ABSTRACT
All sciences progress by the gradual accretion of knowledge. Although surely inspired, Einstein’s classic formula relating energy, mass, and velocity was not drawn out of thin air. His was an enormously creative insight based on a synthesis and extension of the available knowledge of the time (Clark, 1971; Kuhn, 1970). Over the years, social scientists have relied on a similar process of intuition and integration of prior findings to develop new insights, which sometimes lead to the accumulation of yet more knowledge. To the extent that the existing literature on a phenomenon is accurate and that we have surveyed it comprehensively and fairly, we can develop an understanding of the structure of interrelationships that underlie it. Current knowledge is the foundation of future discoveries. In the past, this integrative, constructive process was based on a careful reading and interpretation of research results (a narrative review, as Johnson and Eagly, 2000, termed it) combined with creative theory-based insights.
