Rubén Rojas Breu
THE LINKING METHOD FOUNDS
A SCIENCE
Thesis
With the Linking Method,
a work of my own authorship, a science is founded.
It is the science whose object is social interaction.
Since social interaction is always interaction among organizations—given that
human beings constitutively belong to them—we can affirm that the object of the
science born from the Linking Method is the interaction among human
organizations.
Thus, the Linking Method founds the science whose object is the interaction
among human organizations, an interaction that expresses the social.
It remains open for further development and debate whether, in defining such an
object, the Linking Method overlaps with sociology or partially with
anthropology, or whether it is the midwife of a properly scientific sociology.
Foundation
What is to be understood
by science is a matter of great complexity that has generated controversies,
disputes, and often vigorous efforts, without definitive answers having been
reached.
Therefore, I adhere here to what is, to a certain extent, consolidated—at least
as an intention—in order to respond to this question.
According to the
dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, science, from the Latin scientia,
“is the set of knowledge obtained through observation and reasoning,
systematically structured, from which general principles and laws are deduced
with predictive capacity and that are experimentally verifiable.”
Although such a
definition is limited, necessarily debatable, and insufficient, what is
generated by the Linking Method fully conforms to it. That is to say, even
starting from a precarious definition, the statement “the Linking Method founds
a science” fits within a certain convention. The Latin expression scientia
is translated as “knowledge, skill, knowing.”
From what I consider an
epistemologically sound standpoint, a science is defined as such when it meets
the following requirements:
- It has
a formal object, conceived as a conceptually expressed relationship.
- It has a method that
allows it to account for that formal object.
- It develops a highly
complex theoretical body that articulates hypotheses and concepts, always
understood as relationships (never as substances; science does not deal
with “being” or “essences,” nor is it associated with these categories
typical of more traditional philosophy).
- It is successfully
applicable to diverse fields of human action and to different problem
areas, transforming initial conditions and providing responses of a
certain scope—responses that will always be provisional to some degree,
which is consistent with the premise that science is in permanent
evolution.
The Linking Method
creates the science whose formal object is the interaction among organizations,
which is an expression of social interaction.
It has a Method—precisely
called the Linking Method—which I describe in detail in my book Linking
Method. The Value of Strategy, as well as in various publications on my
blog rubenrojasbreu.blogspot.com.
The word “method” derives
from the combination of the Greek terms meta (= toward) and hodós
(= path) and is usually translated as “path to reach a result.”
In my approach, the
method is a branching path that opens into multiple routes in the search for
scientific knowledge. It bears no resemblance whatsoever to the vulgar uses
that consider it equivalent to a procedure, as in expressions such as “I have a
method for organizing my desk,” “I have a method to get my students to pay
attention,” or “I apply my method to clean the garden,” etc.
A method is something of
the highest importance. In science, we speak of the hypothetical-deductive
method, the inductive method, or the method based on abduction. It is precisely
this last expression that characterizes the Linking Method, insofar as it articulates
deduction with induction—the continuous passage, in both directions, from the
singular to the universal, from the particular to the general, from data to
theory.
The Linking Method
follows steps of the greatest complexity and, to a large extent, has
significant similarities with what the French thinker Edgar Morin calls “the
method of complexity” or “complex thinking,” characterized by interconnecting
different dimensions of reality.
The Linking Method
continuously “links,” intensifying the interrelation among data and dimensions
that, a priori, appear disconnected and even give rise to the perception
that they could not be interconnected.
Thus, by way of a
sampling of examples, through the Linking Method I was able to respond to
questions such as:
- the attraction that the
Radical presidential candidate in 1983 exerted on a large portion of
female voters, by linking data that analysts and political leaders viewed
as unrelated;
- identifying the reasons
for resistance to the incorporation of balanced pet food, today so
widespread thanks to the keys I identified;
- determining successful
positioning, together with the design of a strategy that proved
victorious, for the Peronist candidate for governor of the Province of
Buenos Aires in 1987 and for the Peronist Renewal;
- identifying all the
actors, factors, manifest and latent motivations involved in the use of
mobile telephony, which propelled this service, turning it into what I
anticipatorily named at the beginning of the century the “personal
portable central of communications and operations”;
- showing the
interconnections among actors, factors, and the various dimensions of
reality involved in accidents, which led to a successful prevention
campaign;
- elucidating the
significance of Aerolíneas Argentinas, including the values attributed to
its origin and trajectory, the skill of its pilots and personnel, and the
traditional symbol of the “condor,” among others.
