ABSTRACT
An academic discipline may be defined in one of two alternative ways. Its focus of interest may be located in either a given method of study or a given set of phenomena as an object of study. These alternatives are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but there is a natural tendency for one or other approach to be predominant. To take as an object of study a particular area of human behaviour implies no specific method; only that every conceivable method or perspective appropriate to the illumination of that subject-area should be utilized. In contrast, the refinement of a particular method of study carries with it the implication that it will be used in all those areas where it may promote the advancement of knowledge.
