Core Question

What is core question? How should it be defined?

A scientific discipline normally deals with a great number of questions. However, not all of the question of a discipline are made equal, with some being more central than others. As the concept of core question intends to capture these central questions of a discipline, it is helpful to have a proper definition of the term.

In the scientonomic context, this term was first used by Paul Patton and Cyrus Al-Zayadi in 2021. The term is currently accepted by Scientonomy community.

In Scientonomy, the accepted definition of the term is:

• A core question of a discipline is a question identified in the discipline’s delineating theory as definitive of the discipline.

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
Core Question (Patton-Al-Zayadi-2021)	A core question of a discipline is a question identified in the discipline’s delineating theory as definitive of the discipline.	2021

If a definition of this term is missing, please click here to add it.

Accepted Theories

The following definitions of the term have been accepted:

Community	Theory	Accepted From	Accepted Until
Scientonomy	Core Question (Patton-Al-Zayadi-2021)	21 February 2024

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.	Accepted	Prior to the 2024 workshop, Hakob Barseghyan commented on the encyclopedia indicating his support for accepting this modification and noted its potential to underpin further work on discipline dynamics. In fact, a significant amount of observational scientonomy work has been carried out in the past few years (including the paper on the rejection of alchemy by Friesen and Patton (2023),1 as well as some more recent papers) that presupposes the acceptance of these definitions, despite the fact that the modification containing them formally remains open. There was very little discussion about the modification, beyond raising points for the community to look forward to in the future, like a brief discussion between Jamie Shaw and Paul Patton about the need for more research on the difference between disciplines and disciplinary communities. The modification was accepted unanimously with 18 votes.	21 February 2024

Current Definition

In Scientonomy, the accepted definition of the term is Core Question (Patton-Al-Zayadi-2021).

Core Question (Patton-Al-Zayadi-2021) states: "A core question of a discipline is a question identified in the discipline’s delineating theory as definitive of the discipline."

The core questions of a discipline are those general questions that are essential to a discipline, having the power to define it and establish its boundaries within a hierarchy of questions. They are identified as such in the discipline's delineating theory.2 The scientific mosaic consists of theories and questions.3456 Questions form hierarchies in which more specific questions are subquestions of broader questions. Theories enter into this hierarchy as well since questions presuppose theories, and theories are answers to questions. It is the position of core questions within such hierarchies that confer upon them the power to define and establish the boundaries of a discipline by indicating which questions and theories are included. For example, the question 'how did living things originate as a result of evolution?' is a core question of evolutionary biology.

Ontology

Existence

There is currently no accepted view concerning the existence of core questions.

Disjointness

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

Subtypes

No classes are currently accepted as subtypes of a core question.

Supertypes

No classes are currently accepted as supertypes of a core question.

Associations

No associations of a core question are currently accepted.

If a question concerning the ontology of a core question is missing, please add it here.

Dynamics

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