On Lewin's Methods And Theory

By Fritz Heider

FROM THE INTRODUCTION: “We are here today to commemorate Kurt Lewin by honoring a man who "has furthered in his work the development and integration of pschological research and social action." The spirit of scientific inquiry into real world problems is precisely the spirit that the award commemorates and it is this characteristic which marks so distinctively the work of Fritz Heider.

As we all know so well, Lewin was always concerned with the new light that a good theory could throw upon a social problem or an every- day experience. "There is nothing so practical as a good theory" Lewin once remarked; and he believed that fi psychologists are going to contribute to social policy, one of the most important ways ni which they willdo it is by theoretical formulations that lay bare what "common sense" obscures.

The Journal Of Social Issues. 1959. No.13. 18p.