A FALLIBILISTIC RESPONSE TO THYER'S THEORY OF THEORY-FREE EMPIRICAL RESEARCH IN SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE.

A FALLIBILISTIC RESPONSE TO THYER'S THEORY OF THEORY-FREE EMPIRICAL RESEARCH IN SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE. "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean -neither more or less." "The question is,' said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things." "The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master--that's all." Lewis Carroll If you want to find out anything from theoretical physicists [or social work authorities] about the methods they use, I advise you to stick closely to one principle: don't listen to their words, fix your attention on their deeds. Albert Einstein THE ESSENTIAL ARGUMENT that Professor Thyer makes in his article,as well as in a previous article (Thyer, 1994a), is that theory is neither essential nor necessarily desirable for research on social work practice ... [and further there] are many negative consequences for our field's current insistence that dissertations be exercises in theory building. Rather than mandating that ... a social work dissertation must be either theoretically based or contribute to theory, let us recognize nontheoretical research contributions and not accord them secondary status. (Thyer, 2001, p. 22) He argues this position not as an "anti-theoretician"which he assures us, "I am not" (Thyer, 1994a, p. 148). Asevidence, he tells us that he teaches "didactic courses ... devotedto human behavior theory Behavior theory can refer to: in sociology, the collective behavior theory in political sciences, the theories of political behavior in psychology, the theory of planned behavior and its relevance to practice ... on anirregular basis Adv. 1. on an irregular basis - in an irregular manner; "her letters arrived irregularly"irregularly " (p. 148). This may be our first clue as to what iswrong currently with social work education. Perhaps what schools ofsocial work ought to be providing from the beginning to their studentsare critical analytic skills and courses about various theories andinterventions that review the good, the bad, and the ugly"facts" about them rather than the "didactic,"descriptive lecture courses usually offered. The various"Foundation," "Introductory," or "HumanBehavior in the Social Environment" (HBSE HBSE Human Behavior and the Social Environment (college course)) courses, because theyare uncritical surveys, may give the impression that all the theories,methods, and interventions discussed (merely because they are discussed)are effective and are meant to be professionally sampled much as a chefmight pick a favorite recipe from among many good ones available in acookbook. Be that as it may, Professor Thyer is therefore in his ownwords, "perversely" arguing that, "when it comes totraining competent BSW BSW Bachelor of Social Work (degree)BSW Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft (German Solar Industry Association)BSW BrettspielWelt (online gaming site)BSW Biblical Studies on the Web and MSW (MicroSoft Word) See Microsoft Word. [and according to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. his present article,PhD] practitioners, devoting time to teaching of theory is largely awaste of time" (Thyer, 1994, p. 148). He offers a host ofobjections as to why in the current and previous articles (a) socialwork educators can't or don't do a good job of teachingtheory; (b) most theories we teach in social work, both etiological etiologicalpertaining to etiology.etiological diagnosisthe name of a disease which includes the identification of the causative agent, e.g. Streptococcus agalactiae mastitis. andinterventionary, are wrong; (c) invalid theories may lead to ineffectivemethods; and (d) there are rival hypotheses to the theories claimed tobe the "explanations" for treatment effectiveness, and dealingwith them "needlessly" complicates outcome studies. My response to his provocative claims is equally direct albeitconjectural con��jec��tur��al?adj.1. Based on or involving conjecture. See Synonyms at supposed.2. Tending to conjecture.con��jec . He is correct when he asserts that we often don'tteach theories effectively, or that we merely promote a "noddingacquaintance with a few of the more prominent orientations" (Thyer,1994, p. 149), or that we use theories which are of little value for theactual problems at hand because they probably are false. But Thyer ismaking only the trivial point that social work apparently has made verylittle, if any, progress toward discovering and deploying rigorousknowledge relevant to the field. I say trivial because this has been thedifficulty that a host of social work authors, including himself, havebeen discussing, hypothesizing, and writing about for the past 35 oddyears and apparently getting nowhere (Briar briar:see brier. , 1967; Fisher, 1973a, 1973b,1976; Gambrill, 1999; Reid, 1998; Rosen, Proctor, & Staudt, 1999).As he aptly notes about the long-recognized crisis in social workresearch, "There is a phrase to describe a crisis which haspersisted for longer than one's professional life. It is calledbusiness as usual!" (Thyer, 2001, p. 23). However, when he arguesagainst theory as an essential component of the intellectual workrequired for all aspects of scientific research in our field he issimply wrong. Besides, his definition of social work as an"applied" profession rather than an academic discipline (p.14), a view for which he offers no critical argument, is prey to thewell recognized fallacy of invalid disjunction disjunction/dis��junc��tion/ (-junk��shun)1. the act or state of being disjoined.2. in genetics, the moving apart of bivalent chromosomes at the first anaphase of meiosis. (either/or-ing). His suggestion that a misguided pre-occupation with"theory" (its building and testing) is the cause of thefield's inability to use science to advance professional knowledgeis based on a mistaken philosophic/scientific world view.Justificationism, a heterogeneous philosophic perspective (Popper,1959/1968, 1979, 1983) which, in Professor Thyer's case Iconjecture, subject to his refutation ref��u��ta��tion? also re��fut��aln.1. The act of refuting.2. Something, such as an argument, that refutes someone or something.Noun 1. , consists of a commitment toempiricism empiricism(ĕmpĭr`ĭsĭzəm)[Gr.,=experience], philosophical doctrine that all knowledge is derived from experience. For most empiricists, experience includes inner experience—reflection upon the mind and its , positivism positivism(pŏ`zĭtĭvĭzəm), philosophical doctrine that denies any validity to speculation or metaphysics. Sometimes associated with empiricism, positivism maintains that metaphysical questions are unanswerable and that the only , and a hint, perhaps unbeknownst to him, ofrelativism. This justificationary commitment and his particulardefinitional terminology, by the nature of its assumptions, necessarilylimits what he sees as science and its alleged methods, producing thevery difficulties he is attempting to overcome. He parses definitions to suit the current fashions (at least whatis fashionable among those currently practicing empirical social work).See his Table 2 for some selected definitions of "theory."(*)He argues that his definition of the concept "theory" is theright one when he claims that theory differs from such things asphilosophies of science, models, perspectives, paradigms, conceptualframeworks, or lenses (Thyer, 2001, p. 17), to which I would add my term"world views." I use the term to describe what I conjectureare Professor Thyer's theories of science and philosophy. He statesthat "it is appropriate to clarify what I mean by the term`theory,' since it is often misunderstood" (emphasis added, p.16). Professor Thyer apparently doesn't consider the possibilitythat it might be his definition that may be incorrect because it is hewho misunderstands. He offers Table 3 (p. 17) to illustrate that"these are distinct constructs" (p. 17). This table is noillustration of his version of the definition of "theory" ifhe means effective evidence. The table is a compilation of quotesselected by him because they echo and support his claim and are justdeclarations by authorities, not telling arguments. One could just aseasily compile a contradictory list of quotes from other"experts." If I were in a justificationary mood looking toround up a herd of supportive quotes, topping my list would be this one,"we must regard all laws or theories as hypothetical orconjectural; that is as guesses" (Popper, 1979, p. 9, emphasis inoriginal). "World view" is a verbal construct which may,without any deleterious empirical consequences, be also labeled a theoryabout science and its method, a model of critical thinking, a conceptualperspective, a theoretical framework, an intellectual paradigm, or aphilosophy of science, contrary to Professor Thyer's assertions inhis present article that a theory and these other notions are notcomparable (Thyer, 2001, p. 17). The reasons are straightforward: First,there is no immanence immanence(ĭm`ənəns)[Lat.,=dwelling in], in metaphysics, the presence within the natural world of a spiritual or cosmic principle, especially of the Deity. It is contrasted with transcendence. in words. Words are not a priori a prioriIn epistemology, knowledge that is independent of all particular experiences, as opposed to a posteriori (or empirical) knowledge, which derives from experience. attached to thedata of the world; they are deployed for signifying by human volition vo��li��tionn.1. The act or an instance of making a conscious choice or decision.2. A conscious choice or decision.3. The power or faculty of choosing; the will. arbitrarily. Renaming phenomena does not alter their empirical content(see Peckham, 1979). Second, all of the named constructs are identicalin their empirical explanatory status; they are all tentative,hypothetical constructs or guesses subject to falsification falsification/fal��si��fi��ca��tion/ (fawl?si-fi-ka��shun) lying.retrospective falsification? unconscious distortion of past experiences to conform to present emotional needs. . In the sections which follow I will briefly describe Thyer'sproblem situation and the theoretical framework that drives his work,offer some review and discussion of said work, and, based on thiscritical analysis, suggest why he has been unable to advance and mostlikely may not advance very far in his hoped-for efforts at solutions tothe social work knowledge development problem along the well trodden trod��den?v.A past participle of tread.troddenVerba past participle of tread road of "empirical social work research and practice" aspresently conceptualized. I will conclude with some suggestions for analternate approach with no well-justified support, but some well-testedarguments for knowledge development and its use. Author's Theoretical/Methodological Perspective Before entering on a close review of Thyer's assumptions andclaims it might be helpful by way of contrast to layout my own position.I am a Fallibilist or Critical Rationalist. Karl Popper Noun 1. Karl Popper - British philosopher (born in Austria) who argued that scientific theories can never be proved to be true, but are tested by attempts to falsify them (1902-1994)Popper, Sir Karl Raimund Popperphilosopher - a specialist in philosophy , an eminentphilosopher of science whose earliest professional interests were insocial work and Adlerian psychology (Popper, 1974), has mostcomprehensively explicated this approach in the 20th century (Popper,1959/1968, 1965/1989, 1979, 1983; see also Miller, 1994, for critiquesand responses to Critical Rationalism Critical rationalism is an epistemological philosophy advanced by Karl Popper. Popper wrote about critical rationalism in