Module 1 unit 2 Flashcards
The term theory comes from the Greek word” “ which means what?
theria and vision
is an idea or notion conceived in the mind and known to be as the **building blocks of a theory
concept
is a concept that have simple, directly observable empirical referents that can be seen, felt, or heard
empirical concept
not clearly observable, directly or indirectly, and must be defined in terms of observable concepts
abstract concept
also known as non-variable concepts, identify categories or classes of characteristics, like gender, ethnic background and marital status
discrete concept
concepts allow classification of dimension or graduation of phenomena on a continuum
continuous concept
composed of various descriptions which **convey a general meaning and reduces the vagueness **in understanding a set of concepts
definition
establishes meaning to a term in the context of a theory and permits any reader to assess the validity of the definition
theoretical definiton
tells **how **the concept is linked to concrete situations, provides measurement and describes a set of procedures that will be performed to assign value for the concept
operational definition
propose relationships between and among two or more concepts.
relational statements
Relational statement
**Statements **of constant relationship between two or more concepts or facts.
proposition
Relational statement
A statement of fact meant to describe an action or a set of actions that is well grounded, with strong empirical support and evidence of empirical regulatory.
laws
Relational statement
Consist of a basic set of statements or propositions that** state the general relationship between concepts**. They are relatively abstract and are not directly observed or measured.
axioms
Relational statement
Summarize empirical evidence and provide some confidence that the same pattern will be repeated in concrete situations in the future under the same conditions.
empirical generalizations
Relational statement
statements that** lack support from empirical research**. It is an educated guess based upon observation.
hypothesis
also known as nonrelational statements that claim the** existence **of phenomena referred to by concepts.
existence statement
describe concepts that occur together which may have positive, negative or neutral association/correlation
Associational or Correlational Statements
explains that one concept is considered to **cause **the occurrence of the second concept (cause and effect relationship)
causal statements
are notations that are taken to be true without proof
assumptions
Theory Development Process
What are the five steps in this process?
Concept development
Statement development
Theory Construction
Testing Theoretical Relationships
Application of theory in practice
Theory Development Process
Specifying, defining and** clarifying the concepts **used to describe a phenomenon of interest.
Concept Development
Theory Development Process
**Formulating **and analyzing statements explaining relationships between concepts, also involves determining empirical referents that can validate them
Statement Development
Theory Devlopment Process
Structuring and contextualizing the components of the theory; includes identifying assumptions and organizing linkages between and among the concepts and statements to form a theoretical structure.
Theory Construction
Theory Development Process
Validating theoretical relationships through empirical testing.
Testing theoretical relationships