Normative assumptions about family roles corrupted empirical welfare state concepts.

Evidence

The gendered welfare state also illustrates how normative issues lie at the core of conceptualization. The classic welfare state was built on a view of women’s and men’s roles in the workplace and home such as “a woman’s place is in the home.” It also included an empirical description of how families work that lacked descriptive accuracy because it did not include single-parent families managed by women. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts and Measurement, 1454

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The concept was not merely biased but descriptively false: normative baggage and empirical inaccuracy are the same failure, not two separate problems.