The art of concept formation
As we are … prisoners of the words
we pick, we had better pick them
well
Giovanni Sartori
What is a concept?
• Definition:
„‚the basic unit of thinking‘, such that ‚we have a
concept of A (or of A-ness) when we are able to
distinguish A from whatever is not A‘“ (Mair 2009:
179)
• Concepts consist of (Gerring 1999: 357-8)
– Extension (referents, denotation): cases to be defined
– Intension (definition, connotation): attributes defining
these cases
– Label
What do we need concepts for?
• Link the real world with the world of language
• Help us to communicate
• Help us categorise and to understand the
world around us
• Help us to see whether like is compared with
like
• Defining one‘ s concepts is therefore an
essential part of the research process
Concepts and the Research Process
• Where is concept formation situated?
– At at the very beginning (especially in quantitative
studies)
• First „what is?“ or „of what is this an instance?“ before
„how much?“
– But: concept formation is a constant process
• especially In qualitative research (with aim to sharpen
concepts) (retroduction)
• Within the research community in general: concepts
are constantly defined and redefined
Concepts are …
(Hoover/Donovan 2008: 15)
• … tentative (potentially contested)
• … based on agreement
• „… useful only to the degree that they capture
or isolate some signficant and definable item
in reality“
What are the problems of non- or illdefined concepts?
• In general
– Bad labelling (label already in use, ambiguous,
offensive etc.)
– Extension too wide (concept not meaningful any
more, does not distinguish, remains ambiguous)
– Definition to narrow (limit ourselves in what we
can talk about, investigate)
– No clear definition (ambiguity)
Common mistakes with concept
formation in term papers
• No concept definition at all. No debate about
what this study is about
• Many concept definitions without priority.
„There are many definitions to be found, so
we cannot really define this“
• One concept definition, yet not used. Quoting
some (lexicon) definition in your „theory“
section, but then disregard what it says
Sartori‘s ladder of abstraction
Levels of
Abstraction
Logical Properties Example 1
of Concept
Example 2
High-Level
Categories
Max. extension,
min. intension
Regime
Political Party
Medium-Level
Categories
Extension and
intension in
balance
Liberal
Democracy
Mass Party
Low-Level
Categories
Minimal
extension,
maximal
extension
Westminster
(majoritarian)
Democracy
„Business firm
model“-party
(Sartori‘s) Rules of Concept
Formation
• Analyse cases only as part of a wider class of
cases (what is this a case of?)
• Compare only within classes (of cases)
• If cases do not share one class
→ move up the ladder of abstraction
• If results are meaningles/too general
→ move down the ladder of abstraction
• Balloon image (Mair)
– For detailed look: heavy basket (full of properties)
– for overview: throw properties out of the basket
Group Work
• Discuss the concepts of
-
Americanization
„queuing“
Football
Scottish identity
• How would you define the concept ? (intension)
• What different forms/types /cases exist ? (extension)
• What is the concept part of? (Move up the ladder of
abstraction)
• What can it be compared with (members of the same class)