Useful Tools or Questions of Control

It is often the case that an institution begins its life delivering the outcomes it was established for, but then, in its later development, becomes an inwardly focused system that exists for the maintenance of its own existence. This paper suggests that a parallel can sometimes be drawn with literary, linguistic and academic theory. These theories can begin their journey in a viable way, but then in the hands of some practitioners they may shift to become tools that seek to control how research is done. In effect they then become so value laden that research is distorted. Three major issues need to be addressed: questions of content and development, questions of power and control, and homeostasis and feedback loops.