Abstract
An examination, primarily through citation analysis, is made of the changing interdependence of theory and experiment in a specialty within particle physics, the physics of weak interactions, during a period of rapid intellectual development. Lakatos' notions of how theory and experiment should be related during 'progressive' and 'stagnating' periods are used as guides for the analysis. At the conclusion a suggestion is offered as to the way in which Lakatos' categories might best be used in empirical research.
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