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Definitions
Definitions (^)
John Dewey
[1910] How We Think, Prometheus Books, Buffalo, New York, 1991“Definition means essentially the growth of a meaning out of vagueness into definiteness.” (Chapter 15, p. 212)
Louise E. Rorabacher with Georgia Dunbar and Clement Dunbar
[1988] Assignments in Exposition, Harper & Row, New York, Ninth Edition“A formal definition is based on a concise, logical pattern that lets the writer give a maximum of information in a minimum of space. It has three parts:
- the term (word or phrase) [e.g. an owl];
- the class of object or concept to which the term belongs [e.g. an owl is a bird]; and
- the differentiating characteristics that distinguish what the term defines from all others of that class.” [e.g. an owl is a bird with large head, strong talons, and nocturnal habits]
(Unit 15, Definition, pp. 327-328)
Guidelines for producing formal definitions
- Keep your class small but adequate.
- Do not define a word by mere repetition.
- State the differentiating characteristics precisely.
- Define a word in simpler and more familiar terms.
- Descriptive details are often valuable.
- Comparison definitions may illuminate the unfamiliar.
- Negative comparison (what something is not) may be helpful.
- Classification can extend the definition of a term.
- Analysis is another means of expanding a basic definition, breaking down the object to be defined into the parts composing it.
- The description of origin/causes, results/effects and functions/uses can assist in producing a clear definition.
(Adapted from: Unit 15 Definition, pp. 327-332)
“You may define ... by means of description, narration, classification, analogy, analysis, or cause and effect.” (p. 346)
Classifications (^)
Deobold B. Van Dalen
[1962] Understanding Educational Research. An Introduction, McGraw-Hill, New York, Fourth Edition, 1979Definition by example. To point to it or to introduce a specimen or picture of it.
Definition by genus and differentia. Indicating its genus (the larger class of things in which the referent is included) and then how it differs from other subclasses of the same genus.
Definition by stipulation. Defining the term on the basis of definitions provided by similar research studies or specialized dictionaries. However a researcher is responsible for stipulating precisely how a term will be applied in a particular study.
Constitutive definitions. Define constructs by describing how they are linked to other constructs in a set (e.g. intelligence is the product of the interaction of a person’s heredity and environment) or by describing their key characteristics (e.g. intelligence is the ability to deal with tasks involving abstractions, to generalize, to learn from experience, or to deal with new situations).
Operational definitions. Link theoretical constructs with observable indicants of them. They ascribe meaning to constructs by specifying the operations necessary to achieve certain objectives: (1) measured operational definitions specify the operations necessary to measure instances of constructs; (2) experimental operational definitions specify the operations necessary to manipulate constructs in an experiment to precipitate or prevent their presence. (from Chapter 7, pp. 182-183)
Philip Brian Bell and Philip James Staines
[1979] Reasoning and Argument in Psychology, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1981Descriptive & Stipulative definitions. “There are two main classes of definition: descriptive and stipulative. When proposing a descriptive definition, a writer attempts to spell out the usual meaning of a term he is using (e.g. after referring to a conventional dictionary), whereas in a stipulative definition he specifies the meaning he intends for the word or phrase, regardless of more usual or less technically precise possible interpretations. He uses a stipulative definition when he gives a familiar work a new meaning or introduces a new term.” (Chapter 1, p. 9)
Irving M. Copi
[1982] Introduction to Logic, Macmillan, New York, Sixth Edition1) Stipulative Definition: arbitrary definition introduced for a variety of reasons (e.g. parsimony as in a scientific formula).
2) Lexical Definition: to eliminate ambiguity or to increase the vocabulary.
3) Precising Definition: to reduce the vagueness of a term.
4) Theoretical Definition: to formulate an adequate characterization of the objects to which it is applied.
5) Persuasive Definition: to influence attitudes. (from pp. 147-154)
Rules for lexical definitions
1) “A definition should state the essential attributes of the species”.
2) “A definition must not be circular.”
3) “A definition must be neither too broad nor too narrow.”
4) “A definition must not be expressed in ambiguous, obscure, or figurative language.”
5) “A definition should not be negative where it can be affirmative.” (Chapter ??, pp.)
Chava Frankfort Nachmias and David Nachmias
[1992] Research Methods in the Social Sciences, Edward Arnold, London, Fourth EditionConceptual definitions. “Definitions that describe concepts by using other concepts are conceptual definitions.”
“Conceptual definitions that enhance communication share the following essential attributes:
- A definition must point out the unique attributes or qualities of whatever is defined. It must be inclusive of all cases it covers and exclusive of all cases not covered.
- A definition should not be circular; that is, it must not contain any part of the thing being defined.
- A definition should be stated positively.
- A definition should use clear terms.”
Operational definitions. “An operational definition is a set of procedures that describe the activities to perform to establish empirically the existence or degree of existence of a phenomenon described by a concept.”
(Chapter 2, p. 31)
Functions (^)
C. K. Ogden & I. A. Richards
[1923] The Meaning of Meaning, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1972“The reason for using definitions at all is practical. We use them to make discussions more profitable, to bring different thinkers into open agreement or disagreement with one another.”
“Definitions are of great importance in the construction of deductive, scientific systems, those automatic thinking-machines for which logic and mathematics are, as it were, the rules or instructions. In such a deductive system as mechanics, for example, it is through the definitions employed that the parts of the symbolic system are linked together, so that a given manipulation of the symbolism will yield comparable results even when their precise nature is not foreseen by the manipulator.” (Chapter VI, pp. 121-122)
Irving M. Copi
[1982] Introduction to Logic, Macmillan, New York, Sixth Edition1) To Increase Vocabulary. “In conversation or in reading, one often comes upon unfamiliar words whose meanings are not made clear by their contexts. To understand what has being said, it is necessary to find out what the words mean; here definitions are required.”
