Analyzing Theories in the Frame Model
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Analyzing Theories in the Frame Model Stephan Kornmesser1
•
Gerhard Schurz2
Received: 28 August 2017 / Accepted: 15 October 2018 Springer Nature B.V. 2018
Abstract The frame model was developed in cognitive psychology and imported into the philosophy of science in order to provide representations of scientific concepts and conceptual taxonomies. The aim of this article is to show that beside the representation of scientific concepts the frame model is an efficient instrument to represent and analyze scientific theories. That is, we aim to establish the frame model as a representation tool for the structure of theories within the philosophy of science. For this, we will develop the notion of a theory frame and distinguish between theory frames for qualitative theories in which scientific measurement is based on nominal scales and theory frames for quantitative theories in which measurement is based on ratio scales. In three case studies, we will apply frames to a psychological, a linguistic, and a physical theory, thereby showing that the frame model is a powerful and intuitively accessible instrument to analyze the laws of scientific theories, the determination of theoretical concepts, the explanatory role of theoretical concepts, the abductive introduction of a new theoretical concept, the distinction between the core and the periphery of a theory, the diachronic development of a theory, and the distinction between qualitative and quantitative scientific concepts. Finally, we will provide a comparison to the structuralist view of theories, one of the most elaborated and applied models of theory representation. Keywords Frame Theory Theoretical concept Qualitative and quantitative measurement Structuralist view of theories
& Stephan Kornmesser [email protected] Gerhard Schurz [email protected] 1
Institute of Philosophy, Carl von Ossietzky Universita¨t Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany
2
Department of Philosophy, Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf, Universitaetsstrasse 1, Geb. 24.52, 40225 Duesseldorf, Germany
123
S. Kornmesser, G. Schurz
1 Introduction The aims of this article are to develop an instrument for the representation of qualitative and quantitative theories within the frame model and to apply it to three scientific theories. First, we will argue that the frame model—due to its inherent functional structure—is ideally suited for the representation of scientific concepts and scientific laws containing those concepts. Second, we will show by means of three case studies that the graphical character of frames allows for representing complex information in an intuitive and clearly arranged way. Third, we will compare the frame model to the structuralist view of theories (also called structuralism or non-statement view of theories), one of the most elaborated and applied models of theory representation in the philosophy of science. We will argue that due to its graphical character the frame m
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