Nomological - defining by diagram

Here's an adjective you don't hear every day or maybe 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 of nomological is:

♦️ relating to or expressing basic physical laws or rules of reasoning.

 

Dry 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).

Mmm, I thought definitions were supposed to help you work out what a word meant. I've got another approach for this word. 

When nomological is combined with network, you get something interesting. A 'nomological network' is a diagram of 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 below. (I am not the author; no author listed.)

Source, a nomological network
of a nomological network

To explain the image: A nomological network is a diagram to define complex concepts (constructs). It's not any random circles with words and arrows. Boundaries for 'what's in' and 'what's out' are conveyed by the circles and other shapes. By including real world observations (obs) that back up the ideas, the diagram ensures it reflects common sense and what actually happens. That is all the 'rule' or 'law' refers to - the organisation of 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 things (construct validity is the research term). This was particularly important in the new 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 all agree that is what it is; to ensure we all share the same definition. 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 is very different from defining a thing 

A 'thing' is defined by something about it or its purpose. Examples 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. We might debate the best way to define a dog, but we always refer to 'something tangible out there' in the world to do so.

Source, this versus that

In contrast, a concept (or construct) is defined by what we* agree it means, rather than any observable features or purpose. We essentially make the word mean what we want. We explain and define concepts with other words, not by reference to something tangible 'out there'. This diagram defines anxiety and depression. If you want to disagree with this definition, you debate what's in the circles and boxes, i.e. the words. (*'We' being society - we define 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 the challenge in defining complex concepts that are 'in our heads', researchers working with them need to continually check that what they are talking about is valid, useful and shared by other people. 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. 

Source, useful for some, spaghetti for others

In summary, a nomological network is a diagram that articulates a precise shared definition of words for key concepts in a field of study. 

Still dry and unhelpful, you think?

That's what researchers said in the 1950s too.

It turned out nomological networks made interesting pictures and were apparently 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.)

Source, defining concepts and interaction as part of a process

Nomological networks for ordinary people

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 research findings. Research is not merely about observing and measuring things and deciding what the measurement means. The measurement is done with the intention of testing a specific idea about an expected or proposed set of interactions between identified factors. So, before the research even starts, this idea needs to be clear. This means articulating the theory and ideas that guides everything about the research: the questions, the method and the interpretation of findings. That’s the important role of the nomological network.

Without an explicit nomological network, research findings can be interpreted in multiple ways, and is more open to the expectations and biases of the researchers. 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 debates on nutrition research. Those never-ending disagreements in research - that's sometimes about competing theories, but very often it's about failing to precisely define underlying concepts and, most importantly, how they relate to and how they influence each other. Frustrating for researchers for sure.

As for us, 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. We get by despite this 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 never 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 concepts 'boundaries' are (i.e. what is and is not included), and how the concepts relate to each other. Think about the last time you disagreed with someone about ideas related to kindness, gender, poverty, mental health or nutrition, etc. Did you wonder at any point whether you actually shared the same definitions of these concepts as the person you were disagreeing with? It's extremely common that we don't. But then, we are arguing about different things.

These unresolvable and sometimes very irritating disagreements are just like research which lacks a nomological network.

So, people can argue flat out about what they think, what they observe and why that matters, but they aren't even talking about the same concept! Have you ever thought about looking there? Sometimes, a discussion might persist long enough to finally discover that each of you have definitions of the underlying concepts that are completely different. 

Same, Nico Tortella

It doesn't mean you necessarily start to agree, but you do start to understand.

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. 

Without knowing it, we each hold a myriad of informal nomological network diagrams - maps 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 diagrams in our heads. Even when we do know the word nomological.

Nomological networks help us understand different opinions

Thinking about the meaning of words can keep me awake at night. It is what I think about first 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 at night, what I'm trying to do is figure out a nomological network that clarifies the meaning and possibly the reason for disagreement.

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, it's not really about different values; the various positions in the argument result from different meanings of what the word liberty actually means. 

Nomological networks help us cut through the rubbish talk

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 supposedly 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'. 

My idea of 'great' is probably not the same
as yours Clive (from the socials).

Political slogans that successfully persuade people often include complex concepts that each person interprets their own way. Most people don't object to 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 and more words might just lead to confusion. The human visual system is capable of processing complex, dimensional information naturally.

Take a moment to ponder the idea that you carry numerous nomological networks around in your head and use them every day, without realising. How do you define and understand fairness, altruism or poverty? I'd bet you have at least a vague diagram of concepts that all go together to make up your definitions. When you argue with someone else about these things, where does the disagreement lie? I wonder just how often it's in the definitions of complex concepts.

The chance that we all have exactly the same nomological network for a complex concept is so remote I won't even try to think of a metaphor for it. When we appreciate this, we can explore these underlying ideas when we find ourselves in disagreement with others.

It won't stop disagreement of course. The deepest source of disagreement remains differing core values about humanity and the wider world. Notwithstanding this, clarity (or lack of clarity) about word meanings and definitions is an additional key source of much misunderstanding between people.

Identifying different definitions is a first step toward resolution

When you begin to understand that concepts don't have simple or tangible definitions and appreciate the high likelihood that your idea of what, e.g., safety or happiness means is probably different from what it means to another person, 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 misusing vague words like freedom, human rights, aspiration, fairness.

Our many information and 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. 

Images of nomological network images

• The Nomological Network, slide show, no author https://slideplayer.com/slide/5376295/ 
• Measurement Validity Qian-Li Xue Biostatistics Program. Slide show published by Neal Hill https://slideplayer.com/slide/11936320/
• Assessing Prior Learning. Slide show, presented by Nan Travers https://www.slideshare.net/NRCPL/assessing-prior-learning
• Lewis et al. (2015) Advancing implementation science through measure development and evaluation: a study protocol Implementation Science Open Access https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/81519236.pdf

Reference

• Amosa, A., Haglundb, M. (2000). From social taboo to “torch of freedom”: the marketing of cigarettes to women. BMJ Journals, Tobacco Control, Volume 9 (1) at https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/9/1/3