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Transcript of Siegel 1987
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Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, Volume 52, 306-312, November 1987
I
T H E L I M I T S O F S C I E N C E I N C O M M U N I C A T I O N
GERALD M. SIEGELUniversity of Minnesota, M inneapolis
D I S O R D E R S
Science is a powerful tool when it addresses the kinds of questions it wag designed to answer, but there are also importantquestions in communication disorders that fall outside the limits of science. Three such areas are discussed: Questions concerningsocial and personal values, questions that call for logical rather than scientific endeavors, and questions that should not be posedbecause we already know the answers and would not be influenced by contrary findings.
I I I
The ASHA conference on education in communication
disorders (Bees & Snope, 1983) made it evident that science
is considered by m embers of this profession to be an
extremely important component of clinical practice and
preparation. At that conference numerous speakers extolled
the values of science for the edification of students and as a
model for therapy. Flower (1983) and Kent (1983) went
further and suggested that our status as an autonomousprofession in control of its own destiny is contingent on our
ability to create our own research base and to generate our
own scientific and technological advances. This testimony
to the importance of science in our profession in the 1980s
is no more than a reaffirmation of themes that motivated its
earliest leaders (Paden, 1970). And yet, while we may be
justifiably proud of the commitinent to science in our
educational and professional programs, we should also be
mindful that there are limits to the r each of science, that not
all problems are susceptible of scientific solutions.
I have taken the title of this paper from a book by P. B.
Medawar (1984), one of the most astute commentators on
contemporary science. Medawar notes that science is most
successful when it answers the kinds of questions it wasdesigned to answer, but that there are important questions
that fall outside of science--questions of public policy, of
social and personal values, of faith and belief--that are no
less important because they are not susceptible to scientific
study. In the current paper I suggest that there are also
problems in communication disorders that are best ad-
dressed outside the orbit of science. After a discussion of he
nature of science, I will develop these limitations in three
areas: (a) Questi ons o f values, (b) questions that require a
logical rather than a scientific understanding, and (c) ques-
tions that should not be pos ed because we already know the
answers an d would not be inf luenced by contrary findings.
T h e N a t u r e o f S c ie n c e
The literature abounds with definitions of science, both
technical and popular, methodological and philosophical.
As pervasive and important as science is to the fabric of
modern life, the definitions are often at variance with
each other. According to Popper (1968):
Science is not a system of certain, or well-established,statements; nor is it a system which steadily advances
towards a state of finality. Our science is not knowledge; itcan never claim to have attained truth, or even a substitutefor it, such as probability. (p. 276)
Medawar (1984) rejects the notion that there could be
any single approach that qualifies as science or the
scientific method:
I go along with the opinion of William Whewell, BertrandRussell and Karl Popper that scientists do not make theirdiscoveries by induction or by the practice of any otherone method. The "scientific method" is therefore illusory.... A scientist commands a dozen different strategies ofinquiry in his approximation to the truth. (pp. 16--17)
However, in an earlier book, Medwar (1979) was will-
ing to characterize the ordinary functions of science:
"Most of the everyday business of the empirical sciences
consists in testing experimentally the logical implications
of hyp0t hese s-- that is, the con sequenc es of assuming for
the time being that they are true." (p. 85).
Johnston and P ennypa cker (1980) define science from a
behaviorist's perspective that emphasizes the necessity
for prediction and control in scientific explanation. Forthem, science describes a set of behaviors that culminate
in certain kinds of verbal statements: "We define scienceas the colle ction of hum an activities for whic h the conse-
quences are statements of contingencies that allow pre-
diction and control .. . . It is erroneous to refer to science
as knowledge because knowledge is only the byproduct
of science" (pp. 412-413).
For Marx (1951), empirical measurement is at the heart
of science, but there is more to science than collecting
data. "Theory or general explanation is the ultimate
objective of science" (p. 5).
Even Mark Twain has a view of science, expressed in a
lovely work of fiction, Eve's D iary. Twain, it appears, had a
view of knowledg e that follows closely the pr ocedures of an
empirical scientist. The following insight was purportedly
noted by Eve shortly after she was created and was busy
exploring the natural phenom ena she encountered in Eden:
It is best to prove things by actual experiment; then youknow; whereas i f you depend on guessing and supposingand conjecturing, you will never get educated. Somethings you can ' t find out; but you will never know youcan 't by guessing and supposing; no, you have to bepatient and go on experimenting until you find out that
© 1987, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association 306 0022-4677/87/5204-0306501.00
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you can't find out. And it is delightful to have it that way,it makes the world so interesting. I f there wasn't anythingto find out, it would be dull. Even trying to find out andnot finding out is just as interesting as trying to find outand finding out, and I don't know but more so.
Like so many of the impor tant concepts we appeal to
repeatedly, there is no single, unified definition of sci-
ence or of the pr actice of scientists. Kuhn (1986) recent ly
summar ized the curr ent confusions concerning the status
of science, as understood by philosophers and historians
of science: "We simply no longer have any useful notions
of how scienc e works or of what scientific progress is" (p.
33). Nevertheless, scientists continue to work, laborato-
ries continue to pour out new discoveries, and books and
journal articles continue to proliferate, often to the con-
sternation of those of us who are more commi tted to keep
up, than wise enough to come in out of the deluge.
My own orientation, at least to behavioral science, is close
to Eve' s diary entry or to Johnston and Pennyp acker (1980).
I view speech and hearing science as an activity that
aggressively explores relationships between environmentalevents and the persons who are influenced and who, in
turn, influence the environment. Like Marx (1951) and
others, I believ e that the object of behavioral science is to
explain behavior, but, in the tradition of behaviorism, I
regard the most satisfying explanation as one that is ob-
tained through prediction and control. Zuriff (1985) cap-
tures the essence of this approach in an excellent analysis of
behaviorism. For behaviorists, he says,
Prediction and control are proposed as the defining char-acteristics of their science, and even of science in getaeral.That is, an activity is judged as "scientific" to the extentthat it contributes to the prediction and control of phenom-ena. (p. 9)
Clearly, this definition of science is one not embr aced by
all scientists and certainly not by all who delve into com-
munication behaviors. I don't intend to argue the merits of
this definition in the c urrent paper. I frankly don't think it is
critical for the thesis that science, however defined, is
bounded and does not have an infinite reach. I mean to
suggest that there are issues and misunderstandings that are
not clarified by the application of scientific methods, at least
so far as they involve experimental applications or the
conduct o f research. I will argue, for example, that a logical
analysis will sometimes convince a scientist that experi-
mentation is unnec essar y in resolving a problem. In certain
instances, rather than embark on a program of research, thescientist might do bette r to take stock of the constructs he or
she is working with, to look carefully at the definitions
being used, or to analyze the logic of the premises. Such
activities are n ot unscientific. Nor are they, in my opinion,
intrinsically scientific. Th ey do not requir e the special skills
of scientific training and rely, to a muc h greater extent, on
logical analysis. I will not quarrel with someone who insists
that logical analysis is, after a l l , an intrinsic part of scientific
method. It is possible to disagree on the scope of a defini-
tion of science and on the validity of a behavioral approach
to communication and its disorders and still consider the
SIEGEL: Lim its o f Sc ience 307
significance of values, logical analysis, and wasteful uses of
science; and that, I believe, is what is important.