his works, The Open Society and its Enemies Volume 2, and Conjectures and Refutations. ). Some distinguished fallibilistsare Albert Einstein, methodologist and evolutionary epistemologist D. T.Campbell (of Stanley & Campbell, 1963/1966, and Cook & Campbell,1979, fame), Nobel Laureates F. A. Hayek (economics), Sir John Eccles Noun 1. John Eccles - Australian physiologist noted for his research on the conduction of impulses by nerve cells (1903-1997)Eccles, Sir John Carew Eccles (biology), and Peter Medawar (1988) (medicine and physiology), who hassaid the following: Popper is held in the highest esteem by scientists, a number of whom conspired a few years ago to bring it about that he was elected in to the Fellowship of the world's oldest and most famous scientific society, the Royal Society of London. I am very sorry to have to report that a good many philosophers are jealous of Popper.... I have a feeling that many lecturers on scientific method are oppressed by the sheer reasonableness of Popper's philosophy (pp. 114-115). A fallibilist sees the answer to the problem of learning fromexperience (the age old problem of how knowledge can be gained) and ofdistinguishing better from worse knowledge (how to choose amongknowledge claims) as the application of the Socratic method Socratic methodEducation A teaching philosophy that differs from the traditional format as instruction is in the form of problem-solving and testing of hypotheses. See Layer cake education, Spoon feeding. of intenseand rigorous critical debate/tests by trial-and-error efforts atfalsification of bold conjectures (risky and controversial ideas orarguments) offered as solutions to real world problems. Science issimply a subset of such a critical thinking process, using experimentand observations to "offer ... new arguments or newcriticisms" (Agassi, 1975, p. 26). We begin with a problem ofinterest for which we conjecture (guess, hypothesize hy��poth��e��size?v. hy��poth��e��sized, hy��poth��e��siz��ing, hy��poth��e��siz��esv.tr.To assert as a hypothesis.v.intr.To form a hypothesis. , theorize the��o��rize?v. the��o��rized, the��o��riz��ing, the��o��riz��esv.intr.To formulate theories or a theory; speculate.v.tr.To propose a theory about. ) apossible solution (intervention, approach, explanation, program,procedure) which may explain, reduce, or resolve the problem. Thehypothetical solution must be (in science, empirically) testable or,more broadly, criticizable. We should before the fact provide theconditions that, were they to occur, would falsify falsify,v to forge; to give a false appearance to anything, as to falsify a record. our conjecture toprevent ad hoc For this purpose. Meaning "to this" in Latin, it refers to dealing with special situations as they occur rather than functions that are repeated on a regular basis. See ad hoc query and ad hoc mode. excuses after the fact (Popper, 1968, pp. 40-42). The falsifying test or criticism should be the most difficult (inscience, the most methodologically rigorous) one can manage. If wefalsify our hypothetical solution, we eliminate that from our(scientific) repertoire and conjecture anew, having along the wayidentified and eliminated one of the myriad false notions of humankindand thereby advanced somewhat paradoxically our knowledge of the world,not through accumulation but elimination. If our conjectured problemsolution passes a rigorous falsification effort, we are free to utilizeit again, not because we have shown that it has some measure of support(it has none), but because it passed a difficult test which some rivalsolutions may not have. This, however, in no way suggests that we havegood reasons for assuming that it would, if we tested it again. We mustremain highly skeptical each and every time we apply our theories orinterventions because they are always hypothetical and subject tofalsification in the future. This is so, because the method of induction("direct" observations summed together leading to reliableuniversal or general theories uncritically applicable to the yetunmeasured or unhappened) is a nonfact, contrary to what most socialwork methodologists and other social work authorities, includingProfessor Thyer, believe. Field research--the direct observation of events in progress ... is frequently used to develop theories through observation. (Rubin & Babbie, 1989, p. 45) In due course, explanatory theories may well emerge from data aggregated about the effectiveness of interventions. Research on social work practice should be inductively derived from client and societal problems not deductively driven from explanatory theories (Thyer, 2001, p. 21). Historically the influence of science on direct social work practice has taken two forms. One is the use of the scientific method.... for example gathering evidence and forming hypotheses about a client's problem. (Reid, 1998, p. 3) The preceding quotes illustrate the limited and uncriticalengagement with the issues of the philosophy and methodology of scienceby the profession, including those who are engaged in setting theknowledge development agenda for the profession. These quotes appear tomake common sense. No one would dispute that some "facts"ought be known to help solve client or other social work-relatedproblems and should frame and drive hypothesized efforts at solutionsand their testing rather than imposing some major "explanatorytheories" arbitrarily. The claim, however, that"objective" facts or naked theory-free data can be summedtogether for developing theory is methodologically naive. The underlyingassumptions of induction are incorrect. They, like Minerva, the goddessof wisdom, are a myth, one without which science has and can continue toprogress very nicely. Induction is Sir Francis Bacon's notion of reading the book ofnature as an obvious transparency, which he proposed as the scientificmethod. All one has to do is look and observe the world, and its datawill stream into human consciousness unbiased, as they are inthemselves. This is sometimes known as the commonsense theory ofknowledge (Popper, 1983, pp. 60-78). If you want to know anything aboutthe world, simply open your eyes and ears and absorb the "truefacts" about the world because the senses are accurate conduits ofsuch knowledge. "True" observations provide "truefacts." If you put together enough of these "true facts,"you can provide, through the sheer weight of this "true"evidence (its authenticity determined by the consensus opinion of thecertified authorities), credible, reasonable, substantial, or, in thebest case, conclusive evidence CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE. That which cannot be contradicted by any other evidence,; for example, a record, unless impeached for fraud, is conclusive evidence between the parties. 3 Bouv. Inst. n. 3061-62. to justify the derived theory. Here I canonly argue somewhat programmatically for the falsehood of induction bydiscussing two aspects of its difficulties (see Popper, 1959/1968, 1979,for a comprehensive analysis). First, the facts, contrary to the claimsof social work's Baconians portrayed above, are that there are notheory-free observations or facts. Theory precedes biologically,logically and envelops and permeates observation. Due to ourevolutionarily developed biological cognitive equipment, we filter andrestrict the flow of the information from the "out there" tothat which is important for our survival. As the philosopher Peter Munz(1993) puts it, we are "embodied theories" about the world,which appears solid to us, even though according to the currently besttested evidence most of this world is empty held together by powerfulforces sub-atomically. We only "sense" a limited part of the world. We seelimited portions of the color spectrum and hear only certain soundfrequencies while being blind and deaf to others, which other biologicalorganisms see and hear based on their own evolutionarily developedcognitive mechanisms and survival needs. Bats have "biologicalsonar" to navigate at night and dogs hear supersonic sound; we donot. All our observations are theory impregnated biologically.Observation furthermore requires information about what to observe (wemust have a theory of why the particular observables are relevant to ourproblem) otherwise we could not select among the countless possibleobjects available for the focus of our attention. A theory of some sortabout why some elements of our environment are to be considered data forobservation or are to be named as variables for our analysis, whileothers are not (often at our or more likely at our clients' peril),always must precede observation. For example, Professor Thyer co-edited a two volume Handbook ofEmpirical Social Work Practice (Thyer & Wodarski, 1998) of which thefirst volume is devoted to "mental disorders" and theirempirically validated treatments. These "mental" illnesses arenot identifiable by any physiological markers as are cancers,neurosyphillis, or heart disease; "[t]here are at present no knownbiological diagnostic markers for any mental illnesses" (Andreasen,1997, p. 1586). Mental disorder mental disorderAny illness with a psychological origin, manifested either in symptoms of emotional distress or in abnormal behaviour. Most mental disorders can be broadly classified as either psychoses or neuroses (see neurosis; psychosis). Psychoses (e.g. categories are simply the consensusopinions about problematic behavior, the work of committees ofpsychiatric experts like Nancy Andreasen, just quoted, who make up theTask Force on DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Suchopinions are theories (attempted explanations) about what compose, andwhy, hypothesized groupings of behaviors that are alleged to co-hereinto medical illnesses. Regardless of what we might think about suchclaims, and we know that some of our own outstanding social workscholars have been highly critical of these notions and their results(Cohen cohenor kohen(Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. , 1989, 1994, 1997; Kirk & Kutchins, 1992; Kutchins &Kirk, 1997), the facts are, that without theories about what constitutethese disorders (the alleged clustering of behaviors/experientialclaims), no symptoms (behaviors) representing such "disorders"could be observed nor could any group of individuals be recognized as"schizophrenic" or "manic-depressive." Even moreproblematically, according to Dr. Andreasen, America's foremostschizophrenia researcher and the chair of the DSM-IV committee onschizophrenia, at the end of the 20th century after well over 100 yearsof schizophrenia research, we don't even know what that wordrepresents. "IA] t present the most important problem inschizophrenia research ... [o]ur most pressing problem is ... definingwhat schizophrenia is" (Andreasen, 1999b, p. 781). She furthernotes in a lecture given after receiving "the prestigious AdolphMeyer Adolph Meyer (October 19, 1842 – March 8, 1908) was a member of the U. S. House of Representatives representing the state of Louisiana. He served nine terms as a Democrat from 1891 until his death in office in 1908.Meyer was born in Natchez, Mississippi. Award" at the American Psychiatric Association's 1999Institute of Psychiatric Services, "The DSM 1. DSM - Data Structure Manager.An object-oriented language by J.E. Rumbaugh and M.E. Loomis of GE, similar to C++. It is used in implementation of CAD/CAE software. DSM is written in DSM and C and produces C as output. definition may havedistracted us from the real illness by overemphasizing symptoms and eventhe wrong ones" (Andreasen 1999a). The mental health field, as I write this sentence, is still justguessing about what behaviors/symptoms to put under the various labelslike schizophrenia. The DSM , now in the new millenium in a bigger andbetter version known as DSM-IV-TR (American