"What Theory is Not"
by Robert I. Sutton and Barry M. Straw (1995)
Administrative Sciences Quarterly
Debateable
- Models
- Typologies
- "Uninteresting"
- Unfalsibiabile
Not debateable
- References
- Data
- Variables
- Diagrams
- Hypotheses
Does it constitute theory?
References and Citations
NOT THEORY
References and citations are good for informing logic and motivating new research
References are often used for purposes mistaken for theory
- Listing concepts and variables
- Demonstrating knowledge of "a classic"
- Citing empirical observations
- Signaling
Demonstration
This pattern is consistent with findings that aggression
provokes the 'fight' response (Frijda, 1986) and that anger is a contagious emotion (Schacterand Singer, 1962; Baron,
1977).
-- Sutton (1991:262)
This pattern is consistent with findings that aggression
provokes the 'fight' response and that anger is a contagious emotion.
- Two statements
- Aggression -> 'fight' response
- Anger is contagious
- Neither answers 'why?'
Data and Empirical Findings
NOT THEORY
Data and empirical findings describe observations, but they don't explain why they happened
Citing someone else's empirical findings is not theory either!
Someone else's findings, taken on their own, cannot explain why it was expected to occur in the first place
List of Variables and Constructs
NOT THEORY
Dividing and organizing the world does not, in of itself, explain social phenomena
Need to explain why certain constructs and variables are powerful explanatory factors for a social phenomenon
Diagrams
NOT THEORY
Sometimes helpful to demonstrate causal order
Diagrams are 'stage props,' but not the theoretical 'performance' p. 376
Diagrams cannot explain why the authors make conceptual connections
Hypotheses and Predictions
NOT THEORY
Hypotheses are good to connect theory to data
Hypotheses explain what should occur, but not why we would expect it
How to know when a paper confuses hypotheses for theory
- Too many hypotheses, each inadequately explained
- Tables, figures, and diagrams listing or summarizing hypotheses
Focus on one or a small set of ideas
What is good theory?
It explains an underlying process
Answers 'why?'
deck
By Benjamin Lind
