updated on 10 juli 1996

The research question

How.. provable.. goaldirected..are .. human.. problem solving processes ..and what .. theories can explain that..?

Explanation question

How

...provable

If we want to know how goal directed problem solving processes are, in a scientific way, we need to prove that to some extend objectively, or inter-subjectively. Else we may be convinced that some process was goal-directed, but nobody can check if this assesment was right. So any scientific answer to the questions must be provable to some extend.

........goal directed

Goal directed is a very difficult word, because there are so many different connotations and meaning given to it by different people. In my research, a plan, or action counts as goal-directed if there is a clearly defined goal, if there were more solutions out of which a choice was made, and if the choice was based on the goal, or the problem that was to be solved, as selection ground for the chosen solution. In most processes this would obvioussly not be provable at all. But since we look at problem solving processes in public administration, or rather Universities, that are mostly public, or Democratic in the Netherlands, this view can be held onto without too many problems.

.........................are

.............................human

We focus on human problem solving, and more narrowly, on group or organizational problem solving. I refer to human in the question, because we will adress these processes with concepts from evolutionary biology, translated to 'problem solving evolution' [a special case of cultural evolution] . And while biological evolution is concerned with non-human problem solving [simply put, adaptations, and the processes that explain them] of organisms that are not human, our focus will be human problem solving.

........................................problem solving processes

Problem solving processes is the key to translating theories from one field to the other. Since my research is meant to be inter-disciplinary, it must contribute, or at least be an attempt to do that, to interdisciplinary work. I found that in interdisciplinary work translation is crucial for understanding. Words like adaptations, learning, problems, means and ends are confusing when their meanings are not seen in relation to each other.
This is especially a problem for my research because adaptation is used in biological evolutionary theory, problem solving is used in human problem solving theories, means and ends coupled to rationality are used in sociology, in policy analysis and in public administration.
Simply put, it helps to see that means are solutions, ends are goals or problems to be solved, adaptations are better solutions found, learning can be seen as the process in which better solutions are found, etc. One realized this all seems perfectly logical and simple. But it took me some time. So armed with these realizations, my research focusses on processes that match means to ends, solutions to problems, or adaptations to selection criteria.

and what

...........theories can explain that?

This part is the most problematic at this time. Because there are so many theories, and they are stated in so many different not easily translatable concepts, it is difficult to see what theories are relevant, and what theories are not. At the end of my phd-process, I hope to be able to say something about this in the context of a theoretical framework designed to do that.
When you have comments on the question, and my explanations on it please use the Questions and remarks page.

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