Va l u e s
There exist perplexing issues concerning clinical man-
agement of communication disorders that require public
debate and clear thinking, though they are not the kinds of
questions science is designed to answer. Perhaps most
pressing in this arena is the basic quest ion of whom it is we
should serve. Basic values change. In the 1950s, very few
speech-language pathologists worked with the mentally
retarded. At a time when caseloads in the public schools
were often well over 100, it was ques tioned wheth er it was
a justifiable use of the speech-langua ge pathologist's time
and skill to offer service to retarded children. For example,
Brown (1956) wrote the following in the widely used
textbook, Speech H andicapped School Children:
Professional personnel in speech, education, medicine,and other fields dealing with retarded children should notfall prey to wishful thinking. Of course, it is possible toimprove the speech of a feeble-minded child by intensivetraining, and it is also possible to improve his intelligencetest scores somewhat. Only infrequently, however, arethese changes indicative of real improvement in thechild's ability to make his own way. (p. 307)
Implicit in Brown's comments is the view that the
justification for dispensing service is that such service
makes it possible for the client "to make his own way."
That view embraces a set of values with far-reaching
consequences. For example, one implication is that if the
clinician's efforts are unlikely to lead to an independent ,
contributing member of society, it may be unethical to
persevere in those efforts.
Robert West was even more explicit and the following
quote was repr inted in editions of his textbook up into the
1960s:
The mongol is particularly unresponsive to speech reha-bilitation, and it is practically useless to attempt suchtraining. Rehabilitation of speech of the mongol, there-fore, should be undertaken only with the clear under-standing of everyone concerned that the therapy is exper-imental, and any possible results will be meager and inproportion to the patient's level of intelligence. (West &Ansberry, 1968, p. 66)
Over the years, values concerning who should or
should not be given special educational services havechan ged radically. 1 The jus tification for ther apy is no
lit should be noted for the record that as early as i939 CharlesVan Riper was expressing a rather different attitude about theobligation of our profession to retarded children:
Nevertheless, children of low intelligence are generallyretarded in speech and must be taught patiently andcarefully by means of the special techniques known to theteacher of subnormal children. These children needspeech training even more, perhaps, than the usual courseof study given them would seem to indicate. Training inthe manual and domestic arts should be supplemented bymuch speech training. (Van Riper, 1939, p. 184)
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3 0 8 Jou rna l of Speech and Hearing Disorders 52 3 0 6 - 3 1 2 N o v e m b e r 1 9 87
l o n g e r t h a t i t m u s t h o l d t h e p r o m i s e o f p r e p a r i n g t h e
c l i e n t fo r i n d e p e n d e n t a n d p r o d u c t i v e w o r k . I t is n o w
a s s u m e d t h a t e d u c a t i o n i s j u s t i f i e d i f i t b e n e f i t s t h e
i n d i v id u a l , w h e t h e r o r n o t t h e r e i s a n a c c o m p a n y i n g
r e t u r n t o s o c i e t y . P u b l i c L a w 1 42 h as e n s h r i n e d t h e v a l u e
t h a t a l l c h i l d r e n h a v e t h e r i g h t t o a n e d u c a t i o n , i n t h e
l e a s t r e s t r i c t i v e e n v i r o n m e n t , t h a t w i l l b r i n g t h e m t o t h e
f u l l e s t p o s s i b l e r e a l i z a t i o n o f t h e i r a b i l i t i e s , r e g a r d l e s s o fw h e t h e r t h e y u l t i m a t e l y e n d u p o n t h e t a x ro l ls .
I ro n ic a l ly , t h is m o re a l t ru i s t i c s o c ia l s t a n c e h a s c re a t e d i t s
o w n c o n fl i ct s o f v a l u e s . T h e p e n d u l u m h a s s w u n g s o f a r a s
t o m a k e t h e b o u n d a r i e s o f o u r p r o f e s s i o n a l c o m p e t e n c y
u n c l e a r . I n r e c e n t y e a r s i t h a s b e e n a r g u e d t h a t t h e p r o v i n c e
o f s p e e c h - l a n g u a g e p a t h o l og i s t s a n d a u d i o lo g i s ts s h o u l d
i n c l u d e r e a d i n g p r o b l e m s , t o n g u e t h r u s t, s w a l l o w i n g, f e e d -
i n g a b n o r m a l i t i es , a n d c l i e nt s s o s e v e r e l y h a n d i c a p p e d t h a t
" c o m m u n i c a t i o n " i s e q u a t e d w i t h s i m p l e s e n s o r y s t i m u l a -
t i o n . F r o m a p e r i o d w h e n t h e p r o f e s s i o n w a s n a r r o w l y
e x c l u s i v e , w e h a v e b e c o m e a l m o s t r e c k l e s s l y i n c l u s i v e i n
t h e w i l l i n g n e ss t o w o r k i n s o m a n y a r e a s .
S i m i l a r q u e s t i o n s a r i se w i t h r e s p e c t t o t h e e l d e r l y a n d t h e
c h r o n i c a l l y il l. I t i s a q u e s t i o n o f v a l u e s w h e t h e r w e s h o u l d
w o rk w i th in d iv id u a l s w h o a re in a l l l i k e l ih o o d c lo s e to th e
e n d o f t h e i r l i v e s a n d w h o , t h o u g h t h e y m a y p r e v i o u s l y
h a v e b e e n c o n t r i b u t i n g m e m b e r s o f s o c ie t y , a r e v e r y u n -
l ik e ly to m a k e fu r th e r c o n t r ib u t io n s . F o r th e m , th e ju s t i fi c a -
t i o n f o r s e r v i c e c a n n o t b e w h a t t h e y w i l l r e t u r n . N o r i s
p r o g n o s i s f or i m p r o v e m e n t a c l e a r g u id e l i n e . F o r s o m e
c l i e nt s t h e b e s t t h a t t h e r a p y m a y d o i s t o m a i n t a i n t h e s t at u s
q u o , o r t o s l o w p r o g r e s s i v e d e g e n e r a t i o n o f p e r f o r m a n c e ,
a n d y e t w e f e e l a n o b l i g a ti o n t o p r o v i d e w h a t h e l p w e c a n ,
to e a s e th e i r l i v e s a s m u c h a s p o s s ib l e .
