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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Evolution And Nebulousness In Theories, Barry N. Markovsky
Evolution And Nebulousness In Theories, Barry N. Markovsky
Faculty Publications
Social scientists have a clear choice in how they may approach theory development. One path leads to "nebulous" theories that lack any real explanatory power. The other path capitalizes on evolutionary principles of variation and selection, vastly increasing the chances for explanatory success. I illustrate these ideas by reference to "artificial life" programs, and discuss the implications for theory construction in the social sciences.
Theory, Science, And 'Micro-Macro' Bridges In Structural Social Psychology, Barry N. Markovsky
Theory, Science, And 'Micro-Macro' Bridges In Structural Social Psychology, Barry N. Markovsky
Faculty Publications
Social psychology stands to benefit from multilevel theories that link it to both lower and higher levels of analysis. Making the link, however, requires a level of theoretical rigor heretofore relatively uncommon in the social sciences. After refuting several common objections to this brand of theorizing, I offer a rationale and a set of criteria for multilevel theory construction.