Paradigm Inversion

Abstract

Abstract I have previously discussed various ways of designing semiotics experiments. One method that plays a very important role is governed by the Principle of Paradigm Inversion. The word “paradigm” here refers not to what Kuhn called the overall scientific paradigm, but to what experimentalists call the experimental paradigm - the design principle of the particular experiment. In this essay, I discuss this unique design method in more detail. How do you invert an experimental paradigm? How do you turn the semiotic sock inside out? When is it possible to invert an experimental paradigm and obtain a semiotics experiment? How do you establish the measurement scale for an inverted paradigm? What kinds of experiments are ripe for inversion? What are the performance parameters of the inverted experimental design? These and other important experimental semiotics questions are discussed in this essay.