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How to Test Cultural Theory: Suggestions for Future Research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2011

Marco Verweij ,
Shenghua Luan  and
Mark Nowacki
Marco Verweij
Affiliation:
Jacobs University
Shenghua Luan
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Human Development
Mark Nowacki
Affiliation:
Singapore Management University
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Extract

This symposium highlighted the relevance of the cultural theory (CT) pioneered by anthropologists Mary Douglas, Steve Rayner, and Michael Thompson and political scientists Aaron Wildavsky and Richard Ellis for explaining political phenomena. In this concluding article, we suggest ways in which CT can be further tested and developed. First, we describe how the theory has been applied thus far and some of the achievements of these applications. Then, we examine some of the challenges revealed by this research. Finally, we discuss ways of applying CT that promise to help meet these challenges. These methods include nesting case studies and combining case study and survey research, simulations, experiments, and approaches from social neuroscience.

Type
Symposium
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 44 , Issue 4 , October 2011 , pp. 745 - 748
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2011

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