trndrncy IO mull over the fleeting feelings of the fringe of conscwusne~s which tell one that one

has a problem. or the germ of a creative idea. and make it fully explicit. the ~mdsnc~ to initiatr

action. monitor the effects of that action in order to find ways of improving one’s performance.

the ability IO tolerate the anxieties which swell up when one is adventuring into IL new area. and

the abdity to gain the help of others to achieve the goal.

At this point Raven is explicating a common-sense. yet disciplined. psychological form which could have enormous potential for the devel- opment of our values and competences. He is pointing out that we experience and formulate our problems - presumably when our values are negated. we imagine a solution to the problem, act on this imagined solution, evaluate the outcomes of our actions and modify our prob- lems. ideas and actions in the light of our evaluations. However. instead of building an economic psychology on this insight he suggests that we describe and explain the actions of individuals in the form of a chemical equation:

the reason for this is that chzngvs in the environment will not necessarily prduce a ~l(~n~~t~lni~

increease or riecrcrse in particular hchwiours. but. quite rommnnly. tnnsktrmation of the

individual and his behaviour - in exactly the same way ;1s happens in chemistry.

Whether or not we accept Raven’s economic psychology we have a pcrsnnat and so&f responsibility to think through questions of the kind. ‘Ilow can I/WC help to improve the quality of life in society?‘. Rnvcn acknowledges that onr: of the big problems rcvcalcd in this work was the urgent need for ~n~tivid~t~lts to move to questions which in- volvcd their own ‘I‘. We couicl use Raven’s insights to gain confidence in moving townrds a ntore pilftiCip;llOry kind of democracy in which our practical questions arc directed at improving the quality of life in our society. The issues raised by Raven in this important text un-

doubtedly Jemand and deserve our response.

W. Mart and Baldev Raj (eds.). Ifort* ewttottti.s~.r rspluitt. University Press of America. tanham, MD/London, pp. 401, f19.75 paper. f35.90 hardb:iok.

This is a book of readings in methodology. The volume is sub-divided into nine parts comprising eighteen readings in all. The sections deal with the scientific nature of economics. the ‘positive’ versus ‘normative’ debate. a discussion of the importance of ‘predictionism’. the role of empiricism. verification of theories, policy making and model building,

pattern modelling and holism. and a concluding section.on what is right and wrong with economics. The key authors are well chosen and indeed are the ones you would expect from Fritz Machlup. to Boland. Simon and Leontief.

The editors have structured the book as seminar material for a methodology course and in this it would indeed be useful. The section on predictionism discusses Friedman’s seminal paper and certainly helps the attentive reader develop a more thoughtful and informed appraisal of Friedman’s point of view rather than the glib dismissal of the positivist and predictionist position common among social scientists other than main-stream economists. Perhaps the most interesting sec- tion for economic psychologists deals with pattern modclling. story telling, holism and behavioural rcquiremcnts. Wilhcr and Harrison outline the position of institutional economists. and do so kvith a considcrnble dcgrcc of clarity given the difficulty of the subject matter. advocating the dcvclopment of cast studies and participant ohscrvation and the roIe of institutional economics in the dcvelopmcnt of ;I more holistic. intcgratcti and hroaclcr based rcscarch effort.

‘I’hc readings also hcg the question as to the appropriate nicthod- ological approach of ccononiic psychology. Is it to follow (tic road of an al I enveloping empiricism at ttic cxps~isc ol' ;I cohcrcnt theory ;IS

cliscusscd by Rotwcin ? Or is its way forward more in lint with institu- tional economics?

There are points of criticism of this anthology. First, perhaps the editors could have done a little more in their introductions to the sections offering an integrated appraisal and some interpretations of their own (witnessed in the book of readings edited by Caldwell (1084)). Second, there is a good deal of repetition of points made in the various

papers which is frustrating for the reader starting at the beginning of the volume and working through (although it is to be admitted that most readers would be more selective than this). The collection is an expensive but worthwhile library purchase (it is surely beyond the means of students) and a boon to informed debate.

Alan Lewis Huntunities & Sociul Sciences

University- of 3~3th

Clurerton Dorrw

Bath. Acon BA2 7A Y

u. K.

Reference

Calhvell. B. (cd.). lYR4. Appraisal & criticism in economics. Bwton. MA: Allen & Unwin.

ILf ichael Rose. lit-worh-in,q the rsork ethic. Batsford Academic and Educational. London, 1985. pp. 160, f5.95.

T’his hook is the third in the well-known ‘Work and Society in the liightics’ scrims and is authored by the series editor. Michael Kosc starts from the notion made topical by the Rritish I’rcmier (Mrs. M. Thatcher. at the time of writing) that in Victorian times a different ethic prcvailcd than now: the Work Ethic. Rose is intcrostcd, because hc is looking for what it is that makes people work the way they do in different circumstances and what it is that makes sonic things, but not others, appear to be work. Discerning a change in the value of work will lead him. hc hopes, to approach its inner nature and dctcrmining charactcr- istics. We owe a debt to the author for the seriousness with which he approaches this issue. He is not blinkered by the obvious, namely that there is a distinction between work values. attitudes and behaviour, between competence, c *IS it were, and performance. Nor is he blinded by the fact that work is a cross-product of coercion and reward within a context of resources provided by others. For him work values, attitudes and behaviour are themselves all subject to a psychological factor, the economic values acquired and applied by the individu~~l, as revealed in discretionary effort and effort evasion.