70
2 The Use of Paradigms and Theories in the PULSE 3 …
In order to identify reductionist tendencies in a text, we also need to consider a
wider classification of theories, namely, the problem-solving and critical perspectives.
2.4.2.4 Problem-Solving and Critical Theories
According to Cornut (2015: 12), the analytical eclecticism outlined by Sil and Katzenstein is ‘rather fuzzy, and it is not easy to understand what epistemological or methodological criteria are used to adjudicate by a jury of peers in an eclectic “court”’. The
steps that I outline below are an important way forward in making the ethos of analytic
eclecticism and the repertoire of theories more robust as methodological considerations. A simple classification, along the lines of problem-solving and critical theories,
will suffice.
Problem-solving theories explain reality as it is and then suggest ways and means
of solving the problems that are encountered by scholars. These theories have a
positivist inclination (Cox 1981; Cox and Sinclair 1996). Critical theories describe
the world and its structures, and, in return, they suggest how they can be modified.
They are not positivist or postpositivist, but they fit the critical theory paradigm (Cox
1981; Cox and Sinclair 1996).
Problem-solving and critical theories can further be categorised into grand,
middle-range and mathematically oriented theories (Mearsheimer and Walt 2013).
The five theory types will be sufficient for the purposes of this framework, since
the field of study that is covered here involves both the natural and social sciences.
We find the five forms in both sciences, with mathematically oriented theories being
more common in the natural sciences than in the social sciences. The classification
will initially give an indication of the factors, actors and variables that are highlighted
by a theory to explain an issue or phenomenon.
Grand theories give explanations of broad patterns of behaviour. In the discipline of International Relations, these are theories, such as realism or liberalism,
which explain state and non-state behaviour in its broadest sense in world affairs.
Middle-range theories, on the other hand, spotlight more narrowly defined issues and
phenomena, such as management, collective and individual psychology, coercion and
so on (Mearsheimer and Walt 2013).
Programme theory explains how practitioners understand the contribution of an
intervention, such as a project, programme, policy, strategy or practice, to a number
or chain, of results that produce intended or real impacts (Funnel and Rogers 2011).
The theory focuses on the logical building blocks of a programme by highlighting
its processes (Kadiyala et al. 2009). This perspective has two components, namely,
a theory of change and a theory of action:
The theory of change is about the central processes or drivers by which change comes about
for individuals, groups, or communities [such as] social processes, physical processes, and
economic processes. The theory of change could derive from a formal, research-based theory
or an unstated, tacit understanding about how things work. The theory of action explains
2 The Use of Paradigms and Theories in the PULSE 3 …
In order to identify reductionist tendencies in a text, we also need to consider a
wider classification of theories, namely, the problem-solving and critical perspectives.
2.4.2.4 Problem-Solving and Critical Theories
According to Cornut (2015: 12), the analytical eclecticism outlined by Sil and Katzenstein is ‘rather fuzzy, and it is not easy to understand what epistemological or methodological criteria are used to adjudicate by a jury of peers in an eclectic “court”’. The
steps that I outline below are an important way forward in making the ethos of analytic
eclecticism and the repertoire of theories more robust as methodological considerations. A simple classification, along the lines of problem-solving and critical theories,
will suffice.
Problem-solving theories explain reality as it is and then suggest ways and means
of solving the problems that are encountered by scholars. These theories have a
positivist inclination (Cox 1981; Cox and Sinclair 1996). Critical theories describe
the world and its structures, and, in return, they suggest how they can be modified.
They are not positivist or postpositivist, but they fit the critical theory paradigm (Cox
1981; Cox and Sinclair 1996).
Problem-solving and critical theories can further be categorised into grand,
middle-range and mathematically oriented theories (Mearsheimer and Walt 2013).
The five theory types will be sufficient for the purposes of this framework, since
the field of study that is covered here involves both the natural and social sciences.
We find the five forms in both sciences, with mathematically oriented theories being
more common in the natural sciences than in the social sciences. The classification
will initially give an indication of the factors, actors and variables that are highlighted
by a theory to explain an issue or phenomenon.
Grand theories give explanations of broad patterns of behaviour. In the discipline of International Relations, these are theories, such as realism or liberalism,
which explain state and non-state behaviour in its broadest sense in world affairs.
Middle-range theories, on the other hand, spotlight more narrowly defined issues and
phenomena, such as management, collective and individual psychology, coercion and
so on (Mearsheimer and Walt 2013).
Programme theory explains how practitioners understand the contribution of an
intervention, such as a project, programme, policy, strategy or practice, to a number
or chain, of results that produce intended or real impacts (Funnel and Rogers 2011).
The theory focuses on the logical building blocks of a programme by highlighting
its processes (Kadiyala et al. 2009). This perspective has two components, namely,
a theory of change and a theory of action:
The theory of change is about the central processes or drivers by which change comes about
for individuals, groups, or communities [such as] social processes, physical processes, and
economic processes. The theory of change could derive from a formal, research-based theory
or an unstated, tacit understanding about how things work. The theory of action explains