ABSTRACT
This chapter is about the historical changes that have occurred in scientific methodology as it applies to the empirical sciences, especially since the 1950s. Methodology is complementary to, but distinct from, methods. A methodology describes the general rules of science that guide and constrain the elaboration of methods and measurement models, which are the specific techniques for designing, conducting, and evaluating empirical inquiry. My focus in this chapter is on a rule that was central to the methodology called neopositivism and has continued to influence the descendants of neopositivism: the rule of reductionism.
