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Despite widespread agreement about goals of knowledge development in public administration, there is imbalance in efforts directed at these goals. The overlap between the domains of theory and practice is not substantial. Important concerns in public administration theory and practice are outweighed by naïve quantitative bias (NQB), an unfortunate methodological artifact. This symposium seeks to highlight this imbalance and to nudge the public administration scholarly community toward paying attention to theoretical and practical matters, recognizing NQB and mitigating its undesirable effects on knowledge development. Broadly speaking, two recommendations emerge from symposium contributions. The first recommendation emphasizes paying attention to theoretical goals. The second recommendation is to promote reflexivity about how the domains of theory and method interact to counter the methodological artifact of NQB. A brief overview of each article in the symposium and its contribution to advancing knowledge development is provided.

Introduction / David Leopold and Marc Stears -- Analytical political philosophy / Daniel McDermott -- Political philosophy for earthlings / David Miller -- Political theory, social science, and real politics / Adam Swift and Stuart White -- Why be formal? / Iwao Hirose -- Recognition as fact and norm : the method of critique / Lois McNay -- Dialectical approaches / David Leopold -- Political theory and history / Mark Philp -- Using archival sources to theorize about politics / Sudhir Hazareesingh and Karma Nabulsi -- Political theory and the boundaries of politics / Elizabeth Frazer -- Thinking politically and thinking about politics : language, interpretation, and ideology / Michael Freeden

This paper demonstrates the benefits and application of Straussian Grounded Theory method in conducting research in complex settings where parameters are poorly defined. It provides a detailed illustration on how this method can be used to build an internationalization theory. To be specific, this paper exposes readers to the behind-the-scene work to develop a theory on the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises based in transition economies. It describes each step from sampling to coding and then to theory formation, explaining the rationale each step of the way. The readers can therefore see how a theory took shape and develop from raw data to refined theoretical propositions/hypotheses.

Now with substantial extra coverage of methodological issues and an additional chapter on the philosophy of politics, this widely-used text introduces students to the approaches and methods of political science

Intro -- Contents -- Introduction: -- A Post-Truth Predicament? -- Abstract -- In Truth… -- The Diversity of Theory and Methods -- Looking Ahead -- Chapter 1 -- The Indolent Science -- Abstract -- The "Littlest" Science? -- The Absence of Sociological Consilience -- Inertial Conditions -- Bowling Alone -- Inadequate Funding -- Lack of International Cooperation -- Selection Bias -- Random Sampling and Environmental Complexity -- Political Support -- The Cultural Problem of Indolence -- The Path Ahead -- References -- Chapter 2 -- When You Are a Racist, Theoretically Speaking: Empirically Demonstrating Blumer's Group Position Theory -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Previous Research -- Case Study: An Experimental Design for an Empirical Test of Group Threat -- Study Design -- Data -- Findings -- Limitations -- Conclusion -- Future Tests -- Wider Implications -- Appendix -- Perpetrator-Focused Written Representation Condition -- Perpetrator-Focused Visual Representation Condition -- Victim-Focused Written Representation Condition -- Victim-Focused Visual Representation Condition -- Control Group Condition -- References -- Chapter 3 -- What Criminals Do, at Least Theoretically: Agent Based Modeling as a Strategy for Critically Testing Criminological Theories -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Theoretical Approach -- Agent Based Models -- ABMs and the Emergence of Crime -- Theoretical Underpinnings of Agent Based Models of Crime -- An Agent Based Model of Incarceration -- Further Theoretical Implications -- ABM's Theoretical Flexibility: Testing Specific Hypotheses -- Conclusion -- Appendix: The Incarceration Model's Parameters -- References -- Chapter 4 -- Committing Sociology in an Age of "Fake News": Mass Media, Twitter, and the Struggle for Knowledge in the Public Sphere -- Abstract -- Introduction

