Discuss the role played by theory in social research

What will be an ideal response?


Answer:
Answers should address the following points:
1) a theory consists of basic concepts and the relationships between basic concepts;
2) it provides a framework to help organize and explain observations;
3) it points to possible additional relationships that can be stated as testable hypotheses (predictions);
4) tests of the hypotheses will either provide additional support for the theory or indicate that the theory needs to be modified (or possibly discarded);
5) a theory can never be proven to be correct because it can always be tested further;
6) a theory can be shown to be incorrect – this is a basic hallmark of scientific methods.

Psychology

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Psychology