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soctheory-topic-selection

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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).

Sociological-Theory-Skills/skills/soctheory-topic-selection/SKILL.md

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# 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
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