Konkretisering

Konkretisering is the process of making something abstract more concrete, specific, and actionable. It involves translating broad aims, concepts, or norms into terms that can be observed, measured, and implemented.

The term is used across fields such as policy making, project management, research, and law. In social sciences it is closely related to operationalisering (operationalization), which specifies how to measure and test a concept in practice.

Core elements include clarity (precise meaning and scope), measurability (indicators and metrics), feasibility (practical constraints), relevance (alignment with goals), verifiability (data or evidence), and timeliness (deadlines and milestones).

The typical process starts with an abstract concept, followed by defining scope and boundaries; identifying concrete indicators or variables; specifying data sources and methods; establishing timelines and responsibilities; and documenting acceptance criteria or success benchmarks.

Applications include policy and governance (turning broad targets into SMART objectives), project management (decomposing goals into tasks and milestones), research (defining variables for validity), and law or regulation (clarifying terms and obligations). An example is translating a general aim like improving social welfare into measurable actions, such as reducing processing times by a set percentage and tracking user satisfaction.

Benefits include improved clarity, accountability, and evaluability; while challenges involve potential oversimplification, loss of nuance, and the need to involve stakeholders to ensure relevance and avoid bias. Overall, konkretisering helps connect ideas to concrete actions and verifiable outcomes.