These, as well as
countless other achievements obtained through the application of the Linking
Method, were largely due to the fact that through it I was able to articulate
what common sense or stereotyped professional practice—so typical of many
intellectuals, analysts, and consultants—overlooks or keeps disconnected. This
lack of connection is particularly visible in surveys, in which what should be
articulated and synthesized is isolated and fragmented.
It is worth noting that
the Linking Method is grounded in qualitative research, assigning quantifiable
elements only a complementary role.
It is also worth
distinguishing method from model, an expression currently in vogue and
frequently misused.
The Method is a path that
constantly opens routes toward scientific knowledge. A model is a reproduction
of reality, whether actual or potential.
The Method—particularly the Linking Method—is a generator of models, such that
models are epistemologically subordinate to it or derived from its application.
The Linking Method has
developed, and continues to update, a highly complex theoretical body
applicable to the social, political, and market fields. This theoretical body is
today of very broad scope and includes, in a non-exhaustive enumeration, at
least:
- Its
axiomatics
- Its approach to
subject–object interaction
- What
is to be understood by desire
- What
is to be understood by Law
- Segmentation
by Links
- The
Matrix of Linking Positionings
- The signifier–signified
relationship in all its development and updating
- The
question of power
- The two tendencies in the
construction, affirmation, and exercise of power
- What is to be understood
by politics
- What is to be understood
by market
- The
original conceptualization of categories such as “democracy,” “people,”
“mass,” “public opinion,” “people” (gente), “electorate,” etc.
- What is to be understood
by competition
- The
organization and its context
- Theory
of strategy
- Theory
of communication
As anticipated, this
enumeration is far from exhaustive; in various publications of my authorship
the different conceptualizations and theories that compose the highly complex
theoretical body of the Linking Method can be found.
Finally, the Linking
Method, and the science it founds, is applicable across the broadest spectrum
of areas of human behavior and to the widest variety of related problems.
In its application, it
has proven to be valid and reliable, insofar as it has generated precise
diagnoses, tested forecasts, and at the same time designed strategies,
formulated recommendations for policies to be implemented, and proposed actions
that proved effective.
By paying attention,
investigating, and delving into the history of the Linking Method, it is
possible to verify the above. The case studies are highly illustrative and
readily available.
In any event, I remain
available to respond to questions, to guide, and to foster a more thorough
understanding of the Linking Method, of the science it founds, of its
foundations, and of its scope.
Bibliography
Only texts of my own
authorship that are useful for expanding and deepening what is presented in
this article are included here.
The authors who over the years have been sources for the development and
updating of the Linking Method are cited, together with their works, in my book
Linking Method. The Value of Strategy and in my various publications.
Rojas Breu, Rubén (2002).
Linking Method. The Value of Strategy. Buenos Aires: Cooperatives
Publishers.
Rubén Rojas Breu (2011). Contributions
of a Historical Event to Strategic Management. The Battle of Chaeronea.
Mimeo. Buenos Aires. PDF and PowerPoint versions.
Rubén Rojas Breu (2012). Considerations
on the Relationship between Qualitative Research and Management. Buenos
Aires: CIAP, School of Economic Sciences, University of Buenos Aires.
Rubén Rojas Breu (2013). Segmentation,
Positioning and Brand: An Approach from the Linking Method. First edition.
Buenos Aires: CIAP, School of Economic Sciences, University of Buenos Aires.
Rubén Rojas Breu (2014). The
Desire of Strategy. First edition. Buenos Aires: CIAP, School of Economic
Sciences, University of Buenos Aires.
Rubén Rojas Breu (2017). Qualitative
Research as a Primary Tool of Management. Second edition. Mimeo. Buenos
Aires.
First edition: Buenos Aires, CIAP, School of Economic Sciences, University of
Buenos Aires, 2012.
Rubén Rojas Breu (2018). Segmentation
by Links and Linking Positionings. Specially prepared PowerPoint presentation.
Rubén Rojas Breu (2012). Considerations
on the Relationship between Qualitative Research and Management. Buenos
Aires: CIAP, School of Economic Sciences, University of Buenos Aires.
On rubenrojasbreu.blogspot.com,
the following publications:
- Historical overview of
the Linking Method
- Signification according
to the Linking Method
- The axioms of the Linking
Method
- Law as foundational to
human organization
- Strategic management
according to the Linking Method
- Epistemology
and qualitative research
- Desire according to the
Linking Method and its relation to power
- Concept
of organization
- More
on the Linking Method
- Case to analyze and solve
according to the Linking Method
- Linking
Method: fields of application
- Social research, strategy, and communication according to the Linking Method
- Social research,
strategy, and communication according to the Linking Method
Traducción IA
Rubén Rojas
Breu
Buenos Aires, diciembre 22 de 2025