Psychiatric Association,2000), is of little help when it comes to empirical questions, becauseat least some of the foundational "symptoms" are turning out,as Andreasen notes, to be no longer essential or are probably the wrongones. These difficulties, however, don't stop some other expertsfrom purporting to provide the empirically validated treatments for"mental disorders" (identified perhaps by "theory freeobservations"), even though many of these categories have noreliability or validity (Kirk & Kutchins, 1992) or apparent physicalexistence. Professor Thyer admits, "the acute limitations of thisapproach [the DSM nosology nosology/no��sol��o��gy/ (no-sol��ah-je) the science of the classification of diseases.nosolog��ic no��sol��o��gyn.1. The branch of medicine that deals with the classification of diseases. ] ... [t]he so-called mental disorders ...really should be labeled behavioral, affective, and intellectualdisorders to avoid an unwarranted etiological inference" (Thyer& Wodarski, 1998, p. x, emphasis in original). This claim leaves theinteresting question of what these new theoretical entities are and whatempirical research Noun 1. empirical research - an empirical search for knowledgeinquiry, research, enquiry - a search for knowledge; "their pottery deserves more research than it has received" lead to their christening? Has this set of notionsgone beyond the old fashioned n. 1. A cocktail consisting of whiskey, bitters, and sugar, garnished with with fruit slices and often a cherry.Noun 1. old fashioned - a cocktail made of whiskey and bitters and sugar with fruit slices , everyday terms of troubling, disturbing,unpleasant, or unwanted behavior? If Professors Thyer and Wodarskireally wanted to avoid "unwarranted etiological inference,"why use the word "disorder" at all? It's the one termthat is etiologically suggestive. As DSM-W-TR tells us: The terms mental disorder and general medical condition are used throughout this manual.... It should be recognized that these are merely terms of convenience and should not be taken to imply that there is any fundamental distinction between mental disorders and general medical conditions, that mental disorders are unrelated to physical or biological factors or processes. (American Psychiatric Association, 2000, p. x xxv, emphasis in original) We always hypothesize before we observe. It might be the case thatif you are not fallibilistically inclined, you may not beself-critically examining your own cognitive approach and may missidentifying this step. Since we as organisms theorize (interpret) as abiological necessity in simply confronting the environment, it is notobvious on a commonsensical level that any filtering is going on, andthis will only become available to our conscious analytic process ifit's identified as the problem situation (perhaps by criticallyminded social work educators). However once being alerted to our error,we are from then on responsible for critical self-reflection. The second difficulty with induction is the logical and factualimpossibility of reasoning from the known to the unknown, the particularto the universal, the finite to the infinite. No matter how many timesyou observe apparently similar data or facts, these observations are noguarantee that such "facts" will continue to operate in thefuture. Ten thousand uncontroverted, well-documented, reliable, andvalid observations of white swans in the United States United States,officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. may, if youbelieve in the weight of evidence, offer strong support for the theory"all swans are white." The only problem is that in Australiathere are black swans. This is one observation of such a counterexamplefalsifies the apparently well supported "all swans are white"theory--at least logically. You would want to do some reliability andvalidity checks to eliminate potential technical difficulties that canoccur in the real world (i.e., make sure you are actually observingblack swans not ravens). This hypothetical analysis applies to allgeneralizations from particulars. There is no way to know if the nextobservation, research test, or a yet unthought argument will not be thecounterexample to falsify very "credible," even apparently"absolutely true," theories we hold dear. There has never beena "better-validated," "true" theory than Newtonianmechanics, which for some 230 years was consistently validated, and allthe best minds conceded that the world was thus explained. This was sountil Einstein provided the falsification for this claim by positing abetter and different explanation through his special and generaltheories of relativity (e.g., for Newton gravity is a function of mass,for Einstein gravity is a function of the curvature of space), whichexplained everything that Newton's mechanics did and much that itdid not. Einstein thereby demonstrated that all theories, no matter howauthoritative, even those burdened with the regal title of Natural Laws,are just hypothetical and tentative human guesses about what is. Theyare all subject to refutation when strongly critiqued and are deemedfalsified if they fail exacting tests (Einstein's laws predictcelestial motion more accurately than Newton's, for example). The consequence for science and method of these realities are thefollowing. One cannot generalize at all beyond the observed data. AsCampbell and Stanley (1966) note in their classic, Experimental andQuasi-Experimental Design for Research: A caveat is in order. This caveat introduces some painful problems in the science of induction, The problems are painful because of a recurrent reluctance to accept Hume's truism that induction or generalization is never fully justified logically.... Generalization al. ways turns out to involve extrapolation into a realm not represented in one's sample.... Thus, if one has an internally valid Design 4, one has demonstrated the effect only for those specific conditions, which the experimental and control group have in common.... Logically we cannot generalize beyond these limits; i.e., we cannot generalize at all. (p. 17) Donald Campbell For other people with the same name, see Donald Campbell (disambiguation)Donald Malcolm Campbell, CBE (23 March 1921 – 4 January 1967) was a British car and motorboat racer who broke eight world speed records in the 1950s and 60s. , the senior author of the preceding quote, is thedeveloper and popularizer of social research methods (Campbell &Stanley, 1966; Cook & Campbell, 1979) that are consistently cited bysocial work methodologists (i.e., Rubin & Babbie, 1989, p. 264;Bloom, Fisher, & Orme, 1995, pp. 16-18; Schutt, 1996, pp. 233-243)as authoritative. These authors appear not to be aware ofCampbell's acknowledgement of Popper's devastating refutationof induction and consequently don't appreciate its impact onresearch purported to rely on it (i.e., the invalidation of groundedtheory, a method "for converting data into effective theory,"Strauss, 1987, p. 7, and all other approaches which claim direct,unfiltered Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style.Remove this template after wikifying. This article has been tagged since observation as the source of theory).(1) Campbell was a closeassociate of Popper, sharing with him the development of evolutionaryepistemology Evolutionary epistemology refers to two distinct topics: it is a subfield of naturalized epistemology as well as a theory in epistemology about the growth of knowledge. A branch of naturalized epistemologyMain article: Naturalized Epistemology , one of the most fruitful contemporary intellectualperspectives (Radnitzky & Bartley, 1987), and has said this aboutPopper's influence: It is primarily through the works of Karl Popper that a natural selection epistemology is available today.... Popper's first contribution to evolutionary epistemology is to recognize the process for the succession of theories in science as a similar selection elimination [trial and error] process.... In the process, Popper has effectively rejected the model of passive induction.... Most noteworthy, Popper is unusual among modern epistemologists in taking Hume's criticism of induction seriously, as more than an embarrassment, tautology, or a definitional technicality. It is the logic of variation and selective elimination which has made him able to accept Hume's contribution to analysis and to go on to describe the sense in which ... scientific knowledge is possible (Campbell, 1987, pp. 47-51). As Popper (1959/1968) puts it in two informative quotes: According to my proposal, what characterizes the empirical method is its manner of exposing to falsification, in every conceivable way, the system to be tested. Its aim is not to save the lives of untenable systems, but, on the contrary, to select the one which is by comparison the fittest, by exposing them all to the fiercest struggle for survival.... How and why do we accept one theory in preference to others? The preference is certainly not due to anything like an experiential justification of the statements composing the theory; it is not due to a logical reduction of the theory to experience. We choose the theory which best holds its own in competition with other theories; the one which by natural selection, proves itself the fittest to survive. This will be the one which not only has hitherto stood up to the severest tests, but the one which is also testable in the most vigorous way. A theory [or a model or an intervention] is a tool which we test by applying it, and which we judge as to its fitness by the results of its application. (pp. 42, 108). Fallibilists hold the truth as the regulative idea (Popper, 1979).The fact that some theories, or interventions, can be falsified by thosewhich are better implies that one among them might be the best or true,although we have no way of knowing which, even if we reach it, becauseinduction is false (the current best may be falsified in the future).Science has no "method" as such. It operates by bold guessesor conjectures which are then put to severe tests (whichmethodologically must be able to actually test what is being asserted)in a trial-and-error fashion. The tests serve as negative feedback forcorrection. A positive outcome of a test doesn't provide additionalsupport; it simply gives us the go-ahead to continue using it subject tofurther tests, and of course we learn that yet unfalsified methods orexplanations are better than those falsified. We should choose methods which have been tested and not yetfalsified rather than those which failed. But science, because it'sa human not a divine enterprise, cannot tell us what is the best amongequally well-tested unfalsified notions (theoretical or applied)including our technology, or even between these and those not yettested. We must continue to test and hope to gradually eliminate theless rigorous notions by learning from our mistakes and get at betterand more effective methods, testing even those methods which have a longhistory of passing such tests because if we don't, we may miss ourchance to improve our knowledge or eliminate false knowledge that mayresult in harm to clients due to our inductive self-satisfaction. Ourchoice among "equally" well-tested theories can then be leftto "clinical judgement," which consists of such things asprofessional experience (good or bad), serendipity serendipityhappy finding of an unexpected object or solution while searching for something else. , personal whim,intuition, and client choice, and is affected by economic and temporalconstraints. Professor Thyer's Problem Situation Professor Thyer's tasks, broadly speaking Adv. 1. broadly speaking - without regard to specific details or exceptions; "he interprets the law broadly"broadly, generally, loosely , appear to be toprovide scientific knowledge to the