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As given in diagram the process of theory-building starts from persons, groups, their interactions or behaviour, events, ideas, activities etc. There can be several factors or causes for studying them which may arise from one’s inner reflection, on demand or pressure, out of some profit or interest, or anything else. But a researcher is not interested in stud3dng all the aspects of a given phenomenon or event. He selects the aspects relevant to his problem, hypothesis or conceptual framework.
While studying ‘youth polities’, one takes little interest in knowing everything about a student’s whole life. Hence, he takes up only facts for his study or observation, which means particular aspects, elements, traits, attributes or relations of that phenomenon or event.
Thus, a fact by itself is an abstraction which must be an empirically verifiable observation. In the earmarking of facts, one isolates certain limited aspects of the concrete event, activity, group or phenomenon, at least provisionally or analytically from all its indefinite and infinite complexity. The facts are collected by using various tools and techniques of data-gathering.
Formulation of concepts is the next stage of theory-building process in Political Science. Events and phenomena belong to the world of common sense, but facts have their specific and selective aspects. A concept relates to the properties or attributes of a group of facts. It is a universal descriptive word itself. It is a shorthand definition of a class or group of facts, e.g., concept of pressure group, or anomie.
A concept is an abstraction formed by generalisation from particulars which must have direct empirical reference. In other words, it is a result of abstracting or generalizing our sense-impressions or perceptions, feelings, wants and behaviours. There are certain rules of explication and operationalisation of concepts. Concepts are empirically defined and applied to all phenomena or events falling within their import or ambit.
Concepts are rarely isolated from each other. They may have common or similar attributes in them. On the basis of their relationship or similarity, they are further classified. For example, persons coming under certain cluster of concepts are categorised as liberal, or certain activities having specific conceptual attributes are labelled as ‘violence’ or ‘revolution’. Classification is the process of arranging the available data (relevant facts) under conceptual categories or classes according to resemblances or likeness of attributes.
It provides the next stage for scientific analysis. It has been rightly observed that facts themselves do not speak, it is scientific analysis which makes them speak. Classification provides raw material to analyse and establish relationship, provisionally or tentatively, between two classes of concepts, events, attributes or phenomena.
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This leads us to the stage of generalisation. A generalisation is always conditional, definite and specific, and can be falsified or repudiated if newer facts compel us to do so. According to Meehan, ‘A generalisation is a proposition that relates two or more classes of events so that some or all of the members of one class are also the members of the other.
Generalisations go beyond description of actual events and tell a lot about unobserved events and phenomena. They speak about innumerable events beyond the domain of immediate observation, though falling within the ambit of concepts, classes and their classification. Thus, they save a measure of labour, time, money and complications involved in repeated observations at each individual level. The last stage in the theory-building process is the making of ‘theory’ proper. At this level, generalisations of similar or logically resembling nature are interconnected, and presented as a set of generalisations. It is ultimately a conceptual or analytical apparatus which enables us to explain and predict a particular phenomenon.
Theories in Political Science again can be sub-divided as:
(a) Universalistic,
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(b) Probabilistic, and
(c) Tendency statements.
Universal theories, like laws, are applicable through all time and places, but in Political Science these are rarely available. Most of its theories are in the nature of probability and tendency statements. Political theories, empirical or scientific, can be limited to geographical area, particular segment of population, ethnicity, nationality or community made of some sect, religion, culture, sub-culture, language or specific level of development.
So far, attempts have been made to evolve political theories applicable to the country and nation as a whole. Now, with the speeding globalisation operating on the processes of liberalisation and privatisation, political theories meant for the whole world, or its segments or super-powers are coming up. IT (Information Technology) Revolution has been facilitating their growth in different directions.
Many advanced modern political theories do not stop merely with the goals of ‘understanding’, ‘explanation’ or ‘prediction’, but go far beyond. Sometimes, having been based on a large amount of fieldwork, they present specific structures, processes, desirable resources and manpower with particular type of leadership to realise well-defined goals of peace, dominance, development and national and international security.