Background to the theorem is the debate of sociologists -– mainly [[Kenneth J. Gergen]]<ref name="Gergen73"/> and [[Barry R. Schlenker]]<ref name="Schlenker74"/> – revolving around the meaning of sociological research. Whilst Schlenker appeared to maintain the position, that context only superficially influenced social behavior, Gergen appeared to maintain that context penetrated everything in social behavior, rendering observations as specific to the very situation observed. Thus, simplifying the discussion, the observation of social behavior would be no more than collecting historical data, since context would never be the same and the results would be unique. In fact, sociology would be some specialized kind of historical research.<ref name="Thorngate76"/> Considering this, Thorngate writes
{{Quotation|''It is impossible for a theory of social behaviour to be simultaneously general, simple or parsimonious, and accurate.''|Warren Thorngate<ref name="Thorngate76"/>}}