V a l u e q u e s t i o n s m e e t u s a t e v e r y tu r n . C o n c e r n s a b o u t
w h i c h c l i e n t s w e s h o u l d s e r v e , w h a t t h e c r i t e r i a s h o u l d
b e f o r a c c o u n t a b i l i t y , h o w t o m e a s u r e t h e c o s t o f s e r v i c e sa g a i n s t t h e q u a l i t y o f l i f e o f c l i e n t s - - t h e s e a n d t h e s c o r e
o f o th e r s t h a t f a l l i n t h e d o m a i n o f v a l u e s a r e o f c e n t r a l
i m p o r t a n c e f o r o u r f i el d . T h e y n e e d t o b e a i r ed , d e b a t e d ,
b r o u g h t t o t h e a t t e n t i o n o f s t u d e n t s , d i s c u s s e d a t n a t i o n a l
a n d l o c a l m e e t i n g s . E m p i r i c a l e v i d e n c e i s i m p o r t a n t i n
b o l s t e r i n g a r g u m e n t s a n d a s a b a s i s f o r m a k i n g d e c i s i o n s ,
b u t i n m a t t e rs o f v al u e s , th e e v i d e n c e c a n b e m a r s h a l e d t o
s u p p o r t c o n f l i c t i n g p o l i c i e s a n d t h e d e c i s i o n s m u s t b e
m a d e o u t s i d e t h e r e a l m o f s c ie n c e .
Logical Analysis
M e d a w a r ( 1 9 8 4 ) h a s n o t e d t h a t science h a s s e v e r a l
m e a n i n g s , i n c l u d i n g t h e n a m e f o r a s e t o f p r o c e d u r e s a n d
f o r t h e b o d y o f o r g a n i z e d k n o w l e d g e d e r i v e d f r o m t h o s e
p r o c e d u r e s . H o w e v e r , w h e n K e n t (1 98 3) a n d F l o w e r
( 1 98 3 ) a n d o t h e r s u r g e t h a t t h e c l i n i c a l p r a c t i c e o f c o m -
m u n i c a t i o n d i s o r d e r s i s , o r o u g h t t o b e , s c i e n t i f i c , I
b e l i e v e t h a t t h e y a r e a s k i n g t h a t th e m e t h o d s o f s c i e n ce
s e r v e a s a g u i d e f o r c l i n i c a l p r o c e d u r e s . T h o u g h t h e r e i s
n o s i n g l e a p p r o a c h t h a t q u a l i f i e s a s s c i e n c e , M e d a w a r
( 1 97 9 ) i s o l a t e d a t l e a s t o n e a t t r i b u t e t h a t h e c o n s i d e r e d t o
b e u n i v e r s a l : " C r i t i c i s m i s th e m o s t p o w e r f u l w e a p o n i n
a n y m e t h o d o l o g y o f s c i e n c e ; i t is t h e s c i e n t i s t ' s o n l y
a s s u r a n c e t h a t h e n e e d n o t p e r s i s t i n e r ro r . A ll e x p e r i m e n -
t a t io n i s c r i t i c i s m " (p . 9 4 ) .
N o t a ll c r it i c is m n e e d b e e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n , h o w e v e r . I n
o u r v e n e r a t i o n f o r s c ie n c e , a n d p a r t i c u l a r l y f o r t h e s e i e n -
t i tl e m e t h o d , w e h a v e t a u g h t g e n e r a t i o n s o f s t u d e n t s t o
c o n c l u d e t h e i r t h e s e s o r d i s s e r t a ti o n s w i t h a n a p p e a l f o r
f u r t h e r r e s e a rc h . S o m e t i m e s , h o w e v e r , k n o w l e d g e w o u l db e b e t t e r s e r v e d b y c r i t i c i s m r a t h e r t h a n r e s e a r c h . F o r
e x a m p l e , S i e g e l , K a t su k i , a n d P o t e c h i n ( 1 9 8 5) a r g u e d t h a t
q u e s t io n s c o n c e r n i n g t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p o f c o g n i ti o n t o
l a n g u a g e a r e n o t s u s c e p t i b l e o f e m p i r i c a l r e s o l u t i o n b e -
c a u s e t h e d e f i n i t i o n s i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e o f " l a n g u a g e " a n d
" c o g n i t i o n " a r e t o o f l u i d a n d i m p r e c i s e . W e s u g g e s t e d
t h a t o n e c a n n o t r e s o l v e w h e t h e r l a n g u a g e c a u s e s c o g n i -
t i o n o r c o g n i t io n c a u s e s l a n g u a g e d u r i n g d e v e l o p m e n t
u n l e s s t h e r e i s a g r e e m e n t a b o u t w h a t t h e t e r m s l a n g u a g e
a n d c o g n i t i o n r e f e r t o , u n l e s s t h e y e n c o m p a s s i n d e p e n -
d e n t d o m a i n s , a n d u n l e s s t h e t e r m s a r e d e f i n e d i n w a y s
t h a t r e m a i n q u a l i t a ti v e l y c o n s t a n t o v e r th e d e v e l o p m e n -
t a l p e r i o d i n q u e s t i o n .
I f t h e d e f i n i t i o n s o f t h e b a s i c t e r m s f r e e l y v a r y , t h e
a n s w e r a b o u t c a u s a l re l a t i o n sh i p s w i l l d e p e n d o n w h a t i s
t a k e n t o b e l a n g u a g e a n d w h a t c o g n i t io n , r a t h e r t h a n o n a
n a t u ra l p h e n o m e n o n . I f b y c o g n i t io n o n e a u t h o r m e a n s
p e r f o r m a n c e o n t h e U z i g i r i s H u n t , a n d a n o t h e r o n t h e
S t a n fo r d B i n e t, t h e n t h e o u t c o m e o f r e s e a r c h m a y v e r y
w e l l d e p e n d o n w h i c h t e s t i s u s e d . I f la n g u a g e i s s o m e -
t i m e s u s e d t o r e f e r t o s y n t a c t ic s t r u c t u r e s a n d s o m e t i m e s
t o p r e v e r b a l g e s t u r e s t h e c h i l d m a k e s t o r e c r u i t t h e
l i s t e n e r ' s a t t e n t i o n , i t i s h a r d t o i m a g i n e h o w a s t a b l e
a n s w e r t o th e r e l a t i o n s h ip o f c o g n i t io n a n d l a n g u a g e
c o u l d b e o f f er e d . I f th e v e r y s a m e b e h a v i o r s a r e s o m e -
t i m e s t a k e n a s i n d i c e s o f l a n g u a g e a n d a t o t h e r s a s i n d i c e s
o f c o g n it i o n , t h e n a n y a t t e m p t t o p u r s u e t h e q u e s t i o n o ft h e r e l a t io n s h i p b e t w e e n t h e t w o d o m a i n s i s f u r t h e r
t h w a r t e d , a n d n o a m o u n t o f e m p i r i c a l i n v e s t i g a ti o n i s
l i k e I y t o r e s o l v e t h e c o n f u s i o n .
