soctheory-topic-selection
Use when deciding whether an idea is a genuine theoretical problem and a fit for Sociological Theory (ST) rather than an empirical study or a review essay. Screens the problem and venue fit; it does NOT build the theory (soctheory-theory-construction) or position it in a tradition (soctheory-literature-positioning).
Profile →npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill soctheory-topic-selection --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.
# Topic Selection: Is There a Real Theoretical Problem? (soctheory-topic-selection) ## When to trigger - You have an interesting phenomenon, intuition, or critique but no theory yet - You are unsure whether the idea belongs at ST or at an empirical/specialist venue - A draft exists but you cannot state, in one sentence, what theoretical work it does - You suspect the "theory" is really a literature review or an empirical finding in disguise ## What counts as an ST-fit theoretical problem ST publishes work "in all areas of theory" — new substantive theories, history of theory, metatheory, formal theory construction, and synthetic contributions (submission guidelines, 检索于 2026-06；以官网为准). A fit problem is one where the deliverable is a **conceptual advance**: existing theory cannot see, name, or explain something, and your paper supplies the concept, mechanism, distinction, or reconstruction that lets it. Abend's "The Meaning of 'Theory'" (ST 2008, 26(2):173–199) is the discipline-level reminder that "theory" is several things at once — be explicit about which you are doing. | Kind of theory work (Abend-style) | What the paper delivers | ST-fit? | |-----------------------------------|
- When to trigger
- What counts as an ST-fit theoretical problem
- The four screening questions
- Sibling-venue map (route off ST if the fit is wrong)
- Checklist
- Anti-patterns
- Output format
What does the soctheory-topic-selection skill do?
Use when deciding whether an idea is a genuine theoretical problem and a fit for Sociological Theory (ST) rather than an empirical study or a review essay. Screens the problem and venue fit; it does NOT build the theory (soctheory-theory-construction) or position it in a tradition (soctheory-literature-positioning).
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill soctheory-topic-selection --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.