profession, which he feels isnecessary to "to really be of help to clients" (Thyer &Wodarski, 1998, p. 12), and as a result to improve the professionalcredibility of the field. His more particular problem is to explain whatthat scientific knowledge consists of. These are commendable aspirationswith which I whole-heartedly concur, but they are no more than one wouldexpect from someone with the title of "research professor"working at a state university under the current reigning intellectualparadigm of Science. One is hard pressed today to find any issue,problem, or phenomenon "explained" without using the cover ofscience or scientific research (often of the mental health variety) fromadolescent (mostly young boys) acting-out behavior, explained asAttention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD), formerly called hyperkinesis or minimal brain dysfunction, a chronic, neurologically based syndrome characterized by any or all of three types of behavior: hyperactivity, distractibility, and impulsivity. , a brain disease (science asdisciplinarian dis��ci��pli��nar��i��an?n.One that enforces or believes in strict discipline.adj.Disciplinary.disciplinarianNouna person who practises strict disciplineNoun 1. , the recommended scientific treatment--medication), topresidents of the United State being sexually indiscrete and breakingthe sanctity of marriage, apparently due to sexual addiction sexual addictionSex compulsion Sexology Compulsive and ritualized sexuoerotic hyperactivity, generally under specific sexuoerotic conditions and stimuli. See Sexaholics Anonymous. (science asmoral excuse, scientific treatment--moral therapy by favored clergymen;see Szasz, 1990), to large numbers of adults trying and regularly usingcertain psychoactive chemicals more often than some judge appropriate,apparently due to chemical dependence (science as pleasure modulator ModulatorAny device or circuit by means of which a desired signal is impressed upon a higher-frequency periodic wave known as a carrier. The process is called modulation. The modulator may vary the amplitude, frequency, or phase of the carrier. ,scientific treatment--12-step programs and drugs; see Schaler, 2000;Szasz, 1992).(2) Much of this I predict will turn out over time to be pseudoscience pseu��do��sci��ence?n.A theory, methodology, or practice that is considered to be without scientific foundation.pseu (untestable or false beliefs claiming never the less to be scientific(see, Bunge, 1984; Munz, 1985) if and when serious critical tests aredevoted to these issues. Professor Thyer's obvious good intentionsto be more than just intellectual "concrete" poured for theconstruction of the proverbial road to Hades requires a conceptualframework For the concept in aesthetics and art criticism, see .A conceptual framework is used in research to outline possible courses of action or to present a preferred approach to a system analysis project. capable of finding the critical scientific evidence.Let's review that next. Professor Thyer's Theoretical Framework He tells us that his 1998 handbook (Thyer & Wodarski, 1998),co-written with Professor Wodarski, is the best source of hisphilosophic perspective: "philosophical issues are dealt with inchapter-length form by Thyer & Wodarski, 1998" (Thyer &Myers, 1999, p. 501). Professor Thyer identifies empiricism andpositivism as the two most important elements of his views on science,and somewhat secondary to these two philosophic perspectives he addsrealism and naturalism (Thyer & Wodarski, 1998, p. 2). The strictinductivist approach to which he is committed can be seen by thedefinitions he offers for "empiricism" and"empirical" (p. 2). Empiricism is the process of using evidence rooted in objective reality and gathered systematically as a basis for generating human knowledge. (Arkava & Lane, 1983, p. 11) Empirical--knowledge derived from observation, experience, or experiment. (Grinnell, 1993, p. 442) It should be clear from my previous argument against induction thatthis kind of empiricism is simply not possible. All observation isbiologically filtered (interpreted), and evidence must be in atheoretical context to be testable. The primary role of data orobservation is in the feedback process or in the testing stage.Knowledge is gained when we falsify our expectations (our conjecturedsolutions or explanations); corroboration of them gives us no newknowledge. He further states that Those who label themselves as empiricists, realists, or positivists delimit the scope of their inquiry to the material, the objective, to that which has an independent existence.... Conversely, empirical research has little to say about those aspects of the world that are wholly subjective, immaterial, or supernatural. (Thyer & Wodarski, 1998, p. 4) This seems to leave out such common topics of empirical research assubjective well-being, self-satisfaction, opinion polls on a multitudeof topics, and cross-cultural studies Cross-cultural comparisons take several forms. One is comparison of case studies, another is controlled comparison among variants of a common derivation, and a third is comparison within a sample of cases. on belief systems (includingbelief in magic),just to list a few that are not "empirically"researchable according to Thyer. This approach also suggests that science must be done in apositivist pos��i��tiv��ism?n.1. Philosophya. A doctrine contending that sense perceptions are the only admissible basis of human knowledge and precise thought.b. or empiricist em��pir��i��cism?n.1. The view that experience, especially of the senses, is the only source of knowledge.2. a. Employment of empirical methods, as in science.b. An empirical conclusion.3. vein, but the history of science contradictssuch a view. Some of our greatest scientists (i.e., Galileo,Schrodinger, Bohr, and Einstein) have used "imaginary" or"thought" experiments (Popper, 1968, pp. 442-456) requiringnothing other than their intellect for self-reflective thinking toconjecture and test their ideas. Einstein never performed any physicalexperiments at all; he just made bold predictions based on his musingsand let others empirically test his theories against observables. Thiskind of scientific work is in the rationalist tradition, falsifying anyclaims that science is limited to empirical or positivist work.Positivism, especially the Logical Positivist Noun 1. logical positivist - someone who maintains that any statement that cannot be verified empirically is meaninglesspositivist, rationalist - someone who emphasizes observable facts and excludes metaphysical speculation about origins or ultimate causes sort, was quite dogmaticand authoritarian, which stands contrary to Thyer's assertion that"Logical positivists are fully aware that many significant areas ofour professional and personal lives should not be scrutinized throughthe lenses of science" (Thyer, 1994b, p. 6). It proscribed PROSCRIBED, civil law. Among the Romans, a man was said to be proscribed when a reward was offered for his head; but the term was more usually applied to those who were sentenced to some punishment which carried with it the consequences of civil death. Code, 9; 49. anythingthat could not be scientifically (empirically) "verified" asliterally meaningless "metaphysical" nonsense (see Gomory,1997b, and Popper, 1968, pp. 27-44). Philosopher Rudolph Carnap, one ofthe leaders of that movement, put it this way: The researchers of applied logic or the theory of knowledge ... by means of logical analysis lead to a positive and to a negative result. The positive result is worked out in the domain of empirical science; the various concepts ... their formal-logical and epistemological connections are made explicit. In the domain of metaphysics, including all philosophy of value and normative theory, logical analysis yields the negative result that the alleged statements in this domain are entirely meaningless.... In saying that the so-called statements of metaphysics are meaningless, we intend this word in its strictest sense. (Carnap, 1959, pp. 60-61) In his philosophic chapter Professor Thyer contrasts constructivism constructivism,Russian art movement founded c.1913 by Vladimir Tatlin, related to the movement known as suprematism. After 1916 the brothers Naum Gabo and Antoine Pevsner gave new impetus to Tatlin's art of purely abstract (although politically intended) (the world is whatever we subjectively define it to be) (Thyer &Wodarski, 1998, p. 3) with one of his beliefs, realism, which holds thatthe world exists "independent of the perceptions of humanbeings" (p. 3). He identifies constructivism as a reworking of apoint of view known as solipsism sol��ip��sism?n. Philosophy1. The theory that the self is the only thing that can be known and verified.2. The theory or view that the self is the only reality. . In an earlier article on just thissubject, he identifies the great 19th century philosopher ArthurSchopenhauer as the leading proponent of this view: "[I]t is worthrecognizing the apparently derivative philosophical nature ofconstructivism as an epistemology and describing more clearly itsevident origins in Schopenhauer's solipsism" (Thyer, 1995, p.64). Most assuredly this would be worth recognizing; in fact, ProfessorThyer would be hailed as a discoverer of a major new philosophical factabout Arthur Schopenhauer if that claim were correct. Schopenhauer holdsprecisely the opposite view. He called solipsism, "theoreticalegoism egoism(ē`gōĭzəm), in ethics, the doctrine that the ends and motives of human conduct are, or should be, the good of the individual agent. It is opposed to altruism, which holds the criterion of morality to be the welfare of others. " and he had this to say about it: Theoretical egoism, of course, can never be refuted [much like Thyer's favorite, realism] ... yet in philosophy it has never been positively used otherwise than as sceptical sophism i.e. for the sake of appearance. As a serious conviction, on the other hand, it could be found only in a madhouse; as such it would then need not so much a refutation as a cure. (Schopenhauer, 1969, p. 104) This should have been clear to anyone who would have tested B. BWolman's (1973, p. 352) claim cited by Professor Thyer (1995, p.63) as to the source of solipsism by comparing the secondaryinterpretation with the words of the alleged originator ArthurSchopenhauer. This Professor Thyer neglected to do. What Schopenhauer isasserting, following Kant, and which I have also asserted in the presentarticle (along with Popper and most biologists, at least those who findevolutionary biology Evolutionary biology is a sub-field of biology concerned with the origin and descent of species, as well as their change, multiplication, and diversity over time. compelling), is that all information about theworld must be processed through our particular cognitive machinery andcannot be "directly" perceived (Munz, 1985, 1993). It is atheoretical interpretation of the "actual," not a mirrorimage. This is a very different claim than the one asserted by ProfessorThyer that Schopenhauer "held a subjective idealism that the worldis a personal fantasy" (Gregory, 1987, p. 699, as cited by Thyer,1995, p. 63). Schopenhauer's own view (1969) is that The world is my representation: this is a truth valid with reference to every living and knowing being, although man alone can bring it into reflective abstract consciousness. If he really does so, philosophical discernment has dawned on him. It then becomes clear and certain to him that he does not know a sun and an earth, but only an eye that sees a sun, a hand that feels an earth. (p. 3) This refutation of Professor Thyer's claim illustrates thedifficulties with his belief system based on justificationism and hisdependence on secondary sources for support. The justificationary