Here's an adjective you don't hear every day, or maybe even any day - nomological.
It is uncommon. And a bit awkward to say. What if I told you knowing about this word nomological might help you better understand other people?
The dictionary definition is:
Nomological: relating to or expressing basic physical laws or rules of reasoningDry and unhelpful, you will probably agree. Something about rules that describe how people think and reason. Who would think there could be rules about that?!
According to revolvy:
In philosophy, nomology is concerned with the thinking process of the mind. In the mid-19th century, nomology was described as one of two grand divisions of philosophy, the other being metaphysics. The word nomology is made up of -ology suffix for ‘order’, ‘word’ and ‘reason’. The nom- part is ‘rule’ and ‘law’, and means being objectively lawful (i.e. predictably following laws of logic, as in economics).When nomological is combined with network, you get something interesting. A 'nomological network' represents a group of concepts, what is included and excluded in each concept, how we observe them, and how they relate to each other.
Still dry, but a little more helpful? Stay with me.
A nomological network looks like this. Watch a short slide show here, where I got this image. (I am not the author; no author listed.)
A nomological network is a way to define complex concepts (constructs). It's not just random words and circles. Rules and boundaries for what's in and what's out, need to be made clear. By including real world observations (obs), the network ensures it reflects common sense and what actually happens. That is all the 'rule' or 'law' refers to - how humans think about the ways that concepts can be related to each other (e.g. x is part of y concept, or a is the cause of b concept').
The use of nomological networks was promoted in the 1950s when researchers were looking for ways to ensure the concepts they were studying were actually real ('construct validity' is the research term). This was particularly important in emerging areas of social and psychological research. Explaining precisely what you mean by concepts like 'personality', 'depression' or 'altruism' is essential for studying these complex areas.
But such definitions are challenging, because we can't simply look at some altruism sitting on a shelf to check that we have a clear definition that we all agree on. It's a concept, an idea. It's in our heads, it's not physically in the world. We can't point to it to explain to someone else - 'See, that's what I mean'. Examples of similar everyday concepts are beauty, love, freedom, intelligence.
Defining a 'concept' (or construct) is very different from defining a 'thing'. A thing is defined by its 'essence' or purpose. Examples of 'things' include a chair (something designed specifically to sit on), a dog (four legged pet from the genus Canis) or a planet (maybe ask Pluto). The purpose, category or physical attribute of the 'thing' is what we use to define it. In contrast, a 'concept' is defined by what we* agree it means, rather than any observable essence or purpose. We essentially make the word mean what we want. We explain and define concepts with other words, not by reference to something 'out there'. (*we being society defining by consensus through use; although sometimes we don't all agree. It's not uncommon for people to debate what a word like freedom means, but we rarely argue about what the word chair means.)
Because of this difficulty defining complex concepts, researchers working with them need to double check that what they are talking about is real and valid. Definitions for complex concepts like 'altruism' or 'anxiety' can vary across different areas of study, and a precise definition is essential to allow researchers to investigate, test and measure it. In sum, a nomological network articulates a precise shared definition of words for key concepts in a field of study. Still dry and unhelpful, you think?
That's what people said in the 1950s too.
It turned out nomological nets made interesting pictures and were captivating theoretically (for some), but did not include a method for researchers to use, so other ways to determine construct validity were explored.
However, nomological networks were found to be useful to define the concepts under study, so people have continued to use the idea of mapping key concepts in a field of interest into a diagram that shows how they are related (with original sources below.)But what do nomological networks have to do with us everyday people? Well, consider what happens in research without them.
The lack of a nomological network can cause major headaches in research. Without one, there is no guide for how to interpret the findings. Research is not merely about observing and measuring things and deciding what that means. The measurements are done with the intention of testing ideas about an expected or proposed set of interactions between factors. So, before the research even starts, this idea needs to be clear. This means articulating the theoretical framework that guides everything about the research: the questions, the method and the interpretation of findings. That’s the role of the nomological network.
