THEORY AND RESEARCH:Concepts, Propositions, Role of Theory

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Research Methods STA630

Lesson 4

THEORY AND RESEARCH

The purpose of science concerns the expansion of knowledge, the discovery of truth and to make

predictions. Theory building is the means by which the basic researchers hope to achieve this purpose.

A scientist poses questions like: What produces inflation? Does student-teacher interaction influence

students' performance? In both these questions there is the element of prediction i.e. that if we do such

and such, then so and so will happen. In fact we are looking for explanation for the issue that has been

raised in these questions. Underlying the explanation is the whole process through which the

phenomenon emerges, and we would like to understand the process to reach prediction.

Prediction and understanding are the two purposes of theory. Accomplishing the first goal allows the

theorist to predict the behavior or characteristics of one phenomenon from the knowledge of another

phenomenon's characteristics. A business researcher may theorize that older investors tend to be more

interested in investment income than younger investors. This theory, once verified, should allow

researchers to predict the importance of expected dividend yield on the basis of investors' age. The

researcher would also like to understand the process. In most of the situations prediction and

understanding the process go hand in hand i.e. to predict the phenomenon, we must have an explanation

of why variables behave as they do. Theories provide these explanations.

Theory

As such theory is a systematic and general attempt to explain something like: Why do people commit

crimes? How do the media affect us? Why do some people believe in God? Why do people get

married? Why do kids play truant from school? How is our identity shaped by culture? Each of these

questions contains a reference to some observed phenomenon. A suggested explanation for the observed

phenomenon is theory. More formally, a theory is a coherent set of general propositions, used as

principles of explanations of the apparent relationship of certain observed phenomena. A key element

in this definition is the term proposition.

A systematic and

A suggested

general attempt to

explanation for

explain something...

something...

"Theory"

"Why do people

"Why do

commit crimes?"

people get

married?"

"How

does the

"Why do kids play truant

media affect us?"

from school?"

"Why do some people

"How is our identity

believe in God?"

shaped by culture?"

Concepts

Theory development is essentially a process of describing phenomena at increasingly higher levels of

abstraction. A concept (or construct) is a generalized idea about a class of objects, attributes,

occurrences, or processes that has been given a name. Such names are created or developed or

constructed for the identification of the phenomenon, be it physical or non-physical. All these may be

considered as empirical realities e.g. leadership, productivity, morale, motivation, inflation, happiness,

banana.

Research Methods STA630

Concepts are the building block of a theory. Concepts abstract reality. That is, concepts are expressed in

words, letters, signs, and symbols that refer to various events or objects. For example, the concept

"asset" is an abstract term that may, in the concrete world of reality, refer to a specific punch press

machine. Concepts, however, may vary in degree of abstraction and we can put them in a ladder of

abstraction, indicating different levels.

A Ladder Of Abstraction

For Concepts

Vegetation

Fruit

Banana

Reality

Moving up the ladder of abstraction, the basic concept becomes more abstract, wider in scope, and

less amenable to measurement. The scientific researcher operates at two levels: on the abstract level of

concepts (and propositions) and on the empirical level of variables (and hypotheses). At the empirical

level we "experience" reality that is we observe the objects or events. In this example the reality has

been given a name i.e. banana. Moving up the ladder this reality falls in wider reality i.e. fruit, which in

turn becomes part of further wider reality called as vegetation.

Researchers are concerned with the observable world, or what we may call as "reality." We try to

construct names to such empirical reality for its identification, which may referred to as concept at an

abstract level.

Concepts are

Abstractions of Reality

Abstract

CONCEPTS

Level

Empirical OBSERVATION OF OBJECTS

Level

AND EVENTS (REALITY)

Theorists translate their conceptualization of reality into abstract ideas. Thus theory deals with

abstraction. Things are not the essence of theory; ideas are. Concepts in isolation are not theories.

Only when we explain how concepts relate to other concepts we begin to construct theories.

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Propositions

Concepts are the basic units of theory development. However, theories require an understanding of the

relationship among concepts. Thus, once reality is abstracted into concepts, the scientist is interested in

the relationship among various concepts. Propositions are statements concerned with the logical

relationships among concepts. A proposition explains the logical linkage among certain concepts by

asserting a universal connection between concepts.

Theory is an abstraction from observed reality. Concepts are at one level of abstraction. Investigating

propositions requires that we increase our level abstract thinking. When we think about theories, we are

at the highest level of abstraction because we are investigating the relationship between propositions.

Theory is a network of propositions.

Theory Building Is A Process Of

Increasing Abstraction

Theories

Propositions

Concepts

Observation of objects

and events (reality )

Theory and Research

Basic to modern science is an intricate relation between theory and research. The popular understanding

of this relationship obscures more than it illuminates. Popular opinion generally conceives of these as

direct opposites: theory is confused with speculation, and thus theory remains speculation until it is

proved. When this proof is made, theory becomes fact. Facts are thought to be definite, certain, without

question, and their meaning to be self evident.

When we look at what scientists actually do when engaged in research, it becomes clear (1) that theory

and fact are not diametrically opposed, but inextricably intertwined; (2) that theory is not speculation;

and (3) that scientists are very much concerned with both theory and fact (research).

Hence research produces facts and from facts we can generate theories. Theories are soft mental images

whereas research covers the empirical world of hard, settled, and observable things. In this way theory

and fact (research) contribute to each other.

