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

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Online resource; title from electronic title page (SAGE Books, viewed September 5, 2019).

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 most rudimentary building blocks (terminology and definitions) through multivariable theoretical statements, models, the role of creativity in theory building, and how theories are used and evaluated. Authors Pamela J. Shoemaker, James William Tankard, Jr., and Dominic L. Lasorsa intend to improve.

Use copy Restrictions unspecified star MiAaHDL

Electronic reproduction. [Place of publication not identified] : HathiTrust Digital Library, 2010. MiAaHDL

Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. MiAaHDL

http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212

digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL

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.

eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - Worldwide