The exact definition of theory is a system of ideas intended to explain something. When focusing on Natural sciences, theory is defined as a set of principles that predict and explain a phenomena. When focusing on Human sciences the key words are to study and interpret social phenomena within a thought. The most important key words that one has to keep in mind are interpret, predict and explain. Acknowledging this, theories come in different category’s such as: Descriptive theories, theories predicting a phenomena and theories that explain a phenomena. To consider a theory as truthful, it must be convincing which means the theory must stand the challenges that may occur such as persuading people for it being true, without any questioning about its value. Every individual will be convinced in a different type of way on different levels. For example, when one considers the large influence of media on our society today, some may think the news is as accurate as possible, and think every thing that is said must definitely be true. Only very basic descriptions and explanations may be required to convince someone that something is true or not. For others, detailed explanations with supporting facts may have to be provided, for them to believe what they hear, even if the theory is completely accurate. Another factor that is relevant is whether the individual is influenced by their subconscious tend or their intuition, this means whether they want to believe in the theory or not. Emotional bases and using reasoning are another two factors that may influence our beliefs. When looking at natural science, emotion does not play a large role, but rather reasoning because natural science is based on facts rather than individual interpretatio... ... middle of paper ... ...and one cannot pull a conclusion for all people of this world by using around 30 subjects. A theory is not certain; it is just a thought that we have gathered; yet through your own experience, our surroundings we see them as convincing. Natural science theories are believable because of the proof given, yet these experiment results may also be inaccurate because of human errors or errors in the scientific equipments. A theory is a system of ideas in which we attempt to explain predict or describe something that might be believable to us. We use our emotions and reasoning for the theory’s validity. Over all, the questions whether an individual is convinced by a theory or not is based on his willingness to accept this theory, his own personal aspect and the humans trust towards it. The way a theory is described and how it is displayed is what makes it convincing.
In science, a theory will refer to an explanation of an important feature of the world supported by testing and facts that have been gathered over time. It’s there scientific theories that allow scientists to make predictions about untested and unobserved concurrences in the world. The American Association for the Advancement of Science has this explanation of what a theory means to those in the science field, and it is as follows, “A scientific theory is a well substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts......Such fact supported theories are not guesses but reliable accounts of the real
First of all, through this assignment, I have learned that a theory is an interrelated set of concepts and propositions, organized into deductive systems that explain relationships among different aspects. It is an overall explanation of the person in environment configuration, and helps explain why a problem is occurring. It will also provide a social worker with a set of ideas that will help the social worker get a better understanding of the problem. In addition, there are many different theories, and perspectives that are used in the social work field to empower people and to promote a positive society for all. This particular case is associated with bio-psychosocial approach
Theory: A general statement about some parts of the world that fit together and how they work; an explanation of how two or more facts are related
If I were to evaluate a theory and choose the one that I had to accept then I would take away something from all of the theories that we learned about. Theories are created through existing data. However, a theory may not necessarily be correct but it does give us a better understanding of concepts in that it gives people to either prove them correct or wrong. All in all, understanding is being created. Plus, our book stated that “the best available explanation of personality comes from using the best of all the theories rather than attempting to use one or a few of them” (531).
Theories create a difference in health care. “In nursing, theories are systematic explanations of events in which constructs and concepts are identified; relationships are proposed; and predictions are made to describe, explain, predict, or prescribe practice and research. Without nursing theory, nursing activities and interventions are guided by rote, tradition, some outside authority, or hunches, or they may simply be random” (McEwen, & Wills, 2014, 72). The foundation of nursing profession is rooted in theory. Through theory, nursing has emerged as independent, self-directed practicing profession leading to innovations and evidence-based practice. The idea of nursing theories stems from the extensive work of Florence Nightingale whose belief and values lied in cleanliness, fresh air, sanitation, comfort, and socialization that is necessary to healing (McEwen & Wills, 2014). Each of the key nursing theorists who have contributed to the excellence of professional nursing practice adopts the four key concepts that are essential to the practice of nursing: person, environment, health and nursing (Hood, 2010). This paper aims at identifying the importance of theory in relation to Sister Callista Roy and her adaptation model.
In addition to logical consistency, testability is an important piece when evaluating a theory. According to Akers & Sellers (2013), “a theory must be testable by objective, repeatable evidence” (p.5); thus, if the theory is not testable then it has no scientific value. There are several reasons why a theory might not be testable; such as its concepts may not be observable or reportable events and tautology. Tautology refers to a statement or hypothesis that is tr...
Research Demonstration: The False Consensus Effect In science, we emphasize systematic, careful observation as a key to overcoming the limits of other methods of acquiring knowledge. That is, we trust systematic observation more than we trust our own intuition. We can actually investigate this issue. The following description provides you with the details necessary to conduct a simple study to investigate the accuracy of human intuition. We often believe that others are more like ourselves than they really are.