Without an explicit nomological network, research findings can be misinterpreted. Lots of early research on gender comes to mind. Academic debate can turn into a protracted and unproductive mess. Just try to make sense of nutrition research debates. Those never-ending disagreements in research - that's sometimes about competing theories, but very often it's about failing to precisely defining underlying concepts and, most importantly, how they relate to and how they influence each other.
Those never-ending barneys at the pub about the way the world is and the way it should be often hinge on this same problem.
The trap with complex concepts is that each of us can hold slightly different definitions. This doesn't matter much of the time. It's only when we have a disagreement that the difference shows itself.
Rather often in a debate or discussion about 'how the world should be', agreement or understanding can't be reached because the people involved do not share the same nomological network (in their heads obviously, not on the beer mat). They don't have a shared idea of the meaning of the key concepts, what the conceptual 'boundaries' are (i.e. what's not included), and how the concepts relate to each other. Think about the last time you disagreed with someone about the way the world is related to concepts like 'kindness', 'gender', 'poverty', 'mental health' or 'nutrition', etc. Did you wonder whether you actually shared the same definitions of these concepts as those you were disagreeing with? It's very common not to.
These unresolvable and sometimes very irritating disagreements are just like research which lacks a nomological net.
So people can argue flat out about what they think, what they observe and why they matters, but they aren't even talking about the same concept! Have you ever thought about looking there? Sometimes, the discussion might persist long enough to finally discover that each of you have irreconcilable definitions of the underlying concepts. It doesn't mean you necessarily start to agree, but you do start to understand.
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| Same, Nico Tortorella |
And in everyday life, as a way of thinking about word meaning and discussing how we define and group concepts, nomological networks can be fun, interesting and challenging. Well, I find them interesting because thinking about how we define and use words - it's kinda my thing.
Very happily a word nerd.
Very happily a word nerd.
Without knowing it, we each construct a myriad of nomological network maps - representations of concepts and their relationships - that allow us to think, learn and understand complexity in the world. Most often, we are unaware of this myriad of maps in our heads. Even when we know the word nomological.
Thinking about the meaning of words can keep me awake at night. It is what I first think about when I don't agree with or understand someone else's argument or claim, and it can distract me in otherwise pleasant conversations when I clue into some weirdly differing word meanings that are side-tracking the discussion.
And while awake in the middle of the night, what I'm trying to do is figure out a nomological net.
As an example, I spent some time recently puzzling over the competing views about liberty in the US politics. This debate drives me to distraction. It ranges across issues of how important it really is, how it can be infringed, how it can be protected, etc. But, frustratingly, the various positions in the argument clearly result from different meanings of what the word liberty actually means.
The other aspect of life in which nomological networks can be most helpful is for advertising and political claims. These areas are rife with undefined or deliberately misused positive concepts to manipulate people. There are innumerable examples, but here's just one playing on the concept of freedom - advertising cigarettes to young women as the 'torch of freedom'. Successful political slogans (successful at persuading people) often include complex concepts that each person interprets their own way. Most people don't object to the apparent meaning of a slogan like Make Australia Great, but what great means to the person promoting the slogan can be a world away from what it means to most of us.
Diagrams and maps of word meaning can be clarifying where more written words might just lead to confusion. The human visual system is capable of processing complex, dimensional information naturally.
So, maybe you still think nomological is just a dry and unhelpful adjective. Amazingly, you are still reading. Take a quiet moment to ponder the various nomological networks you carry around in your head and use every day, without realising. How do you define and understand 'fairness', 'altruism' or 'poverty'? When you argue with someone else about these things, where does the disagreement lie?
The chance that we all have exactly the same nomological network for a complex concept is so remote I won't even look for a metaphor for it. If we appreciate this, we can explore these underlying ideas when we find ourselves in disagreement with others.
It won't stop disagreement of course. We don't all have to agree. The main source of disagreement remains fundamentally core values about humanity and the wider world. Notwithstanding this, clarity (or lack of clarity) about word meanings and definitions is a key source of much of the misunderstanding between people.
Understanding is the first step in the resolution of issues or discord.
When you begin to understand that 'concepts' don't have simple or tangible definitions and appreciate the high likelihood that your concept of safety or happiness is probably different from what it means to others, you start to approach disagreement differently. You may still disagree after you clarify exactly what you both mean, but you'll waste a lot less time arguing about different things!
