Paradigm Development in the Social Sciences: A Proposed Research Strategy

Abstract

A paradigm development strategy of research consists of: fitting data into a theoretical framework with general laws to explain the data; deducing hypotheses from the general laws; and subjecting these hypotheses to empirical test. Deductive-nomological reasoning, crucial experiments, and typology of experimental control strategies are presented. Methods of strong inference are discussed, followed by a description of paradigm development research. Examples illustrate the strategy of paradigm research.