Concept scholarship is a paradox against its theoretical centrality

Evidence

Giovanni Sartori and David Collier stand out as the dominating figures in the work on concepts. Yet the contrast with the massive literature on quantitative measures, indicators, scales, and the like cannot be more extreme. Hence we have a paradox: as Mill noted, concepts are a central part of our theories, yet researchers, apart from Sartori and 1One might inquire about the definition of a concept. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts, 57

Categorization

• DEFINE: Identifies Sartori and Collier as the field’s dominant figures and frames the sparse-vs-massive literature imbalance as a paradox.