Concept Mapping: Soft Science or Hard Art?

Topics:
Knowledge Management,
Strategy Formulation
Tags:
Concept,
Science,
William M.K. Trochim
Source:
William M.K. Trochim

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Overview: Is concept mapping "science" or "art"? Can one legitimately claim that concept maps represent reality, or are they primarily suggestive devices, which might stimulate new ways to look at the experiences? Here, the scientific side of concept mapping is viewed as "soft science" and the artistic one as "hard art" to imply that the process has some qualities of both, but probably does not fall exclusively within either's domain. In the spirit of hard art, a "gallery" of final concept maps from twenty projects is presented, partly to illustrate more examples of the process when used in a variety of subject areas and for different purposes, and partly for their aesthetic value alone. In the spirit of soft science, two major issues are considered. First, the evidence for the validity and reliability of concept mapping is introduced, along with some suggestions for further research which might be undertaken to examine those characteristics. Second, the role of concept mapping is discussed, with special emphasis on its use in a pattern matching framework.

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Format: HTML | Date: Jan 2003 | Pages: 1

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