The Cybernetics of Methodology

, 3rd European Congress of Systems Science, Salpience University, Rome, 1-4

October, 1996,

Maurice Yolles
Liverpool John Moores University, 98 Mount Pleasant, Liverpool, UK.

Abstract
Methodological complementarism is one way of dealing with the fragmentation that is talked about
in the systems domain. However, stakeholders of paradigm incommensurability decry it as a
possibility. One approach is explored that enables complementarism to be seen as valid. It
distinguishes on the one hand between cognition and form that is equivalent to the relationship
between the metasystem and the system, and on the other in terms of inquiry between the cognitive
model of a paradigm and the resulting behavioural model called method. These are two levels that
are linked cybernetically through the process of organising.

Introduction
Paradigms have as their basis cognitive models that involve cognitive organisation of beliefs,
attitudes, and values. They are determinants for practical behaviour, and operate through control
processes that enable behavioural organising to occur. While we may speak of paradigms in the
context of organisational activity in general, in this paper we shall restrict our interest to methodology
and methodological complemantarism.
Complementarism requires that methodologies can be used together. A barrier to this comes
through what is referred to as paradigm incommensurability. This tells us that paradigms (or their
associated methodologies) cannot be used together or mixed because their cognitive models are
different, and there is no basis for comparison. There are responses to this, for instance by Flood and
Romm [1995]. Our argument is that complementarism is not about mixing cognitive models, but
rather about behaviour and behavioural organising. This does not deny the stakeholders of paradigm
incommensurability, but rather suggests that this represents an altogether distinct problem.
One of our interests is the comparison of the behavioural organising aspects of
methodologies. In particular this means comparing their control mechanisms. In order to do this we
introduce a generic form of inquiry involving the nodes of analysis, synthesis, and choice linked
sequentially by the processes conceptualisation, constraint, and action.

2. Cybernetic Principles
The principles of cybernetics may best be identified from the work of Beer. It effectively
consists of a system, and its associated metasystem that is concenred with what we may refer to
as at least a metaphorical cognitive control process. The principles of cybernetic are identified
as:

Principles of Cybernetics
 a system
 has identity that it should maintain
 exists in an environment, is influenced by it, and can learn from the relationship with it
 has a metasystem
 can be partitioned into a hierarchy of subsystems each of which has a metasystem
 requires communication and information for its viable survival
 control
 can enable self-regulation and is connected to self-organisation
 has components that may be distributed throughout the structure of a system

