S -Theory and the Lost Paradigm of Science
Nicholas Sheldon ( Phd Philosophy , Keele University )
Abstract
Pick up a psychology textbook published before the 1960s and you may be surprised by the considerable presence of the algebraic formulae of Clark Hull or the higher mathematics of Kenneth Spence . Until the 1960s , social sciences such as psychology and sociology adopted the same paradigm as the physical sciences , leading to a mathematical ( as opposed to statistical ) approach , but discuss this topic with professional psychologists and sociologists in the 21st Century in the UK , however , and you may find that they are unaware that it ever existed . Stuart Dodd ’ s ‘ S-Theory ’ is an example of a now forgotten alternative to the contemporary approach , and this paper is an examination of the concepts in his almost onethousand-page book on S-Theory . Dodds developed his ideas in the 1940s before digital computers even existed , and so the concepts of computer science were not available to guide and develop his opus . The paper therefore seeks to rigorise his quasi-mathematical ‘ language ’, providing a syntactic definition of S-Theory and suggestions for its possible development in the computer era . Dodd ’ s S-Theory is an intriguing mix of what in the physical sciences would be called ‘ dimensional analysis ’ together with a symbolic system for recording meta-data . When Dodd ’ s published ‘ Dimensions of Society ’ in 1942 , the concept of meta-data had not been described , let alone named . At its heart are four symbols , ‘ T ’, ‘ I ’, ‘ L ’ and ‘ P ’, standing for time , ‘ indicants ’, length and ‘ plurels ’, each of which describing a particular aspect of data taken from sociology or psychology , and surrounded by superscript and subscript symbols refining their meaning . Although a very sophisticated system , it was not adopted by academics of the era . The 21st Century may be different .
Key words : Logic ; Theories of Social Science ; S-Theory ; Isomorphic ; Metadata