A n o t h e r e x a m p l e o f a f u n d a m e n t a l i s s u e t h a t is b e t t e r
r e s o l v e d b y a l o g i c a l t h a n a n e m p i r i c a l p r o g r a m i s t o b e
f o u n d i n r e c e n t d i s p u t e s c o n c e r n i n g t h e n a t u r e o f s t u tt e r-
i n g . I n a n u m b e r o f p l a c e s , P e r k i n s (1983, 1984 , 1986a ,
1 9 8 6 b) h a s o f f e r e d a n e w d e f i n i t i o n o f s t u t t e r i n g t h a t
i n c l u d e s t h e p r o v i s i o n t h a t s t u t t e r i n g i n v a r i a b l y i n v o l v e s
t h e l o s s o f v o l i t i o n a l c o n t r o l . A c c o r d i n g t o P e r k i n s :
An ind ispu tab le rea l i ty fo r peop le who cons ide r them-selves to be s tutterers is tha t they feel as if they lose
control o f the ir speeeh when they s tu t te r . . . I f invo lun-ta ry d isrup t ion o f the f low of speech is the es sence o f theexper ience of s tuttering, then it must form the core of thedefinition. B ut only the person w ho has that experien ce isp r ivy to it . No one e lse can ve r i fy i t . . . The impl ica t ion o fthe foreg oing analysis is that a valid def inition of s tutteringpreclud es its being reliable. (Perkins , 1983, p. 247)
P e r k i n s s e e s a p a r a d o x i n t h a t t h e e s s e n c e o f s t u t t e r i n g
i n v o l v e s a n u n o b s e r v a b l e , p r i v a t e e v e n t w h i c h , i n t h e
i n t e r e s t s o f r e l i a b i l i t y o f o b s e r v a t i o n , h a s s y s t e m a t i c a l l y
b e e n e x c l u d e d f r o m d e f i n it i o n s o f s t u tt e r in g , r e s u l t i n g i n
a d e f i n i t i o n t h a t a t b e s t i s r e l i a b l e b u t c a n n o t b e v a l i d .
8/6/2019 Siegel 1987
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/siegel-1987 4/8
A n d , o f c o u r s e , r e l i a b i l i t y i s a h o l l o w a t t r i b u t e w h e n t h e r e
i s n o v a l i d i t y . P e r k i n s ' s i d e a s a b o u t t h e e s s e n t i a l n a t u r e o f
s t u t t e r i n g h a v e b e e n c r i t i c i z e d b y W i n g a t e ( 1 9 8 4) a n d i n
a n e s p e c i a l l y t h o u g h tf u l r e s p o n s e b y M a r t in a n d
H a r o l d s o n ( 1 9 8 6 ) :
To the degree tha t Perk ins ' s de f in i t ion rests r ig id ly on theassertion that s tuttering really is the involuntary loss ofspeec h control, then the definition prob ably will not proveto be too useful. To assert that the on ly valid definition ofs tu t te r ing invovles behaviors tha t by the ir ve ry na turecannot be observe d re l iab ly s imply prec ludes meaningfu lscientific inquiry. (p. 189)
I w o u l d a r g u e f u r t h e r t h a t P e r k i n s ' s d e f i n i t io n o f s t u tt e r -
in g fa i l s t h e t e s t o f u s e fu ln e s s b e c a u s e i t is , i n r e a l i ty , a
th e o ry p o s in g a s a d e f in i t io n . T h e a s s e r t io n th a t s tu t t e re r s
e x p e r i e n c e a t e m p o r a r y l o s s o f c o n t r ol d u r i n g s p e e c h i s a
p o i n t o f v i e w , a h y p o t h e s i s t h a t d e s e r v e s s e r i o us d e b a t e , b u t
i t i s n o t a n " i n d i s p u t a b l e r e a l i t y . " T h e e v i d e n c e w e h a v e
c o n c e r n i n g s t u t t e r e r s ' i n n e r f e e l i n g s a r e v e r b a l s t a t e m e n t s .S t a t e m e n t s a b o u t i n n e r f e e l i n g s a r e b y n o m e a n s e q u i v a l e n t
t o th e f e e l i n g s t h e m s e l v e s , a n d w e c a n n o t b e s u r e t h a t
s t u t te r e r s a r e a n y m o r e r e l i a b l e a b o u t r e p o r t i n g t h e i r f e e l -
i n g s th a n a r e e x t e r n a l o b s e r v e r s . F u r t h e r m o r e , t h r o u g h t h e
s p o n ta n e o u s in t e ra c t io n s th a t o c c u r in th e ra p y , c l in i c i a n s
m a y i n a d v e r t e n t l y t e a c h s t u t t e r e r s w h a t t h e c l i n i c i a n b e -
l i e v e s t h e s t u t t e r e r s h o u l d b e e x p e r i e n c i n g . S t u t t e r e r s' e x -
p e r i e n c e s a n d t h e i r r e p o r t s c o n c e r n i n g t h o s e e x p e r i e n c e s
a x e n o t immu n e to d i s to r t io n , s o c ia l i n f lu e n c e , a n d o th e r
s o u r c e s o f i n a c c u r a c y a n d u n r e l i a b i l i ty t h a t a f f ec t t h e j u d g -
m e n t s o f e x te r n a l o b s e r v e r s .
T h e c l a i m t h a t s t u t t e r i n g i s e s s e n t i a ll y t h e e x p e r i e n c e o f
lo s s o f c o n t ro l w i l l b e d i f f i c u l t t o e v a lu a te in a n y e v e n tb e c a u s e i t i n v o k e s u n o b s e r v a b l e s a n d p r e c l u d e s p u b l i c
v e r i f i c a t io n . I a g re e w i th Ma r t in a n d Ha ro ld s o n (1 9 8 6 ) th a t
t h i s a s p e c t o f P e r k i n s ' s t h e o r y r e d u c e s i ts u s e f u l n e s s
( t h o u g h n o t n e c e s s a r i l y i ts c o r r e ct n e s s) . O n e m i g h t a r g u e , a s
a p ra g ma t i s t , t h a t a th e o ry i s o f l i t t le p ra c t i c a l u s e , e v e n i f i t
i s tr u e , i f i t c a n n o t b e e v a l u a t e d . T h e t h e o r y m a y o r m a y n o t
p ro v e s a t i s fa c to ry fo r th i s a n d o th e r r e a s o n s . I d o n o t w i s h to
a r g u e h e r e w i t h t h e t h e o r y P e r k i n s h a s p r e s e n t e d . I t se e m s
c l e a r, h o w e v e r , t h a t r e g a r d l e s s o f t h e m e r i t s o f t h e t h e o r y , i t
o u g h t n o t t o m a s q u e r a d e a s a d e f i n i t i o n . I t i s n o m o r e
d e f e n s i b l e t o d e f i n e s t u t t e r i n g a s a n i n v o l u n t a r y l o s s o f
c o n t ro l th a n i t i s t o d e f in e i t a s a g e n e t i c d i s o rd e r , o r a s a
s p a s m o p h e m i a , o r a s a l e a r n e d b e h a v i o r . R a t h e r t h a n p r e d -i c a t e d a s d e f i n i t i o n s , t h e s e v i e w s s h o u l d b e r e t a i n e d a s
t h e o r i e s a b o u t t h e n a t u r e o f s t u tt e r in g . T h e o r i e s a r e s u s c e p -
t i b l e o f e x p e r i m e n t a l t e s t a n d d i s c o n f i r m a t io n . D e f i n i t i o n s
a re n o t .
