theory of ‘thriving’, or more broadly ‘wellbeing’, in partnership with stakeholders to inform an area of policy. Coproduction promotes effectiveness, practicality, and legitimacy of wellbeing policies by combining insights from people with lived experience of that policy, the practitioners who implement it, and technical experts with relevant area specific knowledge. We illustrate our methodology…
Annual All-Russian Scientific Conference of Center for Chinese Economy and Social Studies Icca RAS «Modernization of the PRC Economy in the Light of the Decisions of the Twentieth CPC Congress»
Measurement requires compromises
We examine considerations that enter into design and evaluation of measures in social science, categorizing them into four drivers: epistemic, ethical, pragmatic, and metrological. We call them drivers to highlight their role in guiding researchers' decisions without determining them. Through an analysis of the World Inequality Report 2022, we reveal tensions among these drivers, illustrating the complex interplay between the various demands a me…
Why do we argue about the specialness of the social sciences
Epistemology (11 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Computer Science (10 works) · Economics (10 works) · Philosophy (10 works) · Political science (8 works) · Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction (8 works) · Law (6 works) · Psychology (6 works) · Positive economics (5 works)