The other benefit of reflecting on word meaning using a nomological network (in your head of course) is that you are less likely to be misled by advertising, politicians' words, and other forms of manipulation that so very often rely on the use of undefined concepts - think words like freedom, human rights, aspiration, fairness.
Our individual nomological networks underpin most of our discussions, much of our learning throughout life, and all our complex thinking. For me, they are anything but dry and boring.
I hope this doesn't keep you up at night.
Sources of nomological network images; accessed 27 May 2019:
1. The Nomological Network, slide show, no author https://slideplayer.com/slide/5376295/
2. Measurement Validity Qian-Li Xue Biostatistics Program. Slide show published by Neal Hill https://slideplayer.com/slide/11936320/
3. Assessing Prior Learning. Slide show, presented by Nan Travers https://www.slideshare.net/NRCPL/assessing-prior-learning
4. Lewis et al. (2015) Advancing implementation science through measure development and evaluation: a study protocol Implementation Science Open Access
And while awake in the middle of the night, what I'm trying to do is figure out a nomological net.
As an example, I spent some time recently puzzling over the competing views about liberty in the US politics. This debate drives me to distraction. It ranges across issues of how important it really is, how it can be infringed, how it can be protected, etc. But, frustratingly, the various positions in the argument clearly result from different meanings of what the word liberty actually means.
The other aspect of life in which nomological networks can be most helpful is for advertising and political claims. These areas are rife with undefined or deliberately misused positive concepts to manipulate people. There are innumerable examples, but here's just one playing on the concept of freedom - advertising cigarettes to young women as the 'torch of freedom'. Successful political slogans (successful at persuading people) often include complex concepts that each person interprets their own way. Most people don't object to the apparent meaning of a slogan like Make Australia Great, but what great means to the person promoting the slogan can be a world away from what it means to most of us.
Diagrams and maps of word meaning can be clarifying where more written words might just lead to confusion. The human visual system is capable of processing complex, dimensional information naturally.
So, maybe you still think nomological is just a dry and unhelpful adjective. Amazingly, you are still reading. Take a quiet moment to ponder the various nomological networks you carry around in your head and use every day, without realising. How do you define and understand 'fairness', 'altruism' or 'poverty'? When you argue with someone else about these things, where does the disagreement lie?
The chance that we all have exactly the same nomological network for a complex concept is so remote I won't even look for a metaphor for it. If we appreciate this, we can explore these underlying ideas when we find ourselves in disagreement with others.
It won't stop disagreement of course. We don't all have to agree. The main source of disagreement remains fundamentally core values about humanity and the wider world. Notwithstanding this, clarity (or lack of clarity) about word meanings and definitions is a key source of much of the misunderstanding between people.
Understanding is the first step in the resolution of issues or discord.
When you begin to understand that 'concepts' don't have simple or tangible definitions and appreciate the high likelihood that your concept of safety or happiness is probably different from what it means to others, you start to approach disagreement differently. You may still disagree after you clarify exactly what you both mean, but you'll waste a lot less time arguing about different things!
The other benefit of reflecting on word meaning using a nomological network (in your head of course) is that you are less likely to be misled by advertising, politicians' words, and other forms of manipulation that so very often rely on the use of undefined concepts - think words like freedom, human rights, aspiration, fairness.
Our individual nomological networks underpin most of our discussions, much of our learning throughout life, and all our complex thinking. For me, they are anything but dry and boring.
I hope this doesn't keep you up at night.
Sources of nomological network images; accessed 27 May 2019:
1. The Nomological Network, slide show, no author https://slideplayer.com/slide/5376295/
2. Measurement Validity Qian-Li Xue Biostatistics Program. Slide show published by Neal Hill https://slideplayer.com/slide/11936320/
3. Assessing Prior Learning. Slide show, presented by Nan Travers https://www.slideshare.net/NRCPL/assessing-prior-learning
4. Lewis et al. (2015) Advancing implementation science through measure development and evaluation: a study protocol Implementation Science Open Access
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