Delineating Theory

What is delineating theory? How should it be defined?

The notion of delineating theory, or discipline's delineating theory is meant to denote the second-order theory that characterizes a discipline. Thus, it plays an important role in uncovering how exactly scientific disciplines differ from one another.

In the scientonomic context, this question was first formulated by Paul Patton and Cyrus Al-Zayadi in 2021. The question is currently accepted as a legitimate topic for discussion by Scientonomy community. At the moment, the term has no accepted definition in Scientonomy.

Scientonomic History

Acceptance Record

Here is the complete acceptance record of this term (it includes all the instances when the term was accepted as a part of a community's taxonomy):

Community	Accepted From	Acceptance Indicators	Still Accepted	Accepted Until	Rejection Indicators
Scientonomy	1 August 2021	This is when Patton and Al-Zayadi's Disciplines in the Scientonomic Ontology that offered a definition of the term was published. This is a good indication that the question of how the term is to be defined is considered legitimate by the community.	Yes

All Theories

The following definitions of the term have been suggested:

Theory	Formulation	Formulated In
Delineating Theory (Patton-Al-Zayadi-2021)	A second-order theory identifying the set of core questions of a discipline.	2021

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Accepted Theories

According to our records, no definition of the term has ever been accepted.

Suggested Modifications

Here is a list of modifications concerning this term:

Modification	Community	Date Suggested	Summary	Verdict	Verdict Rationale	Date Assessed
Sciento-2021-0006	Scientonomy	1 August 2021	Accept new definitions of subquestion, core question, core theory, discipline, delineating theory, subdiscipline, and discipline acceptance.	Open

Ontology

Existence

There is currently no accepted view concerning the existence of delineating theorys.

Disjointness

No classes are currently accepted as being disjoint with this class.

Subtypes

No classes are currently accepted as subtypes of a delineating theory.

Supertypes

No classes are currently accepted as supertypes of a delineating theory.

Associations

No associations of a delineating theory are currently accepted.

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Dynamics

If a question concerning the dynamics of a delineating theory is missing, please add it here.

Related Topics

This term is also related to the following topic(s):

• Core Question
• Core Theory
• Discipline