A metatheory for the development of a science of information

John T. Dow

Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 1977, vol. 28, issue 6, 323-332

Abstract: Information science would do well to develop more and better theories, for without adequate theoretical support, we may do a technically brillant job of solving the wrong problems. However, the interdisciplinary nature of what information science is becoming means we must use a metatheory to guide the development of these theories. Without metatheory we cannot compare or unify the theories. A major statement in such a metatheory is to claim that there are three levels that should be used for information theorizing: casual, macroscopic, and microscopic. Use of these levels, and of the rules they imply, simplifies the evaluation of existing theories by making clear when theories are comparable in a meaningful way and, when they are not comparable, by showing what type of transformations are necessary to make them comparable.

Date: 1977
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