For many people the word 'chaos' represents too much happening too quickly all at once, life is out of control and incomprehensible. Chaos is when one's life seems to be on the verge collapse but it doesn't. The person emerges from the situation tomorrow or next month within a new form with new structures and sometimes new relationships. For chaos theorists, however, these kinds of experiences are the rule of life.

   Chaos theory is synonymous with theories of complexity. The theory is used to explain and describe a variety of both natural and artificial phenomena that includes everything from traffic congestion to weather patterns to heart arrhythmia (Overman, 1996). The roots for chaos theory are found in simple systems theory and put in simple terms it is the study of complex, dynamic systems that reveal patterns of order out of what seems like chaotic behaviors. Kellert said: "chaos theory is the study of complex, deterministic, nonlinear, dynamic systems" (1993). Overman suggested that order and chaos are two sides of the same paper, with the images bleeding through to the other side. The systems are so dynamic and so complex that they appear to be chaotic but according to chaos theory, order can be found.

   Social scientists have historically looked for ways to predict social behavior, but most efforts have had little success. One of the paradoxes of social science research is that when identical kinds of individuals or groups are placed in identical types of environments, they demonstrate very different patterns of behavior even though it would be expected that the behaviors would be the same. Since much of social behavior appears to be so chaotic, chaos theory can be a way to find success in these efforts (Overman, 1996).