Good measurement means interrogating defaults against local substantive context

Evidence

It would be folly to think that one can make general recommendations that cover the normative, descriptive, and causal uses that concepts serve. More important is that one should construct concepts and use aggregation rules that make sense in the particular substantive, causal, empirical, and normative context. One needs to critically examine defaults and standard operating procedures to see how well they fit the core criteria for conceptualization and measurement. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts and Measurement, 1041

Categorization

• APHORISMS: Genuine methodological life-advice: distrust inherited defaults and test them against your own case.