Theory Evaluation Vocab I
A statement of relationships between units observed or approximated in the empirical world.
What is a theory?
The usefulness of theoretical systems; the bridge that connects theory as research.
What is utility?
Complex empirical generalizations presented as diagrams that show the relationship between a number of variables. These are presented as models to be tested, not just summaries of research findings
What are causal models?
Self-evident beliefs the theorist accepts as true without testing them. Formal statements of conviction on which the theorist's model will be founded.
What is an Axiom? (also correct: postulate)
Approximated unit; cannot be observed directly.
What is a construct?
Observed units; operationalized empirically by measurement.
What is a variable?
More abstract than empirical generalizations and causal models, but still confined to a particular content area. Usually involves elaborate theoretical writing about a particular domain, and then is tested in a variety of studies using a variety of measures
What are Middle Range Theories?
If - then statements that derive logically from the model; yet to be proven
The implicit assumptions by which a theory is bounded.
What are values?
The ration of hypotheses to propositions.
What is parsimony?
A generalization that is accepted as true, not because it seems self-evident but because it is supported by what the theorists believe are sound data.
What is a principle?
Statement of a relationship; relates the abstract constructs to each other.
What is a proposition?
The ability of a new theory to bridge the gap between two or more different theories.
What is connectivity?
Sets of abstract statements designed to explain a particular phenomenon and are arranged hierarchically from more general to more specific
What are formal propositional theories?
A public thing; consisting of the arguments, logic, the patterns of reasoning and the facts that bear upon what it treats.
What is evidence?
Determines whether a theory is constructed such that empirical refutation is possible.
What is falsifiability?
The range of phenomena encompassed by the theory.
What is scope?
A set of assumptions and ideas about the fundamental features of the social world; also defined as clusters of interrelated but not necessarily interdefined concepts generally applicable to the arena of marriage and the family
What are conceptual frameworks?
A generalization that theorists consider the supporting data of which to be irrefutable
What is a law?