I n s u m m a r y , t h e r e a r e t i m e s w h e n l o g ic a l a n al y s i s o f t h e
f o r m a n d t e r m s o f a q u e s t io n i s a m o r e u s e f u l w a y o f d e a l in g
w i t h i t t h a n t o l a u n c h a p r o g r a m o f r e se a r c h a n d e x p e r i m e n -
t a ti o n . A c a r ef u l e v a l u a t i o n o f th e q u e s t i o n b e i n g a s k e d m a y
i n d i c a t e t h a t r a t h e r t h a n r e s e a r c h o r e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n , w h a t
i s n e e d e d i s a r e t h i n k i n g o f t h e t e r m s o f t h e q u e s t i o n a n d
t h e d e f i n i ti o n s t h a t a r e b e i n g u s e d .
SIEGEL: Limits o f Science 3 0 9
Wasteful Uses of Science
F i n a l l y , t h e r e a r e i n s t a n c e s w h e n t h e l i m i t s t o s c i e n c e
o u g h t t o b e v o l u n t a r i l y i m p o s e d b e c a u s e t o d o o t h e r w i s e
i s w a s t e f u l o f s c i e n t i fi c r e s o u r c e s . T h e r e a r e a t l e a s t t w o
k i n d s o f q u e s t i o n s t h a t , in m y o p i n i o n , d o n o t w a r r a n t
s c i e n t i f i c e f fo r t s.
T h e f ir s t a r e q u e s t io n s n o t w o r t h a n s w e r i n g b e c a u s et h e y e m a n a t e f r o m t o o f l im s y a f o u n d a t io n . T h e h e l p i n g
p r o f e s s i o n s a r e v e r y v u l n e r a b l e t o f a d s , u n s u b s t a n t i a t e d
c l a im s , p o o r l y t h o u g h t o u t t h e r a p y r e g i m e s , a n d p r e p o s -
t e r o u s p r o p o s a l s f o r th e r a p y . I f th e s c ie n t if i c c o m m u n i t y
m u s t e x p l o r e e v e r y c r a c k p o t t h e r a p y p r o p o s a l , i t w i l l
n e v e r g e t o n t o th e b u s i n e s s o f b u i l d i n g a f u n d a m e n t a l
k n o w l e d g e b a s e . T h e r e m u s t b e s o m e w a y o f sc r e e n in g
t h e q u e s t i o n s t o b e e x p l o r e d . N o t e v e r y c a n d i d a t e t h e r a p y
t h a t i s o f f e r e d i s w o r t h y o f s c i e n ti f i c t e s t .
I n c o n t r a s t t o o p i n i o n s v o i c e d b y P e r k i n s ( 1 9 8 6 a ,
1 9 8 6b ) , t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t q u e s t i o n t o a s k o f a t h e r a p y i s
n o t w h e t h e r i t w o r k s , b u t r a t h e r w h e t h e r i t m a k e s s e n s e .
I f t h e p r e m i s e s u n d e r l y i n g a p r o p o s e d t h e r a p y a p p r o a c h
a r e o b v i o u s l y i n c o r r e c t , o r i f t h e y c a n n o t b e r e c o n c i l e d
w i t h c u r r e n t t h e r a p y a n d r e s e a r c h , t h e t h e r a p y i s a v e r y
p o o r c a n d i d a t e a n d u n l i k e l y t o m a k e a n y l a s t i n g c o n t r i -
b u t i o n t o t h e w e l f a r e o f c l i e n t s. F u r t h e r m o r e , i t i s n o t a
u s e f u l e x p e n d i t u r e o f sc i e n t i fi c e f f o r t a n d r e s o u r c e s t o t e s t
s u c h t h e r a p y r e g i m e s . U n f o r t u n a t e l y , t h e r e w i l l b e d e s -
p e r a t e c l i e n t s w h o w i l l c l a m o r f o r a n y t h e r a p y i f i t is
s u f f i c i e n tl y p r o m o t e d , a n d c l i n i c i a n s w h o w i l l a ls o s u c-
c u m b .
T o p r o t e c t c l ie n t s a n d t h e p r o f e s s i o n , w e m u s t s c r u p u -
l o u s ly a v o i d e x t e n d i n g t h e " b o t t o m l i n e " p h i l o s o p h y t o
c o m m u n i c a t i o n d i s o r d e r s - - t h a t w h a t m a t t e r s i s o n l y
w h e t h e r o r n o t a p r o p o s e d t h e r a p y m e t h o d w o r k s . N o
t h e r a p y m e t h o d i s l i k e l y t o b e a p p r o p r i a t e i n a g i v e n fo r mf o r a l l cl i e n t s . C l i n i c i a n s w i l l a l w a y s h a v e t h e t a s k o f
t a i l o r i n g g e n e r a l m e t h o d s t o s p e c i f i c c l i e n t s b a s e d o n
f u n d a m e n t a l u n d e r s t a n d i n g s o f t h e b e h a v i o r a l p r o c e s s e s
i n v o l v e d . I f t h e t h e r a p y m a k e s n o c o n c e p t u a l s e n s e, t h e
c l i n ic i a n i s h o p e l e s s l y h a n d i c a p p e d . I t m a y w o r k f o r a
p a r t i c u l a r c l i e n t , b u t t h e c l i n i c i a n h a s n o w a y o f p r e d i c t -
i n g th e o t h e r c l i e n t s f o r w h o m t h e t h e r a p y a p p r o a c h w i l l
b e a p p r o p r i a t e , o r h o w t o r e p a i r i t w h e n i t d o e s n o t w o r k .
