Social research methods

Abstract

ion An abstract concept can be defined with reference to the specific instances that it labels or categorises. In practice, using empirical referents as examples will help to clarify and convey the meaning of a concept. It may be hard to define ‘sport’ as an abstract concept other than by using examples such as netball, basketball, soccer, cricket and rugby to convey the meaning. However, my copy of the Pocket Oxford Dictionary (Oxford University Press, seventh edition, 1984) offers a formal, more precise definition: ‘outdoor competitive activity usually involving physical exertion’ The concept of sport specifies an abstract content that can be seen in all the various sporting activities. Even so, it is often possible to think of exceptions to such definitions such as, in this case, indoor athletics. On the other hand, we may quibble as to whether a sport can avoid physical exertion, in which case archery might be excluded from our definition. The abstract version of the concept of sport may be precisely defined as a construct. The concepts of everyday life are directly linked to the empirical ‘things’ they describe, the constructs of social science require a specification of how they can be measured. For example, the abstract concept of ‘institutionalised racism’ must have a set of specified measures before it can be recognised and analysed in social research. Concepts transcend, but are related to the world of experience. Dictionaries are continually revised to refine definitions as well as to include new concepts, and the same is true in social research. Activity: defining the concept of ‘household’ My Pocket Oxford Dictionary (Oxford University Press, seventh edition, 1984) defines household as ‘occupants of a house regarded as a unit’. Draw up a list of everyday words that mean the same or have a similar meaning to the word ‘household’. What other words describe those living ‘together’ in households? Then attempt to define the concept of household as it might be used in sociological research. Complete the right-hand column of the table below by inserting a ‘new’ definition of ‘household’, including each of the following possible components of a definition: 145 Social research methods 40 Component Definition

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