Test one chapters 1-3 Flashcards
interstate war
large scale organized violence between the armed forces of states
normative theory
deals with how things ought to be, they deal with ethics and morals and value judgements, they are concerned with questions about what is right and what is wrong, what behaviours are morally acceptable or unacceptable
empirical theory
also known as causal theories, deals not with how things ought to be but how things are, they are concerned what causes certain behaviors and outcomes. The goal of empirical theory is the explanation of behavior- in this case war. scientific method is important here
induction (as opposed to deduction)
-both are used in reality
induction: the analyst constructs the theory on the basis of observation of the facts or data, working from the specific to the general, as the investigator learns more about specific wars, as hypotheses are tested, theories are constructed and refined
deduction (as opposed to induction)
-both are used in reality
the theory is constructed on the basis of logical reasoning, usually prior to the investigation of the relevant facts, like producing a theory about war from a more general theory about international relations
concepts
terms or words that indicate general classes of things or ideas
operational definitions
for purposes of research terms must be given operational definitions; they must be defined in terms of something that is directly observable and measurable; hard to do for concepts like democracy or hegermony
operational definition of interstate war
a conflict involving at least one member of the interstate system on each side and in which the battle-connected deaths of all combatants together surpass 1000. this is standard operational definition of interstate war
variables
things that vary, concepts that can take different values, the major goal of theory is to explain variation, without variation there would be nothing to explain
independent variable
an independent variable is exactly what it sounds like, it is a variable that stands alone and inst changed by the other variables you are trying to measure; like age would be an independent variable when other factors like how and what you eat can be changed; when you are looking for some kind of relationship between variables you are trying to see if the independent variable causes some kind of change in the other variables, or dependent variables
dependent variable
something that depends on factors, when looking for a relationship between two things you are looking for what changes the dependent variable the way it does
hypotheses
these are unproven propositions; they are essentially guesses about the causal relationships between and among certain variables particular outcomes or behavior
process tracing
qualitative method of investigation; in this method cases of war are examined with a focus on variables or factors that the theoretical or empirical literature has identified as important; the research is at once historical, conceptual, and theoretical; results in a detailed, fine-grained analysis of how particular wars occur; they are atempting to identify and examin the causal chains that produce war and then compare the similarities and differences across the cases examined
necessary vs sufficient
a researcher looking for the causes of war is searching for both necessary conditions for war and sufficient conditions for war
Necessary conditions for war: means that without the presence of these conditions wars will not take place (not to say that these conditions will necessarily mean war)
Sufficient conditions for war: conditions that ensures an outcome, that means that if this condition exists, war will take place, wether other conditions are present or not
law or generalization
if a hypothesis is confirmed repeatedly by different observers using different tests, then it achieves the status of a law or generalization; laws only state that there is a relationship between two variables they do not explain why (that’s what theories do )
middle-range theory
tries to explain something in a small range not large range, most theories of war are middle range theories and they address a limited range of behaviors at a single level of analysis with as few variables as possible
levels of analysis
causes of war are said to exist at several levels of analysis:
the individual level- the basic contention is wars are due to the nature of humans or specific nature of an individual leaders who take the state to war
substate small group level- the argument is that individuals are rarely responsible for decisions to go to war and that these decisions are made of small groups of officials within gov
state level- the premise is that there is something about the nature of the state itself
dyadic interaction level- focus not on nature of states but on the (a) the nature of pairs of states, that is, the mutual or shared characteristics and (b) the interaction between these pairs of states, the focus being on patterns of interaction that escalate quickly in intensity and lead to war
international system level- war is product of some part of the system itself (balance of power, hierarchy, exc..)
What is Cashman’s primary theme or thesis?
he is addressing the primary causes of interstate war by using empirical theory. He will do so by assessing the causes of war at several different levels of analysis and use of middle range theories to assess each cause at each level of analysis
How do we evaluate good theories?
good theories: have well-defined concepts that can be operationalized, are clear and precise, are simple or parsimonious- they explain phenomena with as few variables as possible but not oversimplified, should be plausible, must be logically consistent, must be testable and verifiable, need good empirical evidence, usually explain anomalies, the more general the better wider range explains more than other theories, build bridges to other theories and link other theories from different levels of analysis
what are the steps associated with the scientific method ?
step one: the formulation of empirical definitions for concepts: make operational definitions for important concepts
step two: construction of hypothesis: “if…then”
step three: gathering data
step four: testing the hypothesis: must be rigorous, try to disprove a hypothesis-can never prove a hypothesis, look for statistical significance and other tests
if confirmed repeatedly by different people different tests then it achieves status of a law or generalization
what indicators would Cashman include in a measure of national strength? what problems would you find with these measurements?
geographic size,population size, technological development, military strength, political stability
what warnings does Cashman provide concerning the empirical examination of a phenomenon such as interstate war? can you provide other caveats
- multivariate explanations or war are likely to be much more powerful, politics are complex and a single cause is not likely to be found so look for multiple variables
- statistical correlations between independent and dependent variables do not automatically mean a causal relationship has been established
- difference between sufficient conditions for war and necessity conditions for war
