Aggregating individuals into dyads is structurally identical to aggregating dimensions into concepts.

Evidence

Substantively the problem of dyadic concepts in the literature on international conflict seems far removed from the concepts of corporatism, welfare state, and others that I have discussed as my principal examples. However, formally and substantively we have the same basic problem of moving between levels that occurs at the heart of the three-level approach to concepts. We need to think about how to “aggregate” individuals into a dyad just as we need to structure secondarylevel dimensions to form a basic-level concept. We shall see that the three-level approach gives us ways to think about this common problem in the conflict literature. One sign of the power of the three-level framework is its ability to provide leverage and guidance in situations which on the face of it have little in common. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts, 838

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to liberal-peace and dyadic-design debates in international conflict research.