A l m o s t a n y t h e r a p y m e t h o d w i l l w o r k f o r s o m e c l i e n t o n
s o m e o c c a s i o n . R e s e a r c h d e s i g n e d t o d e m o n s t r a t e t h a t
t h e r e i s n o d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n t a k i n g s u g a r p i ll s v e r s u s
d a i l y ex e r c i s e s i n c r a w l i n g o r s p e a k i n g w h i l e a s c e n d i n g
i n e l e v a t o r s w i l l n o t b e c o n v i n c i n g t o c l i e n t s w h o a r e
d e s p e r a t e a n d m a y h a v e h e a r d o f a c a s e in w h i c h t h e
m e t h o d s d i d w o r k . W h a t i s n e e d e d a r e r e s e a r c h a n d
t h e o r i e s t h a t a d d to k n o w l e d g e a n d t h e r a p i e s t h a t c a n b e
r e l a t e d t o t h e a v a i l a b l e k n o w l e d g e b a s e .
T h e s e c o n d c l a s s o f q u e s t i o n s t h a t I d o n o t b e l i e v e
o u g h t t o b e t h e s u b j e c t o f s c i e n t i fi c i n q u i r y a r e t h o s e
w h o s e a n s w e r s w i l l i n n o w a y a f f ec t o u r u n d e r s t a n d i n g s
o r o u r b e h a v i o r . I t i s t r u e , a s K u h n ( 1 97 0 ) h a s p o i n t e d o u t ,
t h a t a s ig n i f ic a n t c o m p o n e n t o f n o r m a l s c i e n c e i n v o l v e s
p o s i n g q u e s t i o n w h o s e a n s w e r s a r e a l r e a d y s t r o n g l y a n -
t i c i p a t e d b y t h e p r e v a i l i n g t h e o r y o r p a ra d i g m . B u t c o n -
t r a r y r e s u l t s c a n o c c u r. A n o m a l i e s d o a c c u m u l a t e , u l t i -
8/6/2019 Siegel 1987
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/siegel-1987 5/8
3 1 0 Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders 52 3 0 6 - 3 12 N o v e m b e r 1 98 7
m a t e l y l e a d i n g t o s c i e n t i f ic r e v o l u t i o n s . I t i s a m i s u s e o f
r e s e a r c h t o p o s e a q u e st i o n w h e n t h e a n s w e r i s no t o n l y
a n t i c i p a t e d , b u t n o o t h e r a n s w e r w i l l b e a l l o w e d . T h i s
c a n o c cu r , h o w e v e r , w h e n q u e s t i o n s a r e p o s e d f o r p o l i t -
i c a l o r s o c ia l r a th e r th a n s c i e n t i f i c r e a s o n s .
O n e s u c h q u e s t i o n i s " D o e s t h e r a p y w o r k ? " I d o n o t
b e l i e v e t h a t i s a p r o p e r q u e s t i o n f o r r e s e a r c h , a t l e a s t
p a r t l y b e c a u s e m o s t o f u s w o u l d n o t a c c e p t t he r e s u lt s o fa n y s t u d y t h a t d e m o n s t r a t e d o t h e r w i s e . T h e r e a s o n f o r
p u t t i n g t h a t q u e s t i o n t o te s t i s n o t t o le a r n a b o u t t h e r a p y ,
b u t r a t h e r t o s a t i s f y t h e s k e p t i c s w h o l o o k a t c o m m u n i c a -
t i o n t h e r a p y w i t h a j a u n d i c e d e y e a n d a s h ri n k i n g p u r s e .
A p h a s i a t h e r a p y i s a fi n e e x a m p l e o f h o w t h e a c c o u n t -
a b i l i t y m o n s t e r c a n i n d u c e u s t o m a l a d r o i t e f f o r t s . D a r l e y
( 1 97 2 ) p o s e d s e v e r a l q u e s t i o n t h a t h e f e l t a p h a s i a t h e r a -
p i s t s m u s t a d d r e s s b e c a u s e p h y s i c i a n s a n d p o l i t i c i a n s
w e r e p o s i n g t h e m . T h e f i r s t q u e s t i o n i s t h e f a m i l i a r
" D o e s t h e r a p y w o r k ? " I t w a s e x p r e s s e d b y D a r l e y a s:
Does language rehabi l i ta t ion accomplish measurab legains in language function beyond what can be expected
to occur as a result of spontaneous recovery? Or, s tateddifferently, does thera py have a decis ive influence o n thecourse of recovery and the u l t imate ou tcome? (Darley ,1979., p. 4)
M o r e t h a n a d e c a d e l a t e r , W e r t z ( 1 9 8 8 ) r a i s e d t h e s a m e
q u e s t i o n w i t h r e s p e c t t o a p h a s i a t h e r a p y a n d c o n c l u d e d
s o m e w h a t e q u i v o c a l l y t h a t e v i d e n c e m o u n t s f o r a n a ff ir -
m a t i v e a n s w e r t o D a r l e y ' s q u e s t i o n , t h o u g h t h e d e f i n i ti v e
t r e a t m e n t s t u d y h a s n o t b e e n d o n e . I b e l i e v e t h a t th e
d e f i n it i v e t r e a t m e n t e x p e r i m e n t c a n n o t b e d o n e ; o u t c o m e
r e s e a r c h i s s i m p l y c o n f o u n d e d b y t o o m a n y u n c o n t r o l la -
b l e v a r i a b l e s r e l a t i n g t o t h e c l i e n t , t h e t h e r a p i s t , t h e
s e t t i n g , t h e m e t h o d o f t h e r a p y , t h e m e a s u r e s t a k e n , a n d s o
o n .
F u r t h e r m o r e , s u c h a s t u d y i s s u p e r f l u o u s b e c a u s e w e
d o n o t n e e d s c i e n c e t o e s t a b l i s h t h a t t h e r a p y w o r k s . I t
s e e m s i n c o n t r o v e r t i b l e t h a t a ll h u m a n b e h a v i o r i s p o t e n -
t i a l l y m a l l e a b l e , a n d t h a t n o n e o f u s , c l i e n t o r t h e r a p i s t , i s
w o r k i n g t o t h e a b s o l u t e l i m i t s o f h i s o r h e r a b i l i ty .
