ABSTRACT
This chapter explicates and discusses propositions and controversies related to the study of lives from the vantage points of different academic orientations. In this chapter and throughout the book, the disciplines of sociology and psychology are drawn upon most heavily, though select work is also included from anthropology, biology, demography, economics, history, and social policy. What are the central principles and debates that underlie and guide developmental research in these fields?1 What are their strengths and shortcomings? At what points do these approaches to studying lives converge and diverge? The issues addressed in sub sequent chapters will also relate to the propositions and controversies outlined here; they will illustrate the importance of these propositions and controversies, and inform us of what we know and need to know about them.
