Sozialstrukturanalyse: Welfare Stateness as an Explanatory Concept

Kunißen, Katharina

This open access publication deals with the operationalisation of the welfare state as an independent variable.

To study how welfare states affect social inequality, individual behaviour, attitudes and more in different countries, an empirical operationalisation of the welfare state or specific elements of social policy is required. However, this operationalisation is fraught with some important problems. These problems essentially relate to one point: while there are a large number of contributions dealing with the measurement of differences between welfare states per se and as a dependent variable, there is a lack of feasible recommendations for a standardised operationalisation of welfare stateness as an independent variable.

This book fills both gaps. First, it exposes the pitfalls of existing approaches and shows how much empirical results can vary depending on the operationalisation chosen. Second, it proposes a framework for a standardised conceptualisation and operationalisation of social policies as independent variables that constrains operational decisions in a theoretically meaningful way.

Details

Published by: Springer VS

Publication Date: 2022-11-13

Format: Paperback

ISBN-13: 9783658394219

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-658-39422-6

Dimensions: 210cm x148cm

Pages: 224