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Originally, laddering came from consumer research, laddering is derivative from the Means-End Theory as proposed by Gutman. Means-End Theory states that people choose a product because it contains attributes (the means) that are instrumental in achieving the desired consequences and fulfilling values (the ends).
Postpositivism or postempiricism is a metatheoretical stance that critiques and amends positivism [1] and has impacted theories and practices across philosophy, social sciences, and various models of scientific inquiry.
The final rule, "Let method be the servant, not the master," reminds researchers that methods are the means, not the end, of social research; it is critical from the outset to fit the research design to the research issue, rather than the other way around. Explanations in social theories can be idiographic or nomothetic.
A sociological theory is a supposition that intends to consider, analyze, and/or explain objects of social reality from a sociological perspective, [1]: 14 drawing connections between individual concepts in order to organize and substantiate sociological knowledge.
Means–ends analysis [1] (MEA) is a problem solving technique used commonly in artificial intelligence (AI) for limiting search in AI programs.. It is also a technique used at least since the 1950s as a creativity tool, most frequently mentioned in engineering books on design methods.
Sociological research methods may be divided into two broad, though often supplementary, categories: [111] Qualitative designs emphasize understanding of social phenomena through direct observation, communication with participants, or analysis of texts, and may stress contextual and subjective accuracy over generality.
Social theories are analytical frameworks, or paradigms, that are used to study and interpret social phenomena. [1] A tool used by social scientists, social theories relate to historical debates over the validity and reliability of different methodologies (e.g. positivism and antipositivism), the primacy of either structure or agency, as well as the relationship between contingency and necessity.
They use instrumentally efficient means to control non-human wills. But applying means-end reasoning to control spirits and inanimate objects contaminates human knowledge. A rain-dance mistakenly thought to work instrumentally becomes a prescribed ritual action proclaimed to be permanently legitimate regardless of actual consequences.