Date of Award
1-1-2012
Document Type
Campus Access Thesis
Department
Sociology
First Advisor
Barry Markovsky
Abstract
There are two main goals I hope to accomplish with this thesis. First, I will make a case for the value of theory analysis and review its methods (Markovsky 1993, 1994, 1996, 2010, Markovsky et al. 2008, and Markovsky & Kazemi forthcoming), including the use of modularization in theory construction (Markovsky 2010; Markovsky et al. 2008). Next, I will apply these methods to identity theory, most notably Stryker's (Stryker 1968, 1980, 1981, Stryker & Serpe 1982). This approach is taken with an eye toward capitalizing upon eight desirable characteristics of sound theory (Cohen 1989, Markovsky 1996, Barnum 1997). That is, I hope to contribute to identity theory by offering a provisional, reformulated version constructed around these properties: reducing contradiction and ambivalence, and improving communicability, abstractness, generality, precision, parsimony, and conditionality (Markovsky 1996). The reformulated theory will serve as a core module which can be connected to similar other theories of identity which share terms, scope conditions, or propositions.
Recommended Citation
Frederick, J. T.(2012). Formalizing and Modularizing Identity Theory. (Master's thesis). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/1925