Role of Theory

1. Theory as orientation.

A major function of a theoretical system is that it narrows the range of facts to be studied. Any

phenomenon or object may be studied in many different ways. A football, for example, can be

investigated within an economic framework, as we ascertain the patterns of demand and supply relating

to this play object. It may also be the object of chemical research, for it is made of organic chemicals.

It has a mass and may be studied as physical object undergoing different stresses and attaining certain

Research Methods STA630

velocities under various conditions. It may also be seen as the center of many sociologically interesting

activities play, communication, group organization, etc.

Each science and each specialization within a broader field abstracts from reality, keeping its attention

upon a few aspects of given phenomena rather than on all aspects. The broad orientation of each field

then focuses upon limited range of things while ignoring or making assumptions about others.

2. Theory as a conceptualization and classification.

Every science is organized by a structure of concepts, which refer to major processes and objects to be

studied. It is the relationship between these concepts which are stated in "the facts of science." Such

terms make up the vocabulary that the scientist uses. If knowledge is to be organized, there must be

some system imposed upon the facts which are observable. As a consequence, a major task in any

science is the development of development of classification, a structure of concepts, and an increasingly

precise set of definitions for these terms.

3. Theory in summarizing role.

A further task which theory performs is to summarize concisely what is already known about the object

of study. These summaries may be divided into two simple categories: (1) empirical generalizations,

and (2) systems of relationships between propositions.

Although the scientist may think of his field as a complex structure of relationships, most of his daily

work is concerned with prior task: the simple addition of data, expressed in empirical generalizations.

The demographer may tabulate births and deaths during a given period in order to ascertain the crude

rate of reproduction. These facts are useful and are summarized in simple or complex theoretical

relationships. As body of summarizing statements develops, it is possible to see relationships between

thee statements.

Theorizing on a still larger scale, some may attempt to integrate the major empirical generalizations of

an era. From time to time in any science, there will be changes in this

It is through systems of propositions that many of our common statements must be interpreted. Facts

are seen within a framework rather than in an isolated fashion.

4. Theory predicts facts.

If theory summarizes facts and states a general uniformity beyond the immediate observation, it also

becomes a prediction of facts. This prediction has several facets. The most obvious is the extrapolation

from the known to the unknown. For example, we may observe that in every known case the

introduction of Western technology has led to a sharp drop in the death rate and a relatively minor drop

in the birth rate of a given nation, at least during the initial stages. Thus we predict that if Western

technology is introduced into a native culture, we shall find this process again taking place.

Correspondingly we predict that in a region where Western technology has already been introduced, we

shall find that this process has occurred.

5. Theory points gaps in knowledge.

Since theory summarizes the known facts and predicts facts which have not been observed, it must also

point to areas which have not yet been explored.

Theory also points to gaps of a more basic kind. While these gaps are being filled, changes in the

conceptual scheme usually occur. An example from criminology may be taken. Although a substantial

body of knowledge had been built up concerning criminal behavior and it causes. A body of theory

dealing with causation was oriented almost exclusively to the crimes committed by the lower classes.

Very little attention has been paid to the crimes committed by the middle class or, more specifically, to

the crimes labeled as "white collar" and which grow out of the usual activities of businessmen. Such a

gap would not be visible if our facts were not systematized and organized. As a consequence, we may

say that theory does suggest where our knowledge is deficient.

Role of Facts (Research)

Theory and fact are in constant interaction. Developments in one may lead to developments in the

other. Theory, implicit or explicit, is basic to knowledge and even perception. Theory is not merely a

Research Methods STA630

passive element. It plays an active role in the uncovering of facts. We should expect that "fact" has an

equally significant part to play in the development of theory. Science actually depends upon a

continuous stimulation of fact by theory and of theory by fact.

1. Facts initiate theory.

Many of the human interest stories in the history of science describe how a striking fact, sometimes

stumbled upon, led to important theories. This is what the public thinks of as a "discovery." Examples

may be taken from many sciences: accidental finding that the penicillium fungus inhibits bacterial

growth; many errors in reading, speaking, or seeing are not accidental but have deep and systematic

causes. Many of these stories take an added drama in the retelling, but they express a fundamental fact

in the growth of science, that an apparently simple observation may lead to significant theory.

2. Facts lead to the rejection and reformulation of existing theory.

Facts do not completely determine theory, since many possible theories can be developed to take

account of a specific set of observation. Nevertheless, facts are the more stubborn of the two. Any

theory must adjust to facts and is rejected or reformulated if they cannot be fitted into its structure.

Since research is continuing activity, rejection and reformulation are likely to be going on

simultaneously. Observations are gradually accumulated which seem to cast doubt upon existing

theory. While new tests are being planned, new formulations of theory are developed which might fit

these new facts.

3. Facts redefine and clarify theory.

Usually thee scientist has investigated his/her problem for a long time prior to actual field or laboratory

test and is not surprised by his/her results. It is rare that he/she finds a fact that simply does not fit prior

theory.

New facts that fit thee theory will always redefine the theory, for they state in detail what the theory

states in very general terms. They clarify that theory, for they throw further light upon its concepts.

Theory and Research: the Dynamic Duo

Theory and research are interrelated; the dichotomy between theory and research is an artificial. The

value of theory and its necessity for conducting good research should be clear. Researchers who

proceed without theory rarely conduct top-quality research and frequently find themselves in confusion.

Researchers weave together knowledge from different studies into more abstract theory. Likewise, who

proceed without linking theory to research or anchoring it to empirical reality are in jeopardy of floating

off into incomprehensible speculation and conjecture.

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