effortconsists of latching on to a belief (i.e., social work methods areatheoretical a��the��o��ret��i��cal?adj.Unrelated to or lacking a theoretical basis. ), and rather than testing it rigorously by attempting tofalsify it, as is demanded in fallibilism Fallibilism is the philosophical doctrine that absolute certainty about knowledge is impossible; or at least that all claims to knowledge could, in principle, be mistaken. As a formal doctrine, it is most strongly associated with Charles Sanders Peirce, who used it in his attack on , the effort is focused onfinding support for the favored belief, theory, or intervention. It isnot difficult to find support. It can be had for the asking Adv. 1. for the asking - on the occasion of a request; "advice was free for the asking"on request . The problemof course is that we accept such support all too easily and often notfrom the horse's mouth but from the taxidermist. Secondary sourcesuncritically accepted often lead to grave errors as in this case,attributing precisely the opposite view to an individual than the oneactually held or applying interventions falsely identified as effectiveand which cause harm (Gomory, 1997a, 1999; Solomon & Draine, 1995a,1995b). The best use of secondary sources are for learning in a generalway about some of the information that has been examined on some topicof interest. It is a way to start on a critical review not a way to end,as is often the case. Secondary sources are highly fallible fal��li��ble?adj.1. Capable of making an error: Humans are only fallible.2. Tending or likely to be erroneous: fallible hypotheses. , and theirinterpretations of ideas and research must be tested against theoriginals. Secondary sources, especially literature reviews andmeta-analyses, are also subject to misinterpretations that can havedeleterious consequences if uncritically relied on (Gomory, 1998, 1999).It helps, for example, if you are familiar with your secondary sources(i.e., having tested their scholarship by carefully evaluating theirprior work); you might as well use those which have passed criticaltests while you continue to evaluate their current reviews andinterpretations. I mentioned earlier that there is a hint of relativism in ProfessorThyer's approach to science, one that he may not be aware of. As ajustificationary thinker he is condemned by his commitments to offer andfind support in order to justify his claims. Let's look at what heconsiders telling evidence. * "credible scientific tests" (Thyer & Wodarski,1998, p.12) * "treatment with some credible degree of support" (p.13) * "interventions with some significant degree of empiricalsupport" (p. 16) * "the use of relatively reliable and valid methods ofassessment" (Thyer, 1996, p. 122) * "theories of human behavior and development that arerelatively well supported by empirical research" (p. 123) * "Teach methods of social work intervention that arerelatively well supported by empirical research studies" (p. 123) * "all students [should] provide credible scientific evidencethat they have helped at least one client" (p. 123) * "When taking social work methods classes ask your instructor... for supportive references" (p. 124) Professor Thyer's requirements for evidence--that they becredible or relatively reliable or relatively well supported--all dependon subjective opinion (relativism). Furthermore, he does not define whathe means by these terms, except for "assessment measurementinstruments" and of those he specifies only internal consistency In statistics and research, internal consistency is a measure based on the correlations between different items on the same test (or the same subscale on a larger test). It measures whether several items that propose to measure the same general construct produce similar scores. coefficients (which should be .80 or higher to be useful, p. 122). Everyother term is left unspecified and therefore is of little empiricalutility because their meaning is left to subjective, relativistic rel��a��tiv��is��tic?adj.1. Of or relating to relativism.2. Physicsa. Of, relating to, or resulting from speeds approaching the speed of light: relativistic increase in mass. interpretations not science. As he notes (Thyer, 1996), It is difficult to adequately operationally define concepts such as "relatively reliable and valid," "appreciable research support," "clinical judgement" [etc.] ... all phrases used in this article. To some extent these are subjective judgements of professionally trained social workers. (p. 125) This statement, although an admission of the actual problemsituation (an inability to provide objective criteria), is anunderstatement. The entire "Empirical Clinical Social WorkPractice" justificationary edifice rests ultimately on subjectiveopinion because there are no objective standards for the"relatively well supported" or "appreciable" or"credible" or "empirically supported" evidence,concepts that are used throughout that literature. They depend strictlyand not "to some extent" on relativism. The problem for Professor Thyer and all justificationists is thatbecause of their commitments, which include not questioning theirfundamental inductive theoretical assumptions, they are stuck. To avoidan infinite regress n. 1. (Philosophy, Logic) A causal relationship transmitted through an indefinite number of terms in a series, with no term that begins the causal chain. of having to justify each cited authority by a priorone, they ultimately must fall back on subjective "finalauthority" for decisions about what is scientifically valuableinformation. This may be beneficial to some of the players in the humanservices game while harmful to others. Conveniently, this"authority" often turns out to be the academic or otherrecognized expert of a treatment or method, offering them manyprofessional opportunities for "cashing in" (handbooks,publications, workshops, treatment manuals, to name a few) and leavingstudents and workers as supplicants whose only role apparently is tolearn by rote to memorize by repetition without exercise of the understanding.See also: Learn the mechanical steps and implement the well-supportedmethods of the "authorities"--all because, as Professor Thyertell us, "social work practitioners need theory like birds needornithology ornithologyBranch of zoology dealing with the study of birds. Early writings on birds were largely anecdotal (including folklore) or practical (e.g., treatises on falconry and game-bird management). " (Thyer, 1994, p. 148). Let's examine the claim that theory is at most secondary, ifat all relevant, to social work practice research and to the provisionof "credible methods" by social workers in the next section. Professor Thyer's Claims and Their Application He compares the work of human service practitioners as "apragmatically acceptable state of affairs ... to physicians whoroutinely prescribe various medications even though the precisepharmacological mechanism of action remains unknown (which is the stateof affairs for most psychotropics prescribed today)" (Thyer, 1994,p. 150). This is a remarkable recommendation. He appears to suggest thatuncritical dispensing of psychotropic psychotropic/psy��cho��tro��pic/ (si?ko-tro��pik) exerting an effect on the mind; capable of modifying mental activity; said especially of drugs. psy��cho��tro��picadj. drugs is an appropriate model forour profession, perhaps at least until the "credible"treatment turns out to be toxic. The fallibilistic approach, incontrast, promotes "autonomous social work," which demandsthat the worker each and every time applying any form of intervention behighly sensitive Adj. 1. highly sensitive - readily affected by various agents; "a highly sensitive explosive is easily exploded by a shock"; "a sensitive colloid is readily coagulated" to potential negative effects of the treatment andactively look for them. The worker would also be expected to review notonly the supportive literature but also that which is critical of themethod or treatment. This self-critical stance is not within thejustificationary paradigm and never mentioned by Professor Thyer in hisdiscussions. By not actively seeking falsifying information and onlylooking for positive evidence, we are susceptible to missing signs ofharm, which is precisely what happened and is happening in thepsychotropic drug psychotropic drugPsychoactive drug Pharmacology A drug that affects brain activities associated with mental processes and behavior Categories Anti-psychotics; antidepressants; antianxiety drugs or anxiolytics; hypnotics. field. In the early 1950s neuroleptic neuroleptic/neu��ro��lep��tic/ (-lep��tik) originally, referring to the effects on cognition and behavior of the first antipsychotic agents: a state of apathy, lack of initiative, and limited range of emotion, and in psychotic patients, (NLP (Natural Language Processing) The capability of understanding human language. If the language is spoken, voice recognition plays an important role in converting the sounds to individual words. Then, natural language processing figures out what the words mean. ) drugs were hailed as a panaceafor problems institutional psychiatry identified as mental illness. Drugtreatment had been provided to "tens of millions of individuals ...by the mid 1980's, 19 million outpatient NLP prescriptions werewritten annually in the United States (Wysosky & Baum, 1989)"(Cohen, 1997, p. 173). Even though the first reports of harmful sideeffects Side effectsEffects of a proposed project on other parts of the firm. ,(3) such as movement disorders and parkinsonian syndrome,occurred as early as 1954 and have been reported consistently ever since(Breggin, 1983, 1991, 1997; Cohen, 1997), the psychiatric professionaljustificationary response has been to behave as if no problem existed.Professor David Cohen For other persons named David Cohen, see David Cohen (disambiguation).David Cohen (November 13, 1914 - October 3, 2005), was an American politician, noted for his service in the administration of President Franklin D. (1997) of Florida International University Florida International University,primarily at University Park, Miami; coeducational; chartered 1965, opened 1972. A research university, it has 18 colleges and schools and many specialized centers and institutes, including those in biomedical engineering, database hasthis to say in one such critique: Despite [tardive dyskinesia's] significance as a public health problem, psychiatrists in North America have resisted taking effective steps to deal with it. (p. 211) Individuals on long-term medication (six months or longer) havebeen found to have permanent irreversible tardive dyskinesia Tardive DyskinesiaDefinitionTardive dyskinesia is a mostly irreversible neurological disorder of involuntary movements caused by long-term use of antipsychotic or neuroleptic drugs. inapproximately 30% of the cases (Gerlach & Peacock, 1995). Studiesreviewing patient non-response rates to NLP drug treatment have found itto vary from 45% to 68% (Cohen, 1994, pp. 143-145). The availablewell-tested research "suggests" that our professionaljustificationary negligence, indifference, and confidence in supposedlyvalidated treatments such as psychotropics, as promoted by ProfessorThyer, is premature. This "effective" treatment damages thebrains of as many as it appears to help. If the psychiatric workerswould have been trained in fallibilistic critical thinking skills, suchas holding a critical attitude toward these sorts of drugs (i.e.,looking for falsificationary counterexamples to the "medicine isworking" hypothesis) and knowing the theoretical rationale fortheir use (which they would be looking to critique), they might havecontributed to an earlier recognition of the seriousness of the problem,possibly preventing the reduction or destruction of