A Methodological Interlude

Abstract

The system of meaning plays a dominant and crucial role in the empirical findings and the theoretical conclusions that constitute the stuff of which this book is made. All the studies reported in Part II are based on applying the system of meaning, and all the answers we provide to the questions raised in regard to traits (Chapter 7) are couched in terms of the system of meaning. The system of meaning is a set of various variables, grouped and interrelated in different ways. Being a system implies that it has different properties that characterize it as a whole, beyond those that attach to one or another of its constituents (i.e., meaning variables). For example, there is in the system a certain distribution of meaning variables of different kinds. Properties like these could affect the results obtained when applying the system of meaning. Thus, to continue the previous example, one could wonder whether the distribution of variables in the system determined the distribution of meaning variables in the trait patterns. If the answer to this and similar questions were positive, the validity of our assessment tool and the basis for our conclusions would be seriously impaired. It is evident that the potentially worrisome properties of the meaning system are the trait-irrelevant ones that could exert a distorting impact on the composition and other characteristics of the trait patterns.