Several students from Family Studies have been approaching the reference desk looking for information on theories of explanation, specifically to look at what an explanation is from various philosophical standpoints, like positivsim, for example.
Patrick suggested using the Philosopher’s Index where there are many articles related to this topic. Search for theories/theory of explanation.
There is also a good overview article online via the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
(http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/explanat.htm) that includes a short bibliography.
This article also mentions The Scientific Image by Bas van Fraassen which we have in Koerner at Q175 .V335 1980, which some students might want to check out.
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Thanks for posting these tips! I also found a good overview chapter Explanation: Conceptions in the Social Sciences in one of my favorite resources, the International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral Sciences online. (We also have this Encyclopedia in print at KRNR Ref H41 .I58 2001). You may also want to check out the entry in the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy in Koerner Ref at B51 .R68 1998.