Political Science 3324F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Scientific Method, Thesis Statement
22 Jan 2019
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Concept formation is the rst step toward treating phenomena, not as unique and speci c but as instances of a more general class of phenomena. Concepts serve two key functions: tools for data gathering ( data containers , building-blocks of theories. Concept: a universal descriptive word that refers directly or indirectly to competing that is observable. Nominal de nition: describes the properties of the phenomenon that the concept is supposed to represent. Operational de nition: identi es the speci c indicators that will be used to represent the concept empirically: can be and are often multi prompted. Four requirements of nominal de nition: clarity explain with ease, precision when they are left open ended or vague, we leave it to other people to hijack our explanation, non-circular, positive no absence of. Theories: a link between two or more concepts, tie concepts together by stating relationships between them, consist of a set of propositions that are logically related, explain political phenomena.