2) To Eliminate Ambiguity. “Fallacious arguments can result from the use of ambiguous terms.” “When the ambiguity is resolved … the fallacy is exposed. But to resolve the ambiguity we require definitions to specify the different meanings of the ambiguous word or phrase. Ambiguous language can lead not only to fallacious argumentation but also to disputes which are merely verbal.”
3) To Reduce Vagueness. “Vagueness in sometimes confused with ambiguity. A term is ambiguous in a given context when it has two distinct meanings and the context does not make clear which one is intended. A term is vague when there exist ‘borderline cases’ such that it cannot be determined whether the term applies to them or not.”
4) To Explain Theoretically. Definition, in this case, intends “to formulate a theoretically adequate or scientifically useful characterization of the objects to which it is applied.”
5) To Influence Attitudes. “One often defines a term with the purpose in mind of influencing the attitudes or stirring the emotions of one’s readers or hearers.” (Chapter 4, pp. 138-143)
Features (^)
Vincent E. Barry
[1980] Practical Logic, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, Second EditionDenotation
“A definition is an explanation of the meaning of a term. In one sense the meaning of a term consists of the class of objects that the term can be applied to. This sense of ‘meaning’ is ordinarily called the denotative or extensional meaning. The denotation or extension of a term is the collection or class of objects to which the term may correctly be applied. For example, the denotation of ‘chair’ would be any example of a chair.
But ‘denotation’ in not the only sense of ‘meaning’.”
Connotation
“Understanding what a term means involves knowing how to use it correctly. To know how to use a term correctly, you don’t need to know everything it can be applied to. All you need know is the criterion for deciding whether or not an object is denoted by a term. In this sense, meaning refers to a term’s connotation or intension. The connotation or intension of a term is the collection of properties shared by all and only those objects in a term’s extension. Thus the connotation of ‘chair’ is ‘a piece of furniture used to sit on’.” (Chapter 3, p. 48)
Gerald Runkle
[1981] Good Thinking. An Introduction to Logic, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, Second Edition- Extension (denotation). “It is sometimes said that ‘the most basic level of meaning’ a word can have is its extension (or denotation). The extension (or denotation) of a word is that whole class of thing to which the word refers.” (Chapter 2, p.15)
- Intension (connotation). “Another kind of ‘meaning’ that words are said to have is intentional. While extension comprises the things a word refers to, intension comprises the characteristics that must be present for the word to be properly applied. The intension of a word is sometimes called its set of defining criteria.” (Chapter 2, p. 17)
Related Concepts (^)
Meaning
P.W. Bridgman
[1927] The Logic of Modern Physics, The Macmillan Company, New York, 1960“... the true meaning of a term is to be found by observing what a man does with it, not by what he says about it.” (Chapter I, p. 7)
Gerald Runkle
[1981] Good Thinking. An Introduction to Logic, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, Second Edition“The meaning of a word is the use to which it can be put in the language of which it is a part.” “The meanings of words change as their uses change.”
“Most words have more than one meaning. Most of the time the context will make clear which of two or more meanings is intended.”
(Chapter 2, p. 4)
Jennifer Trusted,
[1987] Inquiry and Understanding. An introduction to explanation in the physical and human sciences, Macmillan, London, 1987“In everyday life many terms are ‘open-ended’, that is their meaning is not fixed and depends on the context and the user.” “... the flexibility can be misleading and can confuse ordinary discussion, but flexibility can also be convenient for too rigid a meaning could be constricting.” (p. 46)
Classical Quotations (^)
John Locke
[1689] An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.“... the defining of words, which is nothing but declaring their signification ...”
“For, definition, being nothing but making another understand by words what idea the term defined stands for, a definition is best made by enumerating those simple idea(s) that are combined in the signification of the term defined: and if, instead of such an enumeration, men have accustomed themselves to use the next general term, it has not been out of necessity, or for greater clearness, but for quickness and dispatch sake.” (Book III, Chapter 3, § 10)
Jean Louis Formey
[1745-1772] « Définition » in Diderot-D’Alembert, Encyclopédie ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers“La définition de chose est proprement une énumération qu’on fait des principaux attributs d’une chose, pour expliquer et faire connaître sa nature.”
“On demande ordinairement trois choses pour qu’une définition soit bonne :
1) qu’elle soit claire, c’est-à-dire qu’elle nous serve à avoir une idée plus claire et plus distincte de la chose qu’on définit, et qu’elle nous en fasse, autant qu’il peut, comprendre la nature ;
2) qu’elle soit universelle ou adéquate, c’est-à-dire qu’elle convienne à tout ce qui est contenu dans l’espèce définie;
3) qu’elle soit propre ou particulière à la chose définie.”
"Une des grandes utilités qu’apporte la définition, c’est de faire comprendre nettement de quoi il s’agit, afin de ne pas disputer inutilement sur des mots, comme on fait si souvent même dans les discours ordinaires.
Mais, outre cette utilité, il y en a encore une autre; c’est qu’on ne peut souvent avoir une idée distincte d’une chose, qu’en y employant beaucoup de mots pour la désigner. Or il serait importun, surtout dans les livres de science, de répéter toujours cette grande suite de mots: c’est pourquoi, ayant fait comprendre la chose par tous ces mots, on attache à un seul mot l’idée complexe qu’on a conçue, qui tient bien lieu de toutes les autres.”
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