This is where many non-scientists get it wrong. Theories are scientific evidence, collected over time, and accepted as a valid explanation for evidence. Theories are different than hypotheses and scientific laws. A hypothesis is an educated guess, based on knowledge, but that needs continual testing for further development (into a theory). Laws are scientific facts that are virtually incontrovertible. For instance, if you throw a ball up, it will come down. Gravity is a law of science.
... a theory should be able to explain a wide variety of things, not just only what it was intended to explain.
There are six elements that make a theory sound. These elements are scientific criteria provide whether or not the theories are scientific. The most important of these elements is empirical validity, which uses evidence to confirm or disprove a theory and have criteria for interpreting data as factual, irregular or unrelated. The other major elements include internal logical consistency, scope and parsimony, testability, and usefulness and policy implication. A theory must be logically consistent. In order to be so, it must have clearly defined concepts, have logically stated and internally consistent propositions. If a theory contains pointless ideas or is inconsistent, it can't really explain anything. Scope refers to the assortment of events that it propositions to explain.
Upon reading Will to Believe, there is no doubt we will all begin to question how we’ve gotten to our beliefs and why we believe what we do. William James argues against forced beliefs and expresses the importance of choice. The idea of choice is one I strongly agree with. Although we are easily influenced by others, when it comes to beliefs free will must come into play. As far as the science method, which I have discussed, a belief is just as valid whether there is evidence or not because most scientific methods will never be one hundred percent proven and they will change over
A theory is basically a way to describe the essence of things. It involves careful consideration over what, how and why things come to be, how they work, and any interrelationship shared among other human realities. Theories seek to explain what the observer witnesses through thorough examination and thoughtful contemplation over matters some simple and some more complex (Akers, & Sellers, 2013). There is a distinct difference between ideas, thoughts and scientific theories and the essential component is what C. Wright Mills calls the sociological imagination (1959). It is important for intellectual thought to move from individual experience to a social standpoint, this shift the perspective from internal to external, becomi...
In many aspects of our lives, the use of faith as a basis for knowledge can be found. Whether it is faith in the advice of your teacher, faith in a God or faith in a scientific theory, it is present. But what is faith? A definition of faith in a theory of knowledge context is the confident belief or trust in a knowledge claim by a knower, without the knower having conclusive evidence. This is because if a knowledge claim is backed up by evidence, then we would use reason rather than faith as a basis for knowledge . If we define knowledge as ‘justified true belief’, it can be seen that faith, being without justification, can never fulfill this definition, and so cannot be used as a reliable basis for knowledge. However, the question arises, what if a certain knowledge claim lies outside of the realm of reason? What if a knowledge claim cannot be justified by empirical evidence and reasoning alone, such as a religious knowledge claim? It is then that faith allows the knower to decide what is knowledge and what is not, when something cannot be definitively proved through the use of evidence. When assessing faith as a basis for knowledge in the natural sciences, the fact arises that without faith in the research done before us, it is impossible to develop further knowledge on top of it. Yet at the same time, if we have unwavering faith in existing theories, they would never be challenged, and so our progress of knowledge in the natural sciences would come to a standstill. Although I intend to approach this essay in a balanced manner, this essay may be subject to a small degree of bias, due to my own non-religious viewpoint.
Are any scientific theories true? If so why? If not why do we rely on them?
The role of theory in social research is that without a sociological theory, nothing can be sociological. Facts disconnected from theory are just facts. Theory makes the facts speak; the facts don’t and cannot speak for themselves. Without a connection to other facts, we cannot assess anything. With theory, you can relate facts to each other. Theory is the body of interrelated logical concepts or universals that connect to empirical facts and phenomena. Empirical research is okay as long as there is theory involved with it. Theory helps us select which facts are important and which are not. Theory also allows us to organize the facts. Theory helps us create a story and tell which the dependent is and which the independent variable is. Theory points us to what we don’t know, which is the point of all the research in sociology. Theory also allows different concepts of sociology to talk to each other, and that allows sociology to progress. Emile Durkheim had stated in “What is a Social Fact?” that reason develops theories and, and observation backs them up. According to Durkheim, social facts are not ideas, they are facts and they are observable. Facts without a certain theory backing them are and will be meaningless. We had talked about this in the very beginning of the semester about how stating certain statistics such as ‘men make .75 cents more than women’ might be true, but just stating that will not be enough. In sociology, what need to be done are the reasons for stating that fact, and what it means for the society as a whole. Therefore, facts cannot stand alone without theory because they complete each other in a way. Talcott Parsons gives a different example in regards to this; “