Scholarship emphasized substitutable family resemblance while ignoring best-shot concepts

Evidence

Philosophers focused on the family resemblance as involving no necessary conditions. This means looking at the m-of-n structure toward the weakest link end. If one has a rule of n-of-n for membership then one is at the weakest link end of the spectrum. Once one has (n−1)-of-n then there are no longer any necessary conditions. Not surprisingly, philosophers and others of the Sartori tradition paid little attention to the other end of the spectrum, the 1-of-n rule, which is complete substitutability and the best shot. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts and Measurement, 1431

Categorization

• SEED: Essay angle: how a discipline’s favorite examples quietly narrow its methodological toolkit — the 1-of-n ‘best shot’ structure went essentially untheorized.
• QUESTION: Worth chasing: what research designs or cases would look different if best-shot concepts were taken seriously as a valid structure?