A third of conflict variables embed causal hypotheses in their measurement.

Evidence

More generally, a survey of the conflict literature shows that about one-third of the typical conflict variables have embedded hypotheses in them. This survey also shows that for some other variables scholars have preferred, implicitly, the family resemblance concept structure which allows for complete substitutability. For example, when coding multiple alliance commitments between two states, one takes the strongest one. In terms of substitutability, the strongest commitment compensates completely for the weaker ones. In summary, causal hypotheses embedded in concepts are pervasive in the quantitative conflict literature. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts, 124

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the running thread in this book on how concept structure (family resemblance, necessary/sufficient) silently encodes causal claims, and to the Milgrom-style point that measurement choices carry institutional assumptions.
• DEEPTHINKING: The claim that measurement is never theory-neutral — that choosing weakest-link, strongest-link, or substitutable coding IS doing causal theorizing — quietly dissolves the standard quant/qual divide political scientists fight over.