Any system can be seen in terms of cybernetic prinicples. In particular, we can therefore refer to
pedagogic processes as also having cybernetic prinicples.
Weltanschauung and the Paradigm
Human being need to assign themselves to groups that enable their identities to be reinforced by
providing an objective rather than only a subjective reality. Group membership offers an identity to
an individual, but this is not the same as the individual’s independent identity. “The two realities
correspond to each other, but are not coextensive. There is always more objective reality ‘available’
than is actually internalised in any individual consciousness, simply because the contents of
socialisation are determined by the social distribution of knowledge. No individual internalises the
totality of what is objectivated as reality in his society, not even if society and its world are relatively
simple ones” [Berger and Luckman, 1966, p163]. The idea that individual and group normative
world views are not coextensive leads us to differentiate between the concepts of weltanschauung and
shared weltanschauung.
When we talk of weltanschauung we are referring to a world view. It is the system of beliefs,
attitudes and values that Rokeach [1968] refers to as cognitive organisation, and the set of cultural
constructs and informal propositions that make up an individual’s or group’s view of reality. When
we talk of group weltanschauungen, we should rather talk of a shared weltanschauung. This is
because there is always a distinction between the individual and the group. The development of group
norms can be referred to as socialisation [Berger and Luckmann, 1964, p152]. It is a dialectic process,
so that group norms are established through an interactive process from which all of its members
learn. In this way new norms can develop and old ones wither. Individuals identify with a group, and
take on its members’ roles, attitudes, and generalised perspective. Identity is thus objectively defined
through the group. However, there is always a distinction between the individual and the group.
There is a difference between informal and formal weltanschauung. We refer to formal
weltanschauung as paradigm. The nature of the paradigm is that it provides a formalised framework
of thought and conceptualisation that enables organised action to occur, problem situations to be
addressed, and constrains the way in which they can be described. The paradigm, according to Kuhn
[1970], involves four dimensions of common thought: common symbolic generalisations; shared
commitment to belief in particular models or views; shared values; shared commitments of
exemplars, that is concrete problem solutions. However, it can be argued Yolles [1996] that it can
equivalently be expressed in terms of: a base of propositions; culture, including cognitive
organisation and behaviour; language; exemplars.
The paradigm is a group phenomenon, and as such we must recognise that it operates with a
culture of its own. The concept of culture [Williams et al, 1993, p14] involves not only values and
beliefs, but also attitudes, and behaviours which are predicated on belief. The definition of a
paradigm might usefully be extended from Kuhn to involve culture. To see why, consider the nature
of the components of culture.
Beliefs determine paradigms as they do weltanschauung. They represent predispositions to
action, and may be conscious or unconscious. A belief may be [Rokeach, 1968, p113]: existential and
thus related to events in a situation; it may be evaluative and thus related to subjective personal
attributes (like taste); or it may be prescriptive relating, for example, to human conduct. Beliefs are
conceived to have three components: (1) cognitive, representing knowledge with degrees of certainly;
more generally[1] cognition is “of the mind, the faculty of knowing, perceiving or conceiving”, (2)
affective, since a belief can arouse an affect centred around an object, which may be other individuals
or groups, or a belief, (3) behavioural, since the consequence of a belief is action.
Beliefs are a determinant for values, attitudes, and behaviour. Values [Rokeach, 1968, p124]
are abstract ideas representing a person’s beliefs about ideal modes of conduct and ideal terminal
goals. Attitude [ibid, p112] is an enduring organisation of beliefs around an object or situation
predisposing one to respond in some preferential manner.
Action (or behaviour) can also be referred to as social action [Mitchell, 1968, p2]. It is social
when the actor behaves in such a manner that his action does or is intended to influence the actions of
one or more other persons. We may say that it is normative when it defines a set of constraints on
behaviour, identifying what is acceptable and what is not.
 In situations of inquiry, it can be seen that different paradigms govern the way in which
people build and apply models, that is the behavioural organisation of inquiry. Different approaches
thus occur because different paradigms operate within different groups. Paradigms offer a framework
of thought about how a situation may be addressed, and a language through which to describe what
they see.
Since the paradigm is a cultural phenomena involving cognitive organisation and normative
behaviour, it will also have a language associated with it that enables the ideas of the group to be
expressed. There is a body of theory that expounds the relativity between culture and language. For
instance, in the study of natural languages within sociocultural environments, the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis [Giglioli, 1972] explains that there is a relativistic relationship between language structure
and culture. It in particular relates to the communication of ideas between members of the group. This
line of thought is also supported, for instance, by Habermas [1979], and by Maturana [1988] and the
ideas contained within the subject of autopoiesis or self-producing systems [Mingers, 1995, p79].
Here, language is considered to be an activity embedded in the ongoing flow of actions, rather than a
purely descriptive thing. It therefore has the attributes of activities that occur within a sociocultural
environment, to which it responds.
Language operates as an enabling mechanism for the paradigmatic group. Since
communications is central to the ability of the group to work, language may be seen as a way of
enabling a class of paradigmatic explanations to be generated. The framework of thought that
develops within the group is cultural and will therefore be reflected in the language used to transmit
those ideas. The propositional base of the paradigm that lies at its foundation will determine the
language of the group, just as the language itself develops this base in a mutual development. This
determines what can legitimately be described and the terms defined in order to enable those
descriptions to be made. These ideas are illustrated in figure 1.

Culture

Attitudes Beliefs Values Language

Cognitive
Normative space
behaviour Concepts, knowledge &
meaning to construct behaviour
Propositional base & logic.
Action/behaviour Exemplars.
& communication
Paradigm

Figure 1
Concept of a Paradigm
The Paradigm Cycle
In the same way as there is a distinction between weltanschauung and shared weltanschauung, there
is a distinction between weltanschauung and paradigm. This latter relationship is shown in figure 2,
and is referred to as a paradigm cycle [Yolles, 1996]. By paradigmatic inquiry we mean the
application of cognitive organisation, behavioural norms and propositions in an inquiry of the real
world. This occurs through behavioural organisation as a methodology.
Paradigmatic inquiry is essentially a control loop linking and reinforcing an interpretation of
a real world situation. As such, we can view this relationship as a cybernetic system. Thus we can see
a reflection of the real world as a system, examine aspects of control, make decisions from a
metasystem, and undertake other explorations of methodology that are cybernetically related, like the
examination of viability, the nature of the creation of its requisite variety, the way stability is
maintained, the nature of its behaviour and what this means beyond the threshold of it control in the
region of chaos.
 Paradigm cognitive formation/consolidation
representation (formalised
weltanschauung)
cognitive
challange
and learning
paradigmatic
inquiry