R e g a r d l e s s o f o n e ' s t h e o r e t i c a l a p p r o a c h , t h e r a p y u l t i-
m a t e l y c o n s is t s i n c r e a t i n g c o n d i t i o n s i n w h i c h b e h a v i o r
w i l l c h a n g e , a n d , g i v e n i t s m a l l e a b i l i t y , b e h a v i o r c a n
a l w a y s b e m o d i f i e d a t l e a s t t o s o m e e x t e n t . T h e i s s u e ,
t h e r e f o r e , i s n o t w h e t h e r t h e r a p y w o r k s , b u t r a t h e r
w h e t h e r i t is w o r t h t h e c o s t , w h e t h e r t h e g a i n s j u s t i f y t h e
e x p e n s e s ; b u t i s s u e s o f t h i s s o r t ar e , a s I a r g u e d e a r l i e r ,
n o t q u e s ti o n s t h a t s c i e n c e w a s d e s i g n e d t o a n s w e r . T h e y
a r e , r a t h e r , q u e s t i o n s o f v a l u e s .R e g a r d l e s s o f h o w o n e m i g h t f e e l a b o u t b e h a v i o r m o d -
i f i c a t i o n a s a t h e r a p e u t i c s y s t e m , t h e r e i s n o a p p r o a c h t o
t h e r a p y t h a t m a k e s m o r e l a v is h u s e o f e x p e r i m e n t a l
m e t h o d s a n d d a t a c o l l e c t i o n . B e h a v i o r t h e r a p i s ts , h o w -
e v e r , a r e n o t l i k e l y t o q u e s t i o n t h e b a s i c p r e m i s e t h a t
t h e r a p y w o r k s . R a t h e r , i f a p a r t i c u l a r a p p r o a e h t o t h e r a p y
i s n o t w o r k i n g , t h e y w i l l b e g i n e x p e r i m e n t i n g w i t h
s m a l l e r t h e r a p e u t i c s t e p s , d i f f e r e n t s t i m u l i , m o r e p o w e r -
f u l r e i n f o r c e r s , a d i f f e r e n t s c h e d u l e o f r e i n f o r c e m e n t , a n d
s o o n . I n t h e f a c e o f f a i l u r e , t h e s e c l i n i c i an s a s s a il t h e i r
c l i n i c a l p r o c e d u r e s , c o n f i d e n t t h a t s o m e c o m b i n a t i o n o f
v a r i a b l e s w i l l g e t th e c l i e n t o n t h e p r o p e r t r a c k . T h e y u s e
e x p e r i m e n t a l m e t h o d s t o e v a lu a t e t h e r a p y b u t n o t t o as k
t h e b a s ic q u e s t io n , D o e s t h e r a p y w o r k ?
M y s e c o n d r e a s o n f o r d i s c o u r a g i n g r e s e a r c h t o te s t
w h e t h e r t h e r a p y w o r k s is b e c a u s e I am c o n v i n c e d t h a t no
e x p e r i m e n t a l o u t c o m e w o u l d c o n v i n c e a c l i n i c i a n t h a t
t h e r a p y d o e s n o t w o r k , a n d I d o n o t b e l i e v e i t i s u s e f u l t o
d o r e se a r c h w h e n o n l y o n e o u t c o m e w o u l d b e a e c e p t e d .W h e n e v e r a n e x p e r i m e n t i s d e s i g n e d t o e v a l u a t e t h e
e f f e c t i v e n e s s o f t h e r a p y , i t i s n e c e s s a r y t o m a k e i n n u m e r -
a b l e d e c i s i o n s c o n c e r n i n g t h e k i n d o f t h e r a p y , i t s d u ra -
t i o n a n d s c h e d u l i n g , t h e s e t t i n g i n w h i c h i t i s t o b e
a d m i n i s t e r e d , t h e s e l e c t i o n o f t h e c l i n i c i a n s , a n d a h o s t o f
o t h e r v a r i a b l e s . T h e i n t e r a c t i o n s a m o n g t h e s e v a r i a b l e s
a r e s o n u m e r o u s , a n d s o c o m p l e x , t h e p o s s i b i l i t y i s a l w a y s
o p e n t h a t a d i f f e re n t c o m b i n a t i o n w o u l d b e m o r e b e n e f i -
c i al . T h u s , i f a s t u d y f a i ls t o d e m o n s t r a t e t h a t t h e r a p y
w o r k s , t h e s c i e n t i s t w i l l r e d o i t u s i n g s o m e o t h e r v e r s i o n
o f t h e r a p y o r a d i f f e r e n t c o m b i n a t i o n o f v a r i a b l e s . B e -
c a u s e w e a l r e a d y k n o w i n o u r p r o f e s s i o n a l b o n e s t h a t
s o m e f o r m o f t h e r a p y i s b o u n d t o c h a n g e a c l i e n t ' sb e h a v i o r , a n a p p a r e n t f a i lu r e w i t h a p a r ti c u l a r c o m b i n a -
t i o n o f v a r i a b l e s i s a l w a y s a n i n v i t a t i o n t o d e v i s e a n e w
c o n s t e l l a t i o n r a t h e r t h a n t o c o n c l u d e i n a n y g e n e r a l s e n s e
t h a t t h e r a p y i s n o t e f f e c t u a l .
T h e r e a r e t r e a t m e n t d e s i g n s t h a t a r e p o t e n t i a l l y m o r e
i n f o r m a t i v e t h a n g l o b a l t e s t s o f e f f e c t i v e n e s s o f t h e r a p y .
M a n y y e a r s a g o R e y n o l d s ( 1 9 6 3 ) u r g e d t h a t s p e c i a l e d u -
c a t i o n t r e a t m e n t r e s e a r c h s h o u l d l o o k a t i n t e r a c t i o n s
b e t w e e n t r e a t m e n t m e t h o d s a n d c l i e n t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s .
B o r k o v e c a n d B a u e r ( 1 9 8 2 ) a n d K a z d i n ( 1 9 8 2 ) a l s o s u g -
g e s t t h a t p sy c h o l o g i c a l t r e a t m e n t r e s e a r c h s h o u l d t a k e
i n t o a c c o u n t t h e i n t e r a c t i o n s a m o n g c o n t r i b u t i n g v a r i a -
b l e s. K e n d a l l a n d N o r t o n - F o r d ( 19 82 ) c o m m e n t t h a t t he
s e a r c h fo r a t h e r a p e u t i c " h o l y g r a i l " h as b e e n a b a n d o n e di n f av o r o f " a t t e m p t s t o i d e n ti f y t h e t h e r a p e u t i c i n t e r v e n -
t i o n a n d t y p e o f t h e r a p i s t t h a t w i l l b e m o s t l i k e l y t o
p r o d u c e r e s u l t s t h a t a r e m o s t i m p o r t a n t i n t h e c a s e o f e a c h
d i f fe re n t ty p e o f c l i e n t " (p . 4 3 4 ) . Ya te s (19 8 1 ) h a s s u g -
g e s t e d t h a t t h e r a p y r e s e a r c h s h o u l d a l w a y s b e d e s i g n e d
i n s u c h a w a y a s to t e s t t h e v a l i d i t y o f a t h e o r y r a t h e r t h a n
t o t e s t a p a r t i c u l a r t h e r a p e u t i c m e t h o d , s o t h a t a t t h e v e r y
l e a s t t h e r e s e a r c h w i l l p r o v i d e s o m e f u n d a m e n t a l i n fo r -
m a t i o n a b o u t t h e n a t u r e o f a b e h a v i o r a l p r o c e s s . Y a t e s
a r g u e d t h a t w e k n o w t o o l i t t l e a b o u t b e h a v i o r a n d i t s
m o d i f l e a t i o n t o b e c o n c e r n e d w i t h c o m p a r i n g a v a i l a b l e
t h e r a p i e s . W e n e e d , i n s t e a d , t o d e s i g n c l i n i c a l r e s e a r c h t o
a d v a n c e b a s l e b e h a v i o r a l k n o w l e d g e .
