John Gerring's exceptional textbook has been thoroughly revised in this second edition. It offers a one-volume introduction to social science methodology relevant to the disciplines of anthropology, economics, history, political science, psychology and sociology. This new edition has been extensively developed with the introduction of new material and a thorough treatment of essential elements such as conceptualization, measurement, causality and research design. It is written for students, long-time practitioners and methodologists and covers both qualitative and quantitative methods. It synthesizes the vast and diverse field of methodology in a way that is clear, concise and comprehensive. While offering a handy overview of the subject, the book is also an argument about how we should conceptualize methodological problems. Thinking about methodology through this lens provides a new framework for understanding work in the social sciences.

Social Science Methodology: A Unified Framework

This article proposes a ‘min-max’ strategy of definition applicable to all concepts intended for general usage within some language region. The min-max strategy relies on the conjoined use of minimal and ideal-type definitions. A minimal definition identifies the bare essentials of a concept with traits sufficient to bind it extensionally while maintaining all non-idiosyncratic meanings associated with it. An ideal-type definition includes all attributes that together define the concept in its purest, most ‘ideal’ form. Minimal definitions are minimal in their attributes but maximal in their phenomenal range, while ideal-type definitions are maximal in their attributes but minimal in their phenomenal range. This min-max strategy serves to bind a concept in semantic and referential space, providing the most satisfactory general definition for that concept. We illustrate this strategy with the keyword ‘culture’. We identify the minimal and maximal definitions of ‘culture’, within which all definitions devel...

Putting Ordinary Language to Work A Min-Max Strategy of Concept Formation in the Social Sciences

In this article, we argue that recent technological developments have made Eveland's (2003) “mix-of-attributes” (MOAs) framework particularly useful for theorizing about effects of today's “digital” media We use an example of political user-generated content (UGC) to illustrate the framework's usefulness We focus on 5 core attributes of UGC, which are important for understanding its nature and effects: search efficiency, customization, manipulability, cost reduction, and community orientation This study advances communication theory by (a) illustrating how MOA approach can be applied to explicate an online media form through its attributes; (b) elaborating on the frequently studied, but never thoroughly examined, phenomenon of political UGC; and (c) explicating 5 novel technological attributes useful for examining effects of UGC and other media







Les effets des medias dans une ere de transformations technologiques rapides : un cas de contenu genere par l’utilisateur et la participation politique



Dans cet article, nous soumettons que de recents developpements technologiques ont rendu le cadre « melange d’attributs » (mix-of-attributes, MOA) d’Eveland (2003) particulierement utile pour theoriser les effets des medias « numeriques » d’aujourd’hui Nous prenons un exemple de contenu genere par l’utilisateur (CGU) de nature politique pour illustrer l’utilite du cadreNous insistons sur cinq attributs centraux du CGU qui sont importants pour en comprendre la nature et les effets : l’efficacite de la recherche, la personnalisation, la souplesse du systeme, la reduction des couts et l’orientation communautaireCette etude fait avancer les theories de la communication (1) en illustrant comment une approche MOA peut etre appliquee a l’analyse d’une forme mediatique en ligne par ses attributs, (2) en elaborant sur le phenomene souvent etudie mais jamais minutieusement examine du CGU de nature politique, et (3) en developpant cinq nouveaux attributs technologiques qui sont utiles pour examiner les effets du CGU et d’autres medias



Mots cles : communication et technologie, methodes de recherche en communication, communication politique, traitement de l’information, effets mediatiques, philosphie de la science sociale



Medienwirkungen in einer Zeit rasanter technologischer Veranderungen: Das Beispiel nutzergenerierter Inhalt und politische Partizipation



In diesem Artikel argumentieren wir, dass der ,,Mix of Attributes-Ansatz“von Eveland (2003) vor dem Hintergrund aktueller technologischer Entwicklungen sinnvoll anwendbar ist, um theoretische Uberlegungen zu den Wirkungen heutiger ,,digitaler“ Medien anzustellen Am Beispiel politischer nutzergenerierter Inhalte, illustrieren wir die Anwendbarkeit des Ansatzes Dabei fokussieren wir auf vier Kernattribute von nutzergenerierten Inhalten, die wesentlich zum Verstandnis von Eigenschaften und Wirkungen beitragen: Sucheffizienz, Anpassung, Systemresponsivitat, Kostenreduktion und Orientierung an der Gemeinschaft Diese Studie erweitert damit Kommunikationstheorie, indem erstens aufgezeigt wird, wie dieser Ansatz angewendet werden kann, um eine Onlinemedienart durch ihre Eigenschaften zu explizieren Zweitens erfolgt eine intensive Auseinandersetzung mit dem haufig thematisierten, aber niemals wirklich untersuchten Phanomen der politischen nutzergenerierten Inhalte und drittens werden funf Attribute neuer Technologien expliziert, die fur die Untersuchung von Wirkungen von nutzergenerierten Inhalten und anderen Medien nutzlich sind



Schlusselbegriffe: Kommunikation und Technologie, Kommunikationsforschungsmethoden, politische Kommunikation, Informationsverarbeitung, Medienwirkungen, Philosophie der Sozialwissenschaften







Los Efectos de los Medios en una Era de Rapida Transformacion Tecnologica: Un Caso del Contenido y la Participacion Politica Generado por el Usuario



