ABSTRACT
Typologies can be considered as heuristic tools with three basic functions. They serve as handy descriptions by compactly summarizing numerous and diverse phenomena. They also facilitate theorizing by encouraging the search for social milieux which mold types and theories of inter-type change. The third function is a social one, to correct popular misconceptions and inform public policies. Typologies have to meet several methodological criteria: the dimension on which types are differentiated should be critical to research objectives, clearly defined, and yield a manageable number of types which are both comprehensive and mutually exclusive. Convinced that the triple gains – succinct description, theorizing leverage, and social applicability – of a typology outweigh its potential pitfalls, the chapter explains a typology of orientations of the Arab minority and a typology of orientations of Jewish majority. It shows that these typologies can serve as a useful device for the study of political factionalism among Arabs and Jews and of the relations between them.
