polythetic hsg POLYTHETICS. A 'polythetic' method is one that allows missing data and incomplete sequencing of comparisons. This is used frequently in archaeology (where the term was developed) and is comparable to gene-sequencing. Polythetics is the technical name for the 'hopscotch' technique. The term is virtually unknown to modern academics who prefer to apply Cartesian reductionisms to works that argue for the impossibility of doing that. An archaeologist, David L. Clarke (Analitical Archaeology, London: Methuen & Co., 1968) emphasized the importance of polythetics as a means of overcoming the incompleteness of historical/archaeological data. http://art3idea.psu.edu/boundaries/documents/key_terms.html 091227 what's it to you? who go blather from