Resumen: En este articulo arguimos que los desarrollos tecnologicos recientes han hecho al marco de la “mezcla de atributos” de Eveland’s (2003) (MOA) particularmente util para teorizar acerca de los efectos de los medios “digitales” de hoy Usamos un ejemplo de contenido politico generado por el usuario (UGC) para ilustrar la utilidad del marco Nos enfocamos en cinco atributos centrales del UGC, los cuales son importantes para entender su naturaleza y sus efectos: La busqueda de la eficiencia, la personalizacion, el sistema de receptividad, la reduccion del costo, y la orientacion de la comunidad Este estudio avanza la teoria de la comunicacion (1) ilustrando como el marco MOA puede ser aplicado para explicar una forma de medios online a traves de sus atributos; (2) elaborando en los frecuentemente estudiados, pero nunca examinados en profundidad, fenomenos de las politicas de los UGC; y (3) explicando cinco atributos noveles tecnologicos utiles para examinar los efectos de los UGC y otros medios



Palabras Claves:Comunicacion y Tecnologia, Metodos de Investigacion de la Comunicacion, Comunicacion Politica, Procesamiento de la Informacion, Efectos de los Medios, Filosofia de la Ciencia Social

Media Effects in an Era of Rapid Technological Transformation: A Case of User‐Generated Content and Political Participation

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The dissolution process of a business relationship : a case study from tailored software business

Using Weick’s notion of environmental enactment as a sensitizing concept, this study explores how principals enact and structure the internal and external environment of the school. By examining what in the environment captures the attention of principals and why, an incipient theory of the environmental attention-structure is offered. The critical-incident technique, a grounded approach to theory building, generated 77 incidents of prolonged interaction with the environment among 18 principals. Findings suggest that the environmental attention-structure of the principals is driven by concerns for the potential accumulation and loss of legitimacy capital. Principals describe their cognitive processes for deliberating, weighing, and assessing the environmental entities and events in terms of gains or losses of legitimacy. Public choice theory, a variant of political economy theory, provides a useful lens for making sense of these processes.

Principals and the Political Economy of Environmental Enactment

CONCEPTS Many concepts in sociology cannot be evaluated on this basis, however, because they do not operate within the context of a formal theory, be it a theory sketch or an explicit theory. For those of us concerned not only with evaluation, but also with theory construction, the question is whether or not there is any basis for giving special attention to some of these isolated concepts in sociology. Before attempting to answer this question, it might prove fruitful to review critically the present state of such concepts, which we shall label isolated abstract concepts. The most characteristic feature of such concepts is that they tend to be ambiguous. . . . the use of empirically meaningless terms makes it impossible even roughly to indicate the type of investigation that would have a bearing upon those formulations and that might lead to evidence either confirming or infirming the suggested explanations." Ibid., pp. 465-466. For a recent discussion of what might be entailed in "filling out" an explanation sketch, see Fred Newman, "Discussion: Explanation Sketches," Philosophy of Science, 32 (1965), pp. 168-172. 14 There are several scientifically acceptable theory sketches in sociology, as distinguished from pseudo-theory sketches. Homans' theory of elementary social behavior and Gibbs and Martin's theory of status integration are representative examples. George Homans, Social behavior: Its Elementary Forms, New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1961; and Jack P. Gibbs and Walter T. Martin, Status Integration and Suicide: A Sociological Study, Eugene: University of Oregon Books, 1964. The most important feature of scientifically acceptable theory sketches is that their propositions are, in principle, testable. Their major weakness lies in the imprecision of definitions and empirical indicators. For example, in Homans theory of elementary social behavior, the value of a unit is vaguely defined as the degree of reinforcement or punishment one receives from that unit. Moreover, Homans states that value is measured by studying the past history of an individual in relation to his present circumstances. Such a measure takes account of the two components of value: amount of past reward and present need. Homans readily admits that these components are not very precise, and that the propositions in which the term functions are necessarily imprecise. 15 For an example of this weakness with reference to Gibbs and Martin's theory sketch of status integration (cited in footnote 14), see Robert Hagedorn and Sanford Labovitz, "A Note on Status Integration and Suicide," Social Problems, 14 (1966), pp. 79-84. Commenting on the theory of status integration, Hagedorn and Labovitz have stated: "A major problem with the theory is the lack of congruence between the theoretical conception of status integration and its operational measurement. As indicated by examples cited, actual occupancy of a status configuration (which is the empirical referent of status integration) does not always reflect incompatibility or role conflict." P. 84. An interesting exchange on other methodological issues concerning the theory of status integration and suicide was provided by William J. Chambliss and Marion F. Steel, "Status Integration and Suicide: An Assessment," American Sociological Review, 31 (1966), pp. 524-532; and Jack P. Gibbs and Walter T. Martin, "On Assessing the Theory of Status Integration and Suicide," Ibid., pp. 533-641. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.243 on Thu, 06 Oct 2016 04:44:34 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms CONCEPT FORMATION, EXPLICATION AND THEORY 989

https://www.jstor.org/stable/info/2092850

Richard G. Dumont

Papers

Aspects of concept formation, explication, and theory construction in sociology

Rules of Correspondence and Sociological Concepts