ABSTRACT
The introduction of new analytical methodologies in the social sciences tends to follow a common historical pattern. They are typically transported from more analytically oriented disciplines by a small cadre of researchers. If the new approaches have merit in providing solutions to the types of questions addressed by the discipline, they may gain a larger following and through their use achieve a certain degree of acceptance. In the end, however, many newly introduced techniques ultimately become passé-which is to say, they wear out their welcome in the discipline’s premier journal pages, only to be superseded by newer methodologies or ones that are better suited to solving emerging disciplinary questions. The above description perhaps applies best to factor analysis, but it characterizes the life span of many other methodologies as well.