the physical andsocial value of countless lives. One additional point should be made about Professor Thyer'sclaim that although a theory justifying a treatment may be wrong, theintervention is not affected because it appears to get the job donepragmatically. He states the following: I do not know of a single effective psychosocial intervention applied within social work that has been explained by a theoretical mechanism of action which is well supported by empirical research. (Thyer, 2001, p. 21) It is worth reiterating that empirical research will never do thisand has never done this for any theoretical mechanism. Support simplycannot be had; only rigorous testing by attempts to falsify themechanism's effectiveness is possible, and of course it may be thatseveral such theories (i.e. rival hypotheses) may explain theintervention outcome. There are many shapes of flying machines (i.e.,hot air balloons, rockets, winged aircraft, helicopters). They all mayobey and embody the hypothesized theories of gravity and aerodynamics aerodynamics,study of gases in motion. As the principal application of aerodynamics is the design of aircraft, air is the gas with which the science is most concerned. .Science cannot distinguish between them. All science can tell us arethose machines whose flying ability is falsified by empirical tests(they crash). But this is not a "Problem of Rival Hypotheses"in the way Professor Thyer thinks that it is (see p. 21 above forProfessor Thyer's contrary view on the issue). Tests throughtrial-and-error efforts at falsification of competing hypotheses are theonly way available for frail human science to progress. We can onlyslowly and only occasionally provide new knowledge by sometimeseliminating a rival hypothesis. That takes constant critical vigilanceand honesty about our vast ignorance. Let's turn to the question of whether atheoreticalinterventions are possible. Professor Thyer thinks so. He provides inhis present article what he thinks is a telling example involving"eye movement desensitization and reprocessing eye movement desensitization and reprocessing,n psychophysiologic treatment that proposes to remove painful memories by providing a moving object for the eye to track while the therapist and patient use deconditioning therapy. Also calledEMDR. " (EMDR EMDR Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing ),invented by Francine Shapiro Francine Shapiro is an American psychologist who developed EMDR therapy. In 1987 she observed, during a walk in a park, that moving her eyes seemed to reduce the stress of disturbing memories. . Shapiro developed a very elaborate physiological explanation for why having the client track the therapist's finger as it was waved back and forth in front of the client's eyes was supposed to alleviate anxiety. Tens of thousands of mental health professionals have been trained in EMDR, and a large component has been about the theory of this approach. It has now been convincingly demonstrated that the theory behind EMDR is invalid. I suspect that social work's preoccupation with inventing theoretical accounts to explain the mechanisms of action of psychosocial interventions is in part driven by the myth that possessing a strong foundation in theory is a prerequisite for professional status. (Thyer, 2001, p. 20) Professor Thyer tantalizingly tan��ta��lize?tr.v. tan��ta��lized, tan��ta��liz��ing, tan��ta��liz��esTo excite (another) by exposing something desirable while keeping it out of reach. states that the "theory behindEMDR is invalid," but doesn't tell us whether that means thatthe EMDR intervention itself is invalid. Following his argument in hispresent article, EMDR should still work "pragmatically" sincetheoretical accounts according to him are invented inductively (afterthe "objective" facts are in) to "explain the mechanismsof action." At least that is what one might assume from how hepresents this example in the article. But even though he doesn'tdirectly address this, the reason for doing evaluation research in thefirst place is to determine "efficacy" of treatment. This mustentail, I assert, a review of what theoretical notions organize theintervention. Thyer's claim that what "has now beenconvincingly demonstrated [is] that the theory behind EMDR isinvalid" is incorrect. What has actually been falsified is the"efficacy" of EMDR as a psychosocial treatment based both onempirical and theoretical grounds and not just the theory"behind" it. Lohr, Tolin, and Lilienfeld (1998), in a carefulcritical review of the available empirical literature on thisintervention state the following: It is clear from the review of these 17 studies that there is little ordinary evidence and no extraordinary evidence to support the efficacy of EMDR.... There is little evidence for efficacy above and beyond nonspecific effects ... EMDR's behavioral effects were negligible.... We should note that measures of treatment efficacy have largely neglected the mechanisms to which eye movements and information reprocessing are directed. These mechanisms are purported to involve cognitive content and organization and the manner in which information is processed.... Research on the effects EMDR has yet to incorporate such measures to show an alteration or acceleration of the processing of affective information. Specific measures of emotional processing are necessary in inquiries that test not only the efficacy of the treatment but the validity of the theory that justifies its application. This applies equally to EMDR and other treatments that target the emotional or cognitive processing of information related to traumatic events. (pp. 144-145) As these reviewers make clear, to evaluate efficacy both thetreatment and "the theory that justifies its application" mustbe tested. Theory is the glue which binds treatment content. Let's look finally at some of the social work research thatProfessor Thyer cites in the present article as examples of qualityresearch not requiring theory or theory testing and which may have beenhindered by coercion on the researchers to use theory unnecessarily. Heargues that doctoral students are often forced to apply some theory totheir results more or less as window dressing Window DressingA strategy used by mutual fund and portfolio managers near the year or quarter end to improve the appearance of the portfolio/fund performance before presenting it to clients or shareholders. after the fact, resultingin bad research. "Often our academic insistence of foisting theissue of theory testing onto students results in ... [a]n otherwisesound piece of program evaluation Program evaluation is a formalized approach to studying and assessing projects, policies and program and determining if they 'work'. Program evaluation is used in government and the private sector and it's taught in numerous universities. ... being distorted beyondrecognition" (p. 14). Such a state of affairs could only occur ifresearch and its consequent results could be had atheoretically(inductively), a clear empirical impossibility as argued throughout thisarticle. What I conjecture Professor Thyer is referring to is the fact thatmany social work academics look at some guesses as "grandtheories," especially theories established by other domains (i.e.,psychiatry, psychology, public health) which are used by social work toassert professional legitimacy. These are theories that we shouldrespect, as we ought our grandparents (for the sake of their great ageand status). Doctoral students need to use them as props to impress thedoctoral committee authorities by their "clubby club��by?adj. club��bi��er, club��bi��est1. Typical of a club or club members.2. Friendly; sociable.3. Clannish; exclusive. " theoreticalknowledge in order to become respected members (PhDs). This type ofactivity, where it exists, is of course silly. As the sociologist C.Wright Mills (1961, p. 23) notes about theories of this sort, they"all too readily become an elaborate and arid formalism in whichthe splitting of Concepts and their endless rearrangements becomes thecentral endeavor," neglecting the only essential purpose oftheory--to provide testable potential explanations for and solutions toproblems in the real world. There really is no need for any intellectualconcern by hyperactive doctoral committees about theory utilization. Ourdoctoral students, if they actually have gathered data and results, havebeen using theory all along, but perhaps not "grand theories." Professor Thyer provides a number of examples in the presentarticle, several apparently by his doctoral students. It is not quiteclear what he means when he offers them "[in] the spirit of thesecontemporary qualitative times [as] anecdotal examples of thisdistortion of the research process" (p. 14), except to suggest thatthese case examples are just personal reflections (biased and therebylikely to be unreliable) and are not therefore to be taken seriously.That would be most unempirical and to no point. Since I believe they arepresented to make a point and his discussion of them can be compared topublished articles of the studies, I'll assume seriousness andreview two of them. The first study (Baker & Thyer, 2000), Professor Thyer says, used a case management model and some simple behavioral prompting strategies to encourage these initially noncompliant mothers to use their infant apnea monitors for the requisite number of hours every day. She was very much working via practice wisdom, common sense and some operant principles. (p. 7) Although the description is somewhat sketchy, case management,simple behavioral prompting, practice wisdom, and common sense appear tobe theoretical notions that are being postulated by the researcher as acoherent potential solution to the problem of "momcompliance." The article itself (Baker & Thyer, 2000) is muchmore specific and organized in describing what was being done. Baker andThyer don't use the terms "commonsense" or "practicewisdom," instead they carefully describe a "treatmentpackage" (p. 287). This consisted of "education, casemanagement and behavioral prompting" (p. 288) and was apparentlytested by this team elsewhere, undermining Professor Thyer's claimof no theoretical organization of the "intervention package": One prior study evaluating ... compliance with using a home infant apnea monitor was conducted by Baker and Thyer (in press), who evaluated a treatment package involving behavioral prompting, education, and case management. (Baker & Thyer, p. 287) It seems at least to this reviewer that a set of theoreticalconjectures formalized for��mal��ize?tr.v. for��mal��ized, for��mal��iz��ing, for��mal��iz��es1. To give a definite form or shape to.2. a. To make formal.b. in a treatment package was being tested, perhapssomething to the effect that "the provision of education about theconsequence of compliance or noncompliance together with case managementsupport and reminders (called behavior prompting) will significantlyimprove maternal compliance." Thyer apparently doesn'trecognize this as theory testing or using theory, but he would need tospell out specifically why, for example, case management (a verbalconstruct denoting a hypothesized service method) is a theory-freeintervention. One hint is that he seems to be calling this set oftheoretical conjectures and its embodiment together a "psychosocialintervention psychosocial interventionPsychology A nonpharmacologic maneuver intended to alter a Pt's environment or reaction to lessen the impact of a mental disorder. See Attention-deficit-hyperactivity syndrome. ": "she developed and verified a reliablepsychosocial intervention" (p. 15). The process of"developing" psychosocial interventions requires theorizing(why select this, rather than that) as far as I can tell. He may somehowsee that theory and intervention are separable