Abstract: THIS chapter deals with certain logical and methodological problems of theory construction in the behavioral sciences. In matters of theory construction, the social sciences, which study action, have problems in common with the physical sciences, which study motion. The study of these common problems of theory construction is generally regarded as the study of the language of science. The general characteristics of the act of inquiry confer upon the language of science some special features. Scientific theory aims at a type of explanation which seeks to establish functional relationships between variables. Observations are made within a theoretical framework, and this framework yields empirical implications which can be tested by further observations. The language of science is tied together by symbolic constructs of varying degrees of remoteness or abstraction from direct observations and empirical data, and the logical form of the scientific proposition is an integral part of the expression of empirical laws. Hence it is impossible to separate the purely empirical from the purely rational or theoretical components of scientific inquiry. The concepts and propositions of a scientific system must be represented, manipulated, and communicated symbolically, and the scientific protocol is not, therefore, free from the rules of symbolism. The verbal statements, mathematical expressions, and logical propositions which are generated in the act of inquiry constitute the linguistic or symbolic behavior of the scientist, and, in sum, the language of science.
Publication Year: 1955
Publication Date: 1955-02-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 5
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