Thorngate's postulate of commensurate complexity
Thorngate's Postulate of commensurate complexity[1] is the description of a Social Science phenomenom concerning directions and results of resarch conducted. Karl E. Weick maintains that research in the field of social psychology can - at a time - achieve only two out of the three meta-theoretical virtues "Generality", "Accuracy" and "Simplicity", and that the third aspect therefore must be neglected in any research.[2] The name of the theorem is derived from the Canadian social psychologist Warren Thorngate of the University of Alberta, whose work is quoted by Weick.[2][3]
Background
Background to the theorem is the debate of sociologists - mainly Kenneth J. Gergen[4] and Barry R. Schlenker[5] – revolving around the meaning of sociological research. Whilst Schlenker appeared to maintain the position, that context only superficially influenced social behavior, Gergen appeared to maintain that context penetrated everything in social behavior, rendering observations as specific to the very situation observed. Thus, simplifying the discussion, the observation of social behavior would be no more than collecting historical data, since context would never be the same and the results would be unique. In fact, sociology would be some specialized kind of historical research.[3] Considering this, Thorngate writes
It is impossible for a theory of social behaviour to be simultaneously general, simple or parsimonious, and accurate.
— Warren Thorngate[3]
The statement was confirmed by Gergen:
The more general a simple theory, the less accurate it will be in predicting specifics.
— Kenneth J. Gergen[6]
Weick's Interpretation
Weick describes the model with a clock with the word "General" on the 12 o'clock position, "Accurate" at 4 o'clock and "Simple" at 8 o'clock. According to Weick, research operates in this continuum
- if research attempted to be accurate and simple (6-o'clock research), results would not be generaly applicable.
- if research aimed at general and simple (10-o'clock research), results would not be accurate and
- if research general and accurate (2-o'clock research), results would not be simple any more.
Weick's sample for 2-o'clock resarch is Otto Fenichel's
Als Beispiele für 2-Uhr-Forschung nennt Weick die psychoanalytische Theorie (Otto Fenichel[7]), Levinsons Organisationsdiagnose[8] und Gregory Batesons[9] Theorie zur Ökologie des Geistes. Sechs-Uhr-Forschung (einfach und genau aber nicht allgemein) erkennt er beispielsweise in der Koalitionstheorie von Komorita und Chertkoff[10] aber auch in einem großen Teil der Feld- und Laborforschung. Als Beispiele für 10-Uhr-Forschung (einfach und allgemein aber ungenau) nennt Weick das Peter-Prinzip[11], das Konzept der losen Kopplung[12] und die organisierte Anarchie.
Für Weick bedeutet das, dass Forschungsansätze, die sich nach dieser Darstellung zwangsläufig auf eine oder zwei Dimensionen konzentrieren müssen, durch andere Ansätze ergänzt werden sollten. Nur so können vollständige Bilder von Forschungsgegenständen entstehen. Somit ist das Postulat deskriptiv für die Forschung und präskriptiv für die Forschungsmethodik.
Kritik
Auch wenn das Konzept im Allgemeinen anerkannt wird, kritisieren Fred Dickinson, Carol Blair und Brian L. Ott Weick's Verwendung des Wortes "Accurate" (Genau).[2] Insbesondere in Untersuchungen zu Gedächtnis und ähnlich schwierig qualifizierbaren Themen ist Genauigkeit (im Sinne von Präzision) nur schwierig zu erreichen. Sie schlagen eine Substituierung durch den Terminus "interpretive utility" (interpretativer Nutzen) vor.[2]
Quellen
- ^ Warren Thorngate (1976) „In general“ vs. „it depends“: Some comments on the Gergen-Schlenker debate; Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 2, S. 404-410. zitiert in Weick, Karl E. (1985) Der Prozeß des Organisierens (Übers. v. Hauck, Gerhard); 4. Aufl. 27. August 2007; suhrkamp Taschenbücher Wissenschaft 1194, Frankfurt; ISBN : 978-3-518-28794-1; Seite 54 ff.
- ^ a b c d Fred Dickinson, Carol Blair, Brian L. Ott (2010) Places of Public Memory: The Rhetoric of Museums and Memorials; University of Alabama Press, Page 48, Note 104
- ^ a b c Warren Thorngate (1976) "In General" vs. "It depends": Some Comments of the Gergen-Schlenker Debate; Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 2, S. 404-410.
- ^ Kenneth J. Gergen (1973) Social psychology as history; Journal of Personality and Social Psychology; 26; Seite 309-320; zitiert in Warren Thorngate (1976) "In General" vs. "It depends": Some Comments of the Gergen-Schlenker Debate; Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 2, S. 404-410.
- ^ Barry R. Schlenker (1974) Social Psychology and science; Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, Seite 1-15; zitiert in Warren Thorngate (1976) "In General" vs. "It depends": Some Comments of the Gergen-Schlenker Debate; Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 2, S. 404-410.
- ^ Kenneth J. Gergen (1976) Social psychology, science and history; Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin; 1976, 2. 373-383 zitiert in Warren Thorngate (1976) "In General" vs. "It depends": Some Comments of the Gergen-Schlenker Debate; Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 2, S. 404-410.
- ^ Otto Fenichel (1945) The psychoanalytic theory of neuroses; New York: Norton.
- ^ H. Levinson (1972) Organizational diagnosis; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press
- ^ Gregory W. Bateson (1972) Steps to an ecology of mind; New York: Ballantine
- ^ S. S. Komorita und Jerome M. Chertkoff (1973) A bargaining theory of coalition formation. Psychological Review 80, S. 149-162.
- ^ Laurence J. Peter; Raymond Hull (1972) Das Peter-Prinzip oder die Hierarchie der Unfähigen, Rowohlt Taschenbuch-Verlag, Reinbek bei Hamburg, Kapitel 1
- ^ Karl E. Weick: Sources of order in Underorganized Systems: Themes in Recend Organizational Theory. In: Karl E. Weick (Hrsg.): Making Sense of the organization. University of Michigan/ Blackwell Publishing, Malden, MA 2001, ISBN 0-631-22317-7, S. 32–57.
[[Kategorie:Sozialwissenschaft]] [[Kategorie:Wissenschaftstheorie]] [[de: Thorngates Postulat der angemessenen Komplexität]]