sep��a��ra��ble?adj.Possible to separate: separable sheets of paper.sep . I, as argued earlier,cannot, and since he provides no clarification in his present article, Ilook forward to his explanation. He objects to the doctoralcommittee's high-handed behavior of coercing Baker to consider the"health belief model" with "which she was relativelyunfamiliar" (p. 15) for framing her already completed research. I,too, would be upset by such uncritical authoritarian behavior. Doctoralstudents are supposed to be free to conjecture their own potentialsolutions to problems of interest to them as they best see fit with thesupport and guidance of academic advisors. But the fact that thiscommittee failed to meet ethical and educational standards in no waysuggests that she was doing atheoretical research before she was askedto review their recommended theory. Professor Thyer makes reference to the fact that research has foundthat human service outcome research frequently is not being done under a"formal theoretical foundation" and that practitioners areoften unable to articulate a theoretical rationale (p. 15). This ofcourse is all quite distressing (reflects very badly on social workeducation). The finding that most "social workers ... practiced aform of `technical eclecticism eclecticism, in arteclecticism(ĭklĕk`tĭsĭz'əm), art style in which features are borrowed from various styles. ,' with little heed being paid totheoretical underpinnings [Jayaratne 1978, p. 621]" (p. 16) can betranslated to mean that social workers are using uncritical, randomelements of various theories arbitrarily combined, or they are justrelying on "seat of the pants" approaches (personal whim?),leaving us ignorant about whether they help, harm, or do anything atall. These findings call for alarm and concern not complacent acceptanceof the results as "justifying" the marginalizing of theory. Moreover, what actual meaning is there to the phrase "formaltheoretical foundation" as opposed to, say, "informaltheoretical foundation"? I have argued that these constructs arejust tentative conjectures regardless of their perceived eminence orauthority. Academic arguments about what differentiates formal andinformal theoretical foundations, or theories, from paradigms,frameworks, etc. are reminiscent of linguistic philosophy's verbalmystifications. Linguistic philosophy, now moribund, engaged in themid-decades of the 20th century hundreds of philosophers who spent theirentire professional lives parsing words and their meanings resulting inmany books, articles, and intellectual authority while stifling thegrowth of knowledge (Gellner, 1979). The fact that most of our socialwork graduates cannot provide the rationale for what they do suggests aserious lack of critical thinking skills and not something that shouldbe used as a reason for arguing against theoretical understanding eitherby researchers or workers. Professor Thyer offers another research example, Vonk and Thyer,(1999), where "service agencies' programs are not based on anyparticular theory of human behavior, and in such cases it is adisservice to make a pretense of such linkage" (p. 18, emphasis inoriginal). He claims that Vonk's study turned out to be the most methodologically sophisticated study ever published on the outcomes of college student counseling centers [and] I believe that there is a legitimate role for the design and conduct of outcome studies on social work practice ... which are essentially theory-free exercises of evaluation research. (p. 18) This article allows us to review the possibility of a theory-freestudy and provides evidence of the level of research rigor rigor/rig��or/ (rig��er) [L.] chill; rigidity.rigor mor��tis? the stiffening of a dead body accompanying depletion of adenosine triphosphate in the muscle fibers. thatProfessor Thyer deems satisfactory for "credible evidentiarysupport." He tells us: In this instance the counseling center was not oriented towards a particular theoretical model ... nor did [Vonk] construe her outcome study as a test of any theoretically driven model of psychotherapy. It was a straightforward, unambiguous, pristine evaluation of the center's services and of immense value to the administrators running the center (since the outcomes looked good). (p. 18) One can't help notice the justificationary enthusiasm andfatal error A condition that halts processing due to faulty hardware, program bugs, read errors or other anomalies. If you get a fatal error, you generally cannot recover from it, because the operating system has encountered a condition it cannot resolve. that is the result of it when he tells us that what was of"immense value" to the administrators was that the resultslooked good (i.e., supported effectiveness). Nothing new is learned bypositive results although they are good for funding and self-promotionand, as suggested earlier, are easy to find often due to thewell-recognized effects of confirmatory biases (Klayman, 1995). Positiveresults just confirm what you already believe and can have no furtherinductive benefit. Real help would have been negative results. Findings,which counter our current assumptions and beliefs, provide new knowledgenot previously known. But a closer look at what was done in thisevaluation reveals that nothing in fact could be learned about thecausal relationship between the services provided and the outcomesreported due to the inadequacy of this, "the most methodologicallysophisticated study ever published" (p. 18) on these issues. Thisunqualified praise would have more "authority" if it were notbeing offered by the second author of the study (Vonk & Thyer,1999). To begin with, the article itself--unlike Thyer, who states thestudy's purpose very generally as "to evaluate the outcomes of... services at a university student counseling center" (p.18)--tells us that the purpose was to evaluate "the effectivenessof short-term treatment in reducing the psychosocial symptomatology symptomatology/symp��to��ma��tol��o��gy/ (simp?to-mah-tol��ah-je)1. the branch of medicine dealing with symptoms.2. the combined symptoms of a disease.symp��to��ma��tol��o��gyn. ofuniversity counseling center clients" (Vonk & Thyer, 1999, p.1095). "Short-term" treatments are at a minimum theoreticallydistinguishable from those which are not (i.e., long-term treatments),at least as to time. The article further specifies the type ofshort-term treatment to be between 4 and 20 sessions and notes,"Although unspecified, the treatment variable may be betterunderstood by describing the professional backgrounds of the CC[counseling center] staff members" (p. 1098). It then provides thevarious methods practiced by each of the workers (i.e., family systems,behavioral and humanistic techniques, interpersonal theory, cognitivebehavioral approaches). The article goes even further by distinguishingthe specific treatment used at the CC from others that are not: Due to the preponderance of individual, non-specific short-term treatment at the CC, as opposed to other treatment methods such as group therapy or couple counseling, the focus of the evaluation was on the former. (p. 1097) Professor Thyer states there were many counselors at the center,hinting there were too many to really get a handle on methods used(Thyer, 2000, p. 18). There were just 8 counselors (these may be toomany) in the study. The article gives a description of what the variousapproaches of each counselor appeared to be: Some of the counselors identified themselves as working primarily from one perspective (i.e., short-term psychodynamic or cognitive-behavioral), most identified themselves as `eclectic' and drew from more than one model. (Vonk & Thyer, 1999, p. 1099) This at a minimum tells us that they are testing the efficacy of"eclectic short-term treatment" and not some broad set ofgeneral services, which could have been even further defined if theresearchers would have taken the time; the counselors were interviewedabout their treatment approaches. So, some sort of theory of treatment(eclectic short-term treatment) is being evaluated. It may not be thenarrow version of theory that Professor Thyer wishes to call theory, butit is theory nevertheless. What is being tested is admittedly anill-defined "theoretically driven model," but that is just apart of a careless methodology, which claims a disinterest in theory,not a statement about the theory-free nature of the treatment. Thismethodological laissez faire Laissez FaireAn economic theory from the 18th century that is strongly opposed to any government intervention in business affairs. Sometimes referred to as "Let it be economics. is further demonstrated by the sampling andmodel used to evaluate effectiveness. A nonrandom purposive pur��po��sive?adj.1. Having or serving a purpose.2. Purposeful: purposive behavior.pur sample of11.8% of the total population of utilizers of the center was used in thestudy, which was a quasi-experimental delayed treatment control groupdesign. The treatment group had 41 subjects and the control group had14. The findings not surprisingly confirmed the expectations of theresearchers and provided joy to the administrators. The only problem isthat using a quasi-experimental delayed treatment unbalanced controlgroup model with a purposive sample cannot even tell us whether changeoccurred because of the "eclectic short term treatment" or dueto placebo (the expectation of getting effective treatment, althoughperhaps none was provided). The fact that the wait-listed group didn't improve while thetreatment group did only tells us, at best, that change occurred forthose having an expectation of something being done immediately to them,while no change occurred among those who anticipated services onlysometime in the future. So we know that change occurred when clientsexpected treatment. But that does not provide any evidence for treatmenteffectiveness per se, and this type of study cannot make the criticaldistinction between treatment and placebo. The non-random nature of theresearch prohibits causal assertions, especially with the uneven samplesize of the groups and the very small number in the delayed treatmentcontrol group, which suggests low power. For example Kazdin and Bass(1989, p. 144) recommend a minimum sample size of 27 for groups forstudies comparing treatment versus no-treatment groups in psychotherapyresearch. The threats to internal validity Internal validity is a form of experimental validity [1]. An experiment is said to possess internal validity if it properly demonstrates a causal relation between two variables [2] [3]. which are not addressed bythis type of research are selection-maturation, instrumentation,differential statistical regression Noun 1. statistical regression - the relation between selected values of x and observed values of y (from which the most probable value of y can be predicted for any value of x)regression toward the mean, simple regression, regression , and the interaction of selectionand history (Cook & Campbell, 1979, pp. 103-117), which, along withthe lack of randomized selection from the population and randomizeddistribution to the groups, reinforces the illegitimacy illegitimacy:see bastard. Illegitimacybend sinistersupposed stigma of illegitimate birth. [Heraldry: Misc.]Clinker, Humphryservant of Bramble family turns out to be illegitimate son of Mr. Bramble. [Br. Lit. of any causalinferences. Keeping with the study's justificationary agenda (promote anysemblance of positive outcome and minimize or ignore critical falsifyingissues), no demographic information is provided as to how this smallpurposive sample of 55 individuals compares to the total population (465clients) seen at the counseling center. The only information offered bythe authors is that an unpublished source (i.e., one not easilyavailable for review) with "raw data" (Raymond, 1996) found nodifferences based on two mental health measures (GSI GSI - Gensym Standard Interface and SCL-90-R) (Vonk& Thyer, 1999, p. 1103). Such evidence provides no information aboutthe study's objective demographic representativeness (i.e., gender,age, ethnicity, religious affiliation, level of education, employment,marital status marital status,n the legal standing of a person in regard to his or her marriage state. , etc.) which would be needed to claim populationrepresentativeness; instead it relies on measures of mental healthstatus and "criteria for psychiatric disorders" as "standins," concepts which at a minimum are in controversy as arguedearlier. These methodological problems are not ones that Professor Thyerfinds major impediments to the type of empirical work he thinks usefulfor social work outcome research. In rebuking Epstein (1995) for arguingthat randomized controlled experimental trials are essential to get atthe critical testing of causal outcomes of treatments, he states, The present author personally subscribes to a much less stringent standard, recognizing the value of quasi-experimental and single-system research designs in terms of their ability to isolate credible findings. (Thyer, 1996 p. 125) He goes on to cite William Reid's Task Centered Practice (TCP (1) (Transmission Control Protocol) The reliable transport protocol within the TCP/IP protocol suite. TCP ensures that all data arrive accurately and 100% intact at the other end. )as having been developed by such "credible quasi-experimentalstudies [to] suggest that TCP can be a very helpful social workintervention" (p. 125). What rigor is there in words such as"credible" or "suggest"? How do they relate tocause-effect determination? A cause-effect relationship either is or isnot. If research is "suggestive" of a causal relationship,other research may be "suggestive" of no causal relationship.I have argued that such statements are simply personal judgments, whichcannot be used for evaluation scientifically (through criticallyfalsifying tests). As Kazdin and Weisz (1998) state, agreeing with Chambless andHollon (1998), treatments to be labeled efficacious (note they refrainfrom terms like credible) "must have been shown to be moreeffective than no treatment, a placebo, or an alternate treatment alternate treatment,n the contract provisions that authorize the insurance carrier to determine the amount of benefits payable, giving consideration to alternate procedures, services, or courses of treatment that may be performed to accomplish the acrossmultiple trials conducted by different investigative teams" (p.22). As a fallibilist, I would add that the label"efficacious" should be held tentatively and tested each andeverytime the treatment is applied, rather than, as suggested by theirquote, that after some limited number of trials, if"successful," the label efficacious may be applied more orless permanently and no further critical evaluation needs to occurbecause efficacy has been demonstrated. Perhaps Professors Reid andThyer can judge their work to be "credible" and"suggestive," but their use of research models that cannotassert causal relationships between treatment and outcome due to theirlimitations will always allow others to argue the alternative with equalvalidity (i.e., TCP is not credible and is not suggestively helpful).This is a debate about authority and power not science. It epitomizesthe justificationary dilemma. In order to validate, support must befound, but no amount of it is quite enough to find the truth, and wedon't know what good support looks like objectively, so expertshave to subjectively judge what is credible since we can't get atthe objectively true. And if there is disagreement, those with moreauthority get to decide what is more credible, but neither ProfessorThyer nor any other justificationist can explain how being crediblerelates to being true. It should be said on Professor Reid's behalf that his viewabout how science ought to be done in social work differs fromThyer's atheoretical approach and dare I say, hints at fallibilism: Any system of social treatment is supported by a body of theory.... We can at least demand ... that a theory be cast into a testable form. This means that theoretical formulations need to be accompanied by a specification of how they can be tested.... The need for problem-oriented, testable theory in clinical social work has guided our efforts to develop the theoretical base of the task-centered model. (Reid, 1978, pp. 12-17) Reid also candidly admits the limitation of some of hisquasi-experimental research and thereby disagrees with Thyer'notions of causal research when he tells us that Early studies of the model [TCP] consisted largely of exploratory tests of its application.... They did not, however give us definitive data on the effectiveness of our methods. Although outcome data were accumulated, none of the studies was adequately controlled; that is, we did not use control groups or equivalent procedures that would permit us to conclude that the treatment methods made a difference in how cases turned out.... Our first controlled test of task-centered methods consisted of ... 32 clients ... randomly assigned to experimental and control conditions. (p. 225) Even Reid, an expert Thyer appeals to for support of so called"credible" research, is careful to point out that this sort ofresearch does not permit causal inference and that randomizedmethodology is required for that. Concluding Remarks Professor Thyer deserves a great deal of credit for again raising avery important set of issues clearly before social work educators andscholars. What is science? What should the relationship of theprofession of social work be to science? What research methods should beused in various types of research? What has theory to do with socialwork practice and how should social work research be conducted? He has consistently argued for his Empirical Social Work Practiceviews often against those who have disagreed (i.e., Witkin, 1991). Inhis current article, he argues for these views by contending that thepreoccupation with "theory" and theory testing in our fieldhas limited the empirical development of effective interventions, whichoften do not use and do not need theory--only their pragmatic capabilityreally counts. I have argued that Professor Thyer should be commendedfor noticing that social work has major difficulties with itseducational approach as well as serious methodological limitations foracquiring a knowledge base of effective treatments, but he should becritiqued rigorously for his failure to fully and carefully engage withthe essential scientific issues entailing philosophy and method as wellas for suggesting that some members of the profession (i.e., studentsand direct service workers) don't have to think too critically butshould simply apply pragmatic knowledge leaving theory, if at allnecessary, to the academics. I argue that Professor Thyer, due to his justificationary approachto science, has not been able to see that efforts at finding proof,support, and credibility for his atheoretical pragmatic research aredoomed to failure because no such proof or support is possible. Heappears to be unaware of the fallibilistic alternative which I havepresented (he never discusses it in any of his writings), although heargues his position by claiming to know philosophy of science. If he hadbeen aware of Popper's falsification of induction, he would nothave been able to argue the separation of theory from observations, orthat objective observations can add up to theory, or that interventionsneed no theory, without at least having to confront the problem ofinduction The problem of induction is the philosophical issue involved in deciding the place of induction in determining empirical truth. The problem of induction is whether inductive reason works. and provide his counterargument as to why he would discountit. I have also presented the difficulties with the justificationaryposition held by Professor Thyer and many other social work authors.Most importantly Adv. 1. most importantly - above and beyond all other consideration; "above all, you must be independent"above all, most especially , it leads to an all out effort at searching andproviding proof for your beliefs and not to a critical evaluation ofthem. This approach is often exemplified by a justificationary authorsubtly changing the descriptions found in the original sources to suitthe justificationary claim of the author, or using research methodswhich cannot measure what is being tested (i.e., interventioneffectiveness), or employing vague terms which subjectify, confuse, andreduce understanding, or using selectively some primary or secondarysources because they "support" the author's claim whileignoring others which may be critical or have falsified the view held.Justificationary research cannot lead to clarity but only tounmeasureable and unhelpful statements of future "TreatmentUtopias" such as, "Simple behavioral and case managementinterventions show great promise" (Baker & Thyer, 2000, p.285). Recognizing that proof cannot be had but rigorous tests can onoccasion lead to falsifications of our theories and our interventionsargues for our profession taking the critical stance seriously by makingfallibilistic critical thinking a necessary component of social workeducation at all levels. The aim should be to create "autonomoussocial workers" who can decide through rigorous open debate andtests what are better and worse policies and interventions. Thisapproach would serve to promote and meet our ethical commitment to helpour clients receive the best possible services while modeling for themthe autonomy we hope to help them acquire. It consists of identifying the real world problems we areinterested in (i.e., a client problem), then hypothesizing a possiblesolution or effective intervention, developing a critical test for it(this will vary depending on the nature of what is being tested), andthen testing it. If the test is passed, we can continue using the idea,theory, intervention, or policy, but always with our critical facultiesalert to potential negative feedback through trial and error. If itfails the test (empirically several), we abandon it and hypothesize newalternatives both eliminating in so doing false knowledge anddiscovering tentative true knowledge, hopefully thereby making our andour clients' world a little better off. (*) Editor's Note: Due to a composition error, Table 2 was notincluded in the copyedited page proofs sent to Professor Gomory toprepare his reply. This table appeared in Thyer's originalmanuscript and is included in the article published here. (1) For a fallibilistic critique of anthropological methods of thissort predating grounded theory, see Jarvie (1967). (2) See also McNeece and DiNitto (1998, pp.180-209) for an evidencetested discussion of drug policy and its consequences by social workauthors. 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Wysosky, D. K., & Baum, C. (1989). Antipsychotic antipsychotic/an��ti��psy��chot��ic/ (-si-kot��ik) effective in the treatment of psychotic disorders; also, an agent that so acts. Antipsychotics are a chemically diverse but pharmacologically similar class of drugs; besides psychotic drug use inthe United States, 19761989. Archives of General Psychiatry, 46,929-932. Address correspondence to: Tomi Gomory, School of Social Work,Florida State University Florida State University,at Tallahassee; coeducational; chartered 1851, opened 1857. Present name was adopted in 1947. Special research facilities include those in nuclear science and oceanography. , Tallahassee, FL 32306-2570; e-mail:tgomory@mailer.fsu.edu. Tomi Gomory is assistant professor, School of Social Work, FloridaState University.