How to build social science theories / Pamela J. Shoemaker, James William Tankard, Jr., Dominic L. Lasorsa.

How to build social science theories /

As straightforward as its title, How to Build Social Science Theories sidesteps the well-traveled road of theoretical examination by demonstrating how new theories originate and how they are elaborated. Essential reading for students of social science research, this book traces theories from their m...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shoemaker, Pamela J. (Author), Tankard, James W. (Author), Lasorsa, Dominic L. (Author)
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:English
Published: Thousand Oaks : Sage Publications, [2004]
Subjects:
Sociology > Methodology.
Social sciences > Methodology.
Online Access: Full text (Wentworth users only)
Local Note:ProQuest Ebook Central
Table of Contents:
  • Foreword / Jerald Hage
  • Introduction: The Nature of Science
  • Science
  • Social Science
  • Theoretical Concepts: The Building Blocks of Theory
  • Constructs, Concepts, and Variables
  • Variables Versus Nonvariables
  • Variables Acting as Nonvariables
  • Independent Versus Dependent Variables
  • Categorical Versus Continuous Variables
  • Converting Categorical Variables Into Continuous Variables
  • Identifying Dimensions of a Construct
  • Defining Concepts
  • Theoretical Definitions
  • Operational Definitions
  • Building Scales and Indexes
  • Theoretical Statements Relating Two Variables
  • Identifying Assumptions
  • Forms of Hypotheses
  • Causal Direction
  • How Research Questions and Hypotheses Differ
  • Theoretical and Operational Linkages
  • Theoretical Linkages
  • Operational Linkages
  • Operational Linkages as Visual Representations
  • Operational Linkages as Statistics
  • The Whole Story
  • Theoretical Statements Relating Three Variables
  • Roles of Three-Variable Relationships in Theory
  • Five Types of Outcomes
  • Proper Form for Hypothesis
  • Some Methodological Considerations
  • Theoretical Statements Relating Four or More Variables
  • Formulating Theoretical Statements for Complex Systems
  • Visualizing Four-Variable Relationships
  • Extending the Three-Variable Strategy to Complex Systems
  • Ordering the Variables in Time
  • Analyzing Paths Among Multiple Variables
  • Specifying Nonlinear Relationships and Nonadditive Effects
  • Theoretical Models
  • What a Model Is
  • Models Versus Theories
  • Uses of Models.

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