T h e n e e d t h a t c l i n i c i a n s a n d a d m i n i s t r a t o r s f e e l t o
e s t a b l i s h t h e e f f i c a cy o f t h e r a p y i s a r e s p o n s e t o r e a l a n d
u r g e n t p r e s s u r e s a p p l i e d b y p o l i t ic i a n s , l e g i sl a t o r s , p h y -
s i c ia n s , a n d t h e c l i e n t s t h e m s e l v e s a s p a r t o f a g e n e r a l
m o v e m e n t t o w a r d a c c o u n t a b il i t y . W e a r e o b l i g e d t o es -
t a b l is h t h e i m p o r t a n c e a n d u s e f u l n e s s o f o u r w o r k . I t i s
a l s o e n t i r e l y l e g i t i m a t e t h a t t h e o f f ic i al s w h o m a k e p u b l i c
p o l i c y a n d a l l o c a t e p u b l i c r e s o u r c e s s h o u l d a s k p e n e t r a t -
i n g q u e s t i o n s a b o u t t h e e f f i c a c y o f t h e r a p y . W e d a r e n o t
a s s u m e t h a t b e c a u s e o u r m o t i v e s a r e p u r e a n d o u r d e d i -
c a t i o n h i g h , t h e r e i s n o n e e d t o d e m o n s t r a t e h o w " w e
c o n t r i b u t e t o t h e p u b l i c w e l f a r e . H o w e v e r , t h e w a y to
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e d u c a t e t h e p u b l i c i s n o t , i n m y o p i n i o n , t h r o u g h d i s i n -
g e n u o u s r e s e a r c h w h o s e s o le p u r p o s e i s t o d e m o n s t r a te
c o n v i n c i n g l y t h a t t h e r a p y w o r k s . M e d a w a r ( 19 8 4, p . 1 8)
h a s c o m m e n t e d t h a t "p o l i ti c a l a n d a d m i n i s tr a t iv e p r o b -
l e m s a r e n o t i n g e n e r a l s c i e n t i f ic i n c h a r a c t e r , s o t h a t a
s c i en t i fi c e d u c a t i o n o r a s u c c e s s f u l r e s e a r c h c a r e e r d o n o t
e q u i p o n e t o s o l v e t h e m . " I b e l i e v e t h a t r e s e a r c h d e -
s i g n e d t o c o n v i n c e t h e p u b l i c o f t h e e f f i c ac y o f t h e r a p y i s
p o l i t i ca l r a t h e r t h a n s c i en t i fi c a n d i s t h e r e f o r e b e y o n d t h e
l i m i ts o f s c i e n c e . T h e t a s k o f e n l i s t i n g p u b l i c r e c o g n i t i o n
a n d s u p p o r t is o n e o f p e r s u a s i 0 n a n d e d u c a t i o n , n o t o n e o f
s c i e n t i f i c i n q u i r y .
C O N C L U S I O N
I h a v e a t t e m p t e d t o a p p l y s o m e o f M e d a w a r ' s n o t i o n s
a b o u t t h e l im i t s o f s c i e n c e t o c o m m u n i c a t i o n d i s o r d e r s .
S c i e n c e i s a v e r y p o w e r f u l t o o l f o r a n s w e r i n g t h e q u e s -
t i o n s i t w a s d e s i g n e d t o a n s w e r , b u t t h e r e a r e re a l m sw h e r e s c i e n c e i s n o t t h e f ia os t e f f e c ti v e a p p r o a c h t o
e l u c i d a t i n g a n d s o l v i n g p r o b l e m s . Q u e s t i o n s o f s o c i et a l,
p r o f e s s i o n a l , a n d p e r s o n a l v a l u e s a r e i m p o r t a n t i n d e e d ,
b u t t h e y a r e n o t t h e k i n d s o f q u e s ti o n s s c i en c e w a s
d e s i g n e d t o a n sw e r . W e n e e d t o f in d a n o t h e r f o r u m f o r
d i s c u s s i n g t h e s e i s s u e s, a n d w e n e e d t o p r e p a r e s t u d e n t s
t o d e a l w i t h s u c h q u e s t i o n s o u t s i d e t h e b o u n d s o f s c i-
e n c e . O t h e r q u e s t i o n s s h o u l d n o t b e p r e s s e d i n to t h e
m a c h i n e r y o f s c i e n c e b e c a u s e t h e y a r e b e s t t re a t e d
t h r o u g h l o g i c a l a n a l y s is . S c i e n c e w i l l n o t b r i n g c l a r it y to
c o n c e p t s t h a t ar e v a g u e l y o r i n c o n s i s t e n t l y d e f i n e d . F i -
n a l ly , s c i e n ti s t s o u g h t to p o s e q u e s t i o n s w h o s e s o l u t io n s
w i l l e l u c i d a t e b a s i c b e h a v i o r a l p r o c e s s e s r a t h e r th a n
q u e s t i o n s t h a t a r e m o t i v a t e d b y p o l it i c al c o n s i d e r a t i o n s .R e s e a r c h s h o u l d n o t b e u n d e r t a k e n i f t h e o u t c o m e is
f o r e o r d a i n e d a n d i n c a p a b l e o f c h a n g i n g t h e s c i e n ti s t' s
c o n c e p t i o n s . P r o b l e m s t h a t fa ll o u t s i d e t h e l i m i ts o f
s c i e n c e a r e n o l e s s i m p o r t a n t t h a n t h o s e t h a t s c i e n c e c a n
p r o p e r l y a d d r e s s , b u t t h e y r e q u i r e a l t e rn a t iv e m o d e s o f
i n q u i r y , a n d i t i s n e c e s s a r y t o r e c o g n i z e t h e l im i t s o f
s c i e n c e s o t h a t t h e a l t e r n a t iv e s w i l l b e i n v o k e d w h e n
a p p r o p r i a t e .
A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S
Por t ions o f t h is pa pe r w e r e p r e pa r e d w h i l e t he a u t ho r w a s onsabba t i ca l l e ave to the Un ive r s i ty of Ca l i fornia , S anta Ba rba ra ,1985 - 1986 . T he a u t ho r i s g r a te f u l t o R oge r a nd J a n i s I ngha m f o rnum e r ous s t im u l a t i ng c onve r s a t i ons c onc e r n i ng t he r o l e o f sc i-e nc e i n c o m m uni c a t i on d i so r de r s.
R E F E R E N C E S
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R e c e i ve d N ov e m b e r 20 , 1986Accepted Janua ry 26, 1987
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1987;52;306-312 J Speech Hear Disord Gerald M. Siegel
The Limits of Science in Communication Disorders
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