Many social theories have been called scientific, but no one has insisted more than Marx on the scientific nature of his system of thought. It is the purpose of this article to examine the ambitious claim of Marxism to be the only real science of society. Dialectical materialism may be omitted from consideration since it concerns not science but philosophy (or even metaphysics), and in any case it is the Marxist social theory, or historical materialism, for which the claim of science is most insistently made.There is no need to give here the details of Marx's historical materialism. The main point to be kept in mind is Marx's assumption, lying behind the entire body of his theory, that history and society move according to a pattern of knowable laws, the so-called "laws of motion" of society; and that Marx claims to have done nothing more than to have laid bare these laws. If Marx is right he obviously ranks as the greatest social scientist of all time. If he is not right he is a misguided and fanatical genius who has led man's thought up a long blind alley.A preliminary word on the application of scientific methods to the study of society may not be out of place. The purposes of study, whether in the natural or social sciences, are the same: to explain how, to accomplish a practical result, or to predict. These three criteria may also be used to test a scientific theory. There are of course certain special difficulties in the social sciences, difficulties arising (to select from many reasons) because of the nature of the data, or because inference may so easily be confused with fact, or because merely studying the behaviour of people and publishing the results may affect the very behaviour being studied.

Delinquency theory must come to terms with experimental studies of causation and with existential studies of delinquents in situ The three are closely related. Existential studies provide insight into both the forms of delinquency and its causal matrix, and causal studies suggest both the relevant context and lawful regularities in the nature of delinquency. Moreover, using the concepts of domain and generality, one sees that strain "theory" is not a theory but a causal paradigm and that it is not competitive with control theory. One also finds that social control theory and cultural deviance are parallel in that both deal essentially with conforming behavior.

Concrete theory is defined by a cluster of attributes—emphasis on governmental and other political elites, on strategic decision-making processes freed from narrow notions of economic rationality, and on a concern with the environment and institutions within which choice occurs. The approach has been observed recently in all research-oriented subfields within political science. Eight exemplars are discussed. Concrete theory demonstrates a novel combination of strong interest in empirical political processes, formalized through models that emphasize logical structure and depth explanation. Its effect is to bridge the gap between behavioral and institutional approaches.

Cover -- Contents -- Lists of Figures, Tables and Boxes -- Preface to the Fourth Edition -- Notes on Contributors -- The editors -- The contributors -- 1 Introduction -- What is politics? What is it that political scientists study? -- What is a scientific approach to politics? -- The discipline of political science: a celebration of diversity? -- Part 1 Theory and Approaches -- Introduction to Part 1 -- 2 Behavioural Analysis -- The rise of the behavioural movement and its core characteristics -- Criticisms of the behavioural approach -- The strengths of the behavioural approach: an example -- Conclusion: the behavioural legacy in the twenty-­first century -- Further reading -- 3 Rational Choice -- Introduction -- The methods of economics (and rational choice) -- The logic of collective action -- Collective action and the environment -- What's wrong with rational choice theory? -- From imperialism to peaceful co-existence -- Conclusion -- Further reading -- 4 Institutionalism -- The 'traditional' institutional approach -- The emergence of the 'new institutionalism' -- The 'three new institutionalisms' -- Core features of new institutionalism -- New institutionalist dilemmas -- Conclusion -- Further reading -- 5 Constructivism and Interpretive Theory -- Origins of constructivism -- What is and isn't distinctive about constructivism? -- Variations within constructivism -- Conclusion -- Further reading -- 6 Feminist and Gendered Approaches -- What is feminism? -- Political science: gendered foundations -- Women in political science -- Gender and political science -- Dilemmas and challenges -- Conclusion -- Further reading -- 7 Marxism: A Global Perspective -- Marxism and capitalism: structuralist economism or agency-led contingency? -- Marxism and globalisation: economistic unilinearity or contingent uneven development?.

This volume of Theory and Method in Higher Education Researchexplores several timely topics including transnational approaches to higher education policy, universities contributions to society, data collection in higher education, virtual and blended research, and more.

This thematic issue advocates a range of novel theoretical and methodological directions applicable to cybersecurity studies. Drawing on critical International Relations theory, Science and Technology Studies, participant observation, quantitative political science, and other social science methods and theory, the contributors advance modes of invigorating the exploration of cybersecurity as an assemblage of sociotechnical practices. In so doing, this issue seeks to enhance understanding of the politics and strategies of cybersecurity, one of the most complex and diverse technical and political challenges of our contemporary world.

Eminent researchers share their expertise, not 'telling' users what to do, but 'showing' what different methods look like in action, using 'stories from the field'