Distinct social science concepts can share the same empirical referents, creating overlap zones.

Evidence

An example from my substantive interests is that some events can be considered “civil wars” as well as “military coups” (Powell and Thyne 2011). This is “semantic overlap.” It is defined below more precisely, but it means that various concepts overlap in terms of their empirical referents and one should think about zones where concepts overlap. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts and Measurement, 533

Categorization

• DEFINE: Names ‘semantic overlap’ — concepts with intersecting empirical referents — and flags zones as objects of analysis rather than coding errors.
• XREF: Echoes the diamond-trade and Champagne-fairs material on overlapping institutional regimes classifying the same transaction differently.