Integrative Dimensions of Concept Sets

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Summary: Explores the problem of minimizing loss of significance when a concept set is considered too complex to be communicated comprehen- sibly to a particular audience. In such a case the set must be transformed, possibly by collapsing some distinctions, so as to reduce the number of conceptual elements in the set by a factor of 2, 3 or more. If collapsed in an orderly manner, maintaining integrative dimensions, some of the original distinctions are present implicitly rather than explicitly.

Sets of concepts, such as principles, problems, issues, propositions, programme priorities, characteristics or properties of some entity, values, human needs,end human rights, are fundamental to the organization of research, policy-making, programme management, and education, for example. This paper is concerned with the means whereby severe distortion can be minimized when a given concept set has to be transferred from a communication environment tolerant of high connectivity [i.e. integration) between the elements of the set to one in which such connectivity is neither acceptable nor perceptible without distortion.

Typically this is the problem of communication between the world of research and that of policy formulation or political decision-making. It is also characteristic of the different levels of the educational process and of communication between different research disciplines, or even between different schools of thought within the same discipline.

The question is therefore how best to "compress" a concept set for communication within a connectivity-insensitive environment. The compression should ideally be such that the set can be subsequently "expanded" to any appropriate degree by a receiver whenever this is considered appropriate. The structure of the compression should suggest possibilities of such an expansion and provoke interesting questions in connection with it.

In any development process characterized by the co-presence of actors of very different levels of connectivity-sensitivity, the compression/expansion procedure is of considerable importance if distortions, confusion, and associated abuses are not to be repeatedly introduced. To the extent that the development process is characterized by multi-level action, where the levels are not independent, careful attention is required to communication between such levels.

Some aspects of these concerns have benn partially explored in earlier papers.

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