Pragmatism, Praxis, and Predictive Theory

Fisher and Bradford Hill: theory and pragmatism?

provided the theoretical underpinning for tests of statistical significance.1 Because of this, it is often assumed that Fisher must have played a key role in the evolution of randomized trials in medicine during the 1930s and 1940s. Randomization was adopted by Austin Bradford Hill for Medical Research Council (MRC) trials for a more pragmatic reason, however. Bradford Hill was aware that an al...

Practice Theory vs Practical Theory: Combining Referential and Functional Pragmatism

This is a paper to the panel “Conceptualizing the workpractice context of IS” at the ALOIS*2006 conference. It is a position statement concerning workpractice theory as a practical theory. Practice theory is concerned with workpractices and as such an example of “referential pragmatism”. A practical theory intends to be of value to practices and such a theory is seen as an example of “functiona...

Computational Machine Learning in Theory and Praxis

In the last few decades a computational approach to machine learning has emerged based on paradigms from recursion theory and the theory of computation. Such ideas include learning in the limit, learning by enumeration, and probably approximately correct (pac) learning. These models usually are not suitable in practical situations. In contrast, statistics based inference methods have enjoyed a ...

Models of Theological Reflection: Theory and Praxis

Pragmatism, neo-pragmatism and sociocultural theory: Communicative participation as a perspective in LIS

Purpose – To show that the neo-pragmatist position of Richard Rorty, when combined with a sociocultural perspective, provides library and information science (LIS) with a forceful epistemological tool. Design/methodology/approach – Literature-based conceptual analysis of: historical development of pragmatism in relation to other epistemological positions; neo-pragmatism as a non-dualist, both p...