Every choice of concept structure smuggles in a normative position

Evidence

If a given dimension is of central normative importance then one will almost certainly tend to make that a necessary condition in the concept structure. Conversely, if there are substitutes for a given dimension, that almost inherently makes it less important. … In short, to choose a particular structure is to make a normative choice: there is no “objective, neutral” concept structure. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts and Measurement, 1040

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The claim that measurement itself is a value commitment, not a technical exercise, unsettles the whole pretension of neutral social science.
• XREF: Echoes Hall’s argument that theory is contested conjunctural knowledge rather than will to truth, and the merit-discourse critiques in the Ambedkar annotations.