operationalism

Operationalism, also known as operationism, is a philosophical doctrine in the philosophy of science that holds that the meaning of a scientific concept is given by the set of operations or procedures by which it is measured or observed. The central idea is that terms should be reducible to concrete, repeatable practices so that theoretical claims gain empirical content and testability.

The doctrine was pioneered in the early 20th century by Percy Williams Bridgman, a Nobel laureate in physics. Bridgman argued that many scientific concepts in physics and related fields only acquire meaning through the specific measurements and experimental procedures used to determine them. By defining terms in terms of observable operations, philosophy of science would avoid vague or metaphysical speculation about unobservable realities.

Core ideas of operationalism include the primacy of measurement procedures, the insistence that theoretical terms be linked to observable practices, and the idea that scientific meaning is anchored in repeatable experiments. The approach influenced the way scientists formulate definitions, design experiments, and interpret results, especially in the physical and behavioral sciences.

Operationalism faced significant criticisms. Critics argued that many important scientific concepts are theoretical constructs without single, unambiguous observational counterparts, and that different operations can be used to define the same term. Furthermore, later philosophy of science, including logical empiricism and various realist and constructivist approaches, questioned the feasibility and desirability of reducing all meaning to operations.

Today, operationalism persists in the broad practice of operational definitions and variable operationalization, particularly in psychology, sociology, and the sciences, where precise measurement and replicable procedures are valued, even as the doctrine itself is viewed as a historical stage in the development of scientific philosophy.