Weltanschauung
Real world interpretation (assumptions, perspectives, basis for
cognitive purpose)
empirical challange

creation

Figure 2
Relationship between paradigm and weltanschauung as a paradigm cycle

The System and Metasystem

It is possible to differentiate parts of the paradigm cycle into distinct domains. Following structuralist
arguments that enables us to differentiate between deep and surface structure (figure 3), we
distinguish between cognitive models and form. They are linked by transformation, also referred to as
transmogrify since the results of a transformation can be surprising. We consider that this is a process
of organising that we refer to as behavioural organising since form relates directly to behaviour, and
it entails cybernetic principles. The duality of cognition and form derives in principle from further
considerations of the paradigm cycle. Here, we define the paradigm and weltanschauung as the
cognitive component that includes cognitive organisation. This suggests that organisations with a
pluralism of paradigms will also have a pluralism of cognitive models. Now, the cognitive model also
defines a system’s metasystem [Beer, 1979], and the relationship between cognition and form can be
argued to be quite equivalent to that between the metasystem and the system. This approach can also
be shown to be linked with that of Schwarz [1994]. He distinguishes three planes: the existential that
defines being, the relational plane that defines logical relationships, and event plane populated by
objects and energy.

Behavioural models, real world manifestation

System

Behaviour
organising Methodology
(from ideology, norms,
values)

Cognitive models
(beliefs, cognition,
meaning, metapurpose)
Metasystem

Figure 3
One way of distinguishing between deep and surface structure
for which there are a continuity of different ways of manifesting deep phenomena

The existential plane would seem equivalent to our metasystemic domain. For us it is the place of
cognition, where beliefs, attitudes, and values are defined, and where understanding and meaning
occurs. It is where weltanschauung and the paradigm coexist. Through the paradigm, it is where
“truths” of the metasystem are defined. For us, these “truths” define metasystemic logic.
The logical plane is similar to our domain of transformation (transmogrify). As in the work of
Schwarz it is the place of symbols and relationships, but for us these are conceptualised in the
matasystem. For us this is not the place where logic is defined, since logic is part of the “truth” of the
metasystem, but rather the space of organising. It is where the logic defined within the paradigm is
harnessed and is then manifested as structures and processes in the physical plane. However, relations
can also be seen as transformations in that they act on (and within) events and are responsible for
events. Consistent with both approaches, this domain is one of self-organisation, of development, of
cybernetics.
The physical plane for Schwarz is “reality”. However, this “reality” is seen through our
models that may be systemic. Thus in the system-metasystem duality, this domain is that of the
system. In our terms, this is the place in which manifest behaviour is seen, and where empirical
measurements are taken. It is the place of models of form and behaviour.

Comparing Methodologies
It is possible to establish some comparative evaluations of methodologies. All methodologies can be
divided into cognitive and behavioural organising components [Yolles, 1970, 1996a]. We propose
that a projection of cognitive metapurposes into the field of behavioural organising is the
methodological mission, goals, and inquirer aims.
Another consideration of behavioural organising is that of control, that distinguishes method
from methodology. Control diagrams based on the three phases of analysis, synthesis and control are
given in the figures below. As an example of this, Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) is given. A full
description of this approach for all the methodologies in table 1 can be found in Yolles [1970].

Methodology Mission Methodological goals Inquirer Aims

Systems Intervention Balance forces with Technical development, Robust strategies
Strategy environment Organisational change, Risk/decision analysis
Personal development
Organisational Balance of forces Resistance to change, Political Effectiveness
Development with environment power, Control

Soft Systems Improvement Cultural integrity, Social Variable

Methodology conformity, Political
consistency
Viable Systems Viability Dynamic stability, Adaptability Policy, Coordination
Model Integration, Future
Methodology
Conflict Modelling Conflict settlement Sociocultural adaptation, Attitudes in group decision
Cycle Modelling Sociopolitical reorientation, making, intragroup power,
complementarism Behavioural adjustment group behaviour
Logical Systemic Framework to Designing (technical), Organisational metaphors
Intervention choose Disemprisoning , Identify methodologies
methodologies sociopolitical), Debating
(socioculture)
Table 1
Comparison of different methodological and individual metapurposes for inquiry
 control
social and cultural
control
S3 form comparison S7

conceptualisation constraint

models S6

changes S8
control
relevant system S5
form tasks, issues S4 social &
problem situation S3 cultural

control

action S9

S3 redo step S3 if control shows instability

Figure 4
A View of SSM through the Phase Controlled Generic Metamodel
excluding pre and post evaluation phases

Conclusion
The comparison of methodologies is possible despite the claims of stakeholders of paradigm
incommensurability. Exploring the cognitive models of each paradigm and attempting to make
comparison at that level is susceptible to incommensurability. However, by introducing the additional
dimension of behavioural organising we have a way of removing ourselves from this argument. Two
aspects of behavioural organising are apparent. Both are cybernetic in principle. One is the projection
from the cognitive model that is metasystem based and defines methodological mission, goals and
inquirer aims. The other is the cybernetic control processes that enable us to talk of methodology
rather than method.

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