Concepts and theories Flashcards
Conceptual model
How a concept relates to its properties or attributes. Can for example be a table or figure or indicators used to measure a concept.
Theory definition
A set of connected causal laws or hypotheses
What does a theory consist of
- Prime hypothesis; what you want to explain. The X and the Y, how does the variable you’re interested in connect to Y, or what explains Y. More or less the research question.
- One or more explanatory hypotheses. This is your argument. For example X –> q, q –> r, r –> Y. Formulated hypotheses in research paper.
- One or more antecedent conditions; conditions that you use to limit the population you’re making an argument about. Does this theory apply to all cases, or only to for example developing democracies?
Theoretical model
Looks at how one concept relates to another concept that has a causal relationship to it. X affects Y.
Criteria of a good theory
- Parsimony; a theory that explains more with less is considered a better theory.
- Fertility; theories that prompt us to do further research are considered valuable.
- Falsifiable (positivism)
- Generalisable (positivism)
- Contextuality (interpretivism); a theory that works in a certain context is better
Role of theory in positivist paradigm
- Emphasis lies on theory testing (falsification)
- Concept formation and formulation of hypotheses comes first
- Aim: testing causal relationships that hold beyond the studied cases (generalisability)
Role of theory in interpretivist paradigm
- Emphasis lies on thick description and sometimes on theory building
- Concept formation is a constant process; concept may change throughout research process, should be closer to those who experience the phenomenon
- Aim: meaning-making and contextually
What is a concept?
Basic unit of thinking. Building block what we made our theories of.
Needed to communicate, understand and compare research.
What are the problems of non- or ill-defined concepts?
- Bad labelling; label already in use, ambiguous, offensive, etc.
- Too wide/general; concept not meaningful anymore, does not distinguish, remains ambiguous
- Definition to narrow; limits ourselves in what we can talk about
- No clear definition; ambiguity
Where is concept formation situated?
Usually at the beginning. First need to know what something is before you can ask how or why it relates to something else.
Difference in kind and difference in degree concepts
- Difference in kind are either/or concepts (it is either x or not x).
- Difference in degree are more or less concepts (it is more x or less x).
For example democracy; can be either a democracy or not, or more a democracy or less a democracy.
Positive and negative concepts
The presence or absence of a given attribute. Depending on what you study. If you study autocracies that would be a positive concept, democracies would be a negative concept.
Negative concepts are important to assign cases to concepts; always know what you’re comparing and what the negative concept is that you’re thinking of.
Can also fall in between.
Principle of “per genus et differential”
In concept formation. You can compare “apples and pears” because genus = the class of objects it belongs to and differentiam = the particular attribute that makes it different from all other objects in the same class.
Ladder of abstraction
Concepts can be broad and narrow, and depending on this you can cover more or less cases and the concept has more or less attributes.
What does a concept consist of
- Extension = cases to be defined, described, ordered into the concept
- Intension = attributes defining the cases covered attach to a certain concept
- Label = clear name, unambiguous, neutral
