Social Science Concepts: A User's Guide

"Gary Goertz is at the forefront of a number of important methodological debates. He is one of the very few scholars who regularly crosses the boundary between quants and quals, and this book reflects his strength in both areas."--John Gerring, Boston University"Goertz reaffirms with great success a foundational idea established more than three decades ago by Giovanni Sartori: concept analysis is an indispensable component of social science methodology, and we neglect it at our peril."--David Collier, University of California, Berkeley"One of the greatest challenges facing the social sciences today is the task of cultivating a closer connection between theoretical concepts and empirical analysis. In this book, Gary Goertz lays the foundation for a new approach to social scientific concepts and demonstrates the many benefits that follow from the thoughtful articulation of concepts in social research."--Charles Ragin, University of Arizona at Tucson, author of "Fuzzy-Set Social Science"