Evolution in Research and Theory: A Study of Prominent Researchers

Abstract

The mode of scientific inquiry that was dominant in the 1950s and early 1960s is described, and the work of four prominent sets of researchers of that period is analyzed in an effort to determine the degree to which the research that was conducted actually followed the tenets of the prevailing philosophy. Then, the much more complicated conditions of the present are examined in the light of the multiple, divergent, and conflicting ideologies that are now being espoused. Four currently prominent sets of researchers are selected, and both the theoretical and methodological characteristics of their efforts are assessed. The general conclusion of the analysis is that the researchers of the present are ignoring the criticisms of functionalism as well as the new approaches being advocated, and they are still working loosely within the framework of logical positivism.