Abstract

GRANATO, Jim; LO, Melody  and  SUNNY WONG, M.C.. The Empirical Implications of Theoretical Models (EITM): A Framework for Methodological Unification. Polít. gob [online]. 2010, vol.17, n.1, pp.25-57. ISSN 1665-2037.

We provide a framework for the Empirical Implications of Theoretical Models (EITM) initiative. The objective of EITM is to encourage political and social scientists to test empirical models that are directly connected to a formal model. As scholars merge formal and empirical analysis they minimize non-falsifiable research practices and lay the foundation for social scientific cumulation. Our EITM framework involves three steps. The first step is for researchers to unify theoretical mechanisms and applied statistical concepts. Step two is to develop measurable devices ("analogues") for these mechanisms and concepts. The final step is to unify the analogues. The significance of the EITM framework is that it encourages scholars to use a set of plausible facts or axioms and then model them in a rigorous mathematical manner to identify causal relations that explain empirical regularities.

Keywords : Empirical Implications of Theorical Models (EITM); applied statistical concepts; plausible facts; axioms; empirical regularities.

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