DISABILITY RESEARCH METHODS - AN ARGUMENT FOR THE USE OF GALILEIAN MODES OF THOUGHT IN DISABILITY RESEARCH

This paper offers a suggestion that many disability studies lack relev ance and usefulness because investigators ignore, or are unfamiliar wi th, an old debate between Aristotleian and Galileian philosophies. It provides a brief review of the distinctions Lewin (1931) made between Aristotleian and Galileian modes of thought, as well as a brief descri ption of the theory of Somatopsychology as an application of Field The ory to understanding and remediating problems encountered by people wi th disabilities. Finally, the authors present some methods for conduct ing research that are in keeping with the assumptions of Lewinian Fiel d Theory and a Galileian approach to scientific investigation.