asq-theory-development
Use when building the theoretical engine for an Administrative Science Quarterly (ASQ) manuscript — mechanisms, process vs. variance logic, constructs, and boundary conditions. Builds the argument; it does not select methods or run analysis.
Profile →npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill asq-theory-development --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# Theory Development (asq-theory-development) ## When to trigger - You have a puzzle (from `asq-topic-selection`) but no theoretical machinery to explain it - Your "theory" is a box-and-arrow diagram with labeled constructs but no *mechanism* - You are unsure whether your phenomenon needs a process theory or a variance theory - Reviewers say the theory is "thin," "post hoc," or "a relabeling of the finding" ## Process theory vs. variance theory This is the central choice at ASQ. Get it right before drafting. - **Variance theory** explains *how much* of an outcome varies with antecedents: X → Y, with moderators/mediators. Appropriate for "whether and under what conditions" questions, typically quantitative. - **Process theory** explains *how and why* something unfolds over time: sequences, events, feedback, transformation. Appropriate for emergence, becoming, contestation, and dynamics — typically qualitative/inductive. ASQ punishes **variance framing forced onto a process question**: if your data show a sequence of events transforming an organization but you write it as "factor A increases outcome B," reviewers will say the theory and phenomenon are mismatched. Match the form of th
- When to trigger
- Process theory vs. variance theory
- Mechanism first
- For inductive papers
- For deductive papers
- Checklist
- Anti-patterns
- Output format
What does the asq-theory-development skill do?
Use when building the theoretical engine for an Administrative Science Quarterly (ASQ) manuscript — mechanisms, process vs. variance logic, constructs, and boundary conditions. Builds the argument; it does not select methods or run analysis.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill asq-theory-development --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills, a repository with 909 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.