THEORY AND RESEARCHinstitutions, countries, and so forth. Researchers tai-
lor theoretical concepts to apply to one or more of
these units of analysis. For example, the concept
aggressioncan be applied to several units: an indi-
vidual, group, organization, or country. This is illus-
trated by these statements: Jamie is an aggressive
child; the basketball team was very aggressivelast
night; the XYZ Corporation has aggressivelymoved
into a new market; and the United Nations con-
demned country X for acts of aggressiontoward its
neighbor. Aggression by a child (slapping another
four-year-old and kicking the teacher) seems differ-
ent than aggression by a sports team (physical con-
tact and blocking), a company (lowering prices and
launching a massive advertising campaign that tar-
gets a competing product), or a nation (moving
troops and tanks across an international border).
When we conduct a study, we must fit a con-
cept to the specific type of unit we wish to analyze,
like a glove fitting over a hand. This means fitting
concepts with units as we design a study and
measure concepts. If we consider an abstract con-
cept, such as aggression, that is applicable across
various units of analysis, we must decide the unit
to focus on and tailor the way we define the concept
to that unit before proceeding.
Aspects of Theory
Now that you know the parts of social theory, you
can consider its other forms. Social theory can be
baffling because it has many aspects. To simplify
matters, we can divide them into five major ones:
- Direction of theorizing. Either deductive or
inductive - Level of analysis. Either micro, macro, or meso
- Theoretical focus.Either substantive or formal
theory - Form of explanation.Either causal, structural,
or interpretative - Range of a theory.Either an empirical general-
ization, a middle-range theory, or a framework
The aspects may seem intimidating at first. Fortu-
nately, only a few major combinations of them are
frequently used. As you become familiar with the
aspects, you will find that they help to clarify and
simplify how you apply theory when conducting a
research study.Direction of Theorizing
In an ideal sense, you can approach the building and
testing of theory from two directions: (1) begin with
abstract thinking and then logically connect the ideas
in theory to concrete evidence or (2) begin with spe-
cific observations of empirical evidence and then
generalize from the evidence to build toward increas-
ingly abstract ideas. In practice, most researchers are
flexible and tend use both directions, perhaps at dif-
ferent points in a study (see Figure 1).Deductive.To theorize in a deductive direction,
we start with abstract concepts or a theoretical
proposition that outlines the logical connection
among concepts. We move next to evaluate the con-
cepts and propositions against concrete evidence.
We go from ideas, theory, or a mental picture toward
observable empirical evidence. The studies of the
contact hypothesis used deductive theorizing. The
researchers began with a theoretical proposition:
The absence of interpersonal contact between
people and others in a social “out-group” causes
negative views of an out-group to arise because of
ignorance and negative stereotypes. The researchers
turned the proposition into a testable empirical
hypothesis: that increased social contact with,
knowledge of, and familiarity among individuals in
an out-group will lessen the negative beliefs, atti-
tudes, and statements of people in the “in-group.”
The theorizing proceeded from the abstract level to
a concrete, empirical level that included specificUnits of analysis The units, cases, or parts of social
life that are under consideration. They are key to devel-
oping concepts, empirically measuring or observing
concepts, and using data analysis.
Deductive direction An approach to developing or
confirming a theory that begins with abstract concepts
and theoretical relationships and works toward more
concrete empirical evidence.