eursr-theory-building
Use when building the theoretical argument of a European Sociological Review (ESR) manuscript into a portable mechanism with testable hypotheses — typically a macro–micro (institution → individual outcome) account suited to comparative or longitudinal quantitative work. ESR rewards a mechanism that travels over a coefficient bound to one country or wave. Structures the argument; it does not run analyses.
Profile →npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill eursr-theory-building --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 & Argument Building (eursr-theory-building) At ESR a finding becomes a contribution when it is attached to an **explicit mechanism that other sociologists can use** and stated as **testable hypotheses** the design can adjudicate. ESR's house form is often a **macro–micro argument**: how an institutional or contextual feature shapes an individual-level social process. This skill turns data into theory. ## When to trigger - The models are strong but the "so what / why" is thin - A reviewer said the paper is "atheoretical," "variable-driven," or "hypotheses tacked on" - You need to state the mechanism, the hypotheses, and the scope conditions - Reconciling a cross-national pattern with an individual-level explanation ## Build the argument 1. **Concept.** Define the key construct (the form of inequality, mobility, integration, the attitude) and distinguish it from neighbors; say how it is measured in principle. 2. **Mechanism.** The social process generating the pattern — who acts, why, under what structural or institutional conditions. Make the **macro–micro link** explicit (how context C changes the individual calculus or constraint). 3. **Hypotheses.** Derive directional, t
- When to trigger
- Build the argument
- The macro–micro template (ESR-specific)
- The "portability" test (ESR-specific)
- What "theoretical contribution" means to an ESR referee
- Worked micro-example (illustrative)
- Referee pushback → ESR-specific fix
- Calibration anchors
- Anti-patterns
- Output format
- Supplementary resources
What does the eursr-theory-building skill do?
Use when building the theoretical argument of a European Sociological Review (ESR) manuscript into a portable mechanism with testable hypotheses — typically a macro–micro (institution → individual outcome) account suited to comparative or longitudinal quantitative work. ESR rewards a mechanism that travels over a coefficient bound to one country or wave. Structures the argument; it does not run analyses.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill eursr-theory-building --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.