Secondary-level variables act causally on outcomes rather than measuring concepts

Evidence

As discussed in detail in chapter 2, three relationships can exist between the secondary level and the basic level: causal, ontological, and substitutability. It bears emphasis that none of these relationships is simply one in which the secondary-level variables serve as indicators or measures of the basic-level variables. The role of the secondary-level variables is not to operationalize the basic-level variables. Rather, in a two-level theory, the secondary-level variables always have a causal relationship to the main outcome variable. Twolevel theories are complex precisely because the nature through which secondary-level variables affect the main outcome variable varies depending on how these variables relate to the causal variables at the basic level. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts, 1589

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explicitly distinguishes the three secondary-basic relationships — causal, ontological, substitutability — from mere operationalization.