Change

Social scientists have created a comprehensive body of theoretical knowledge about change. Havelock's seminal work includes a taxonomy of change models that provides a basis for ideological and political debates about how best to implement change in organizational settings.

These debates revolve around the locus of the change initiative. Proponents of the use of science evidence maintain that research-based knowledge should be the critical force in the development of rationally based social interventions. An alternative view, encapsulated in the community development movement, is based on the primacy of locally produced knowledge due to the perceived relevance of local conditions to decisions about effective interventions. A key element of the debate is about control: Who should control decisions—an external authority or those who are close to the ...