ABSTRACT
In his seminal work, Kuhn (1996) described how science does not advance in an
evolutionary manner, but as a series of peaceful interludes punctuated by crises and revolutions.
The crises generate revolutions because existing paradigms-what members of a scientific
community share-are unable to manage anomalies or confounding information. The
result is a rejection of the existing paradigm and the development of a new one. Because
new paradigms emerge from old ones, there is a period of transition from abandonment of
the traditional paradigm to adoption of the new paradigm. This period-often tumultuous
—allows a number of events to occur. For example, new paradigms generally incorporate
much of the vocabulary and apparatus, both conceptual and manipulative, of the traditional
paradigm. Because these borrowed elements are not used in quite the same way within a
new paradigm, there is a transition period during which there is a shift in allegiance from
one paradigm to another. The period is marked by resistance from those loyal to the old
paradigm to advances made by proponents of the new paradigm; this transition is nec-
essary because the transfer of allegiance from paradigm to paradigm is a conversion
experience that cannot be forced. It is only through scientific research that the profession-
al community of scientists succeeds, first, in establishing the scope and limitations of
the older paradigm and, second, in confirming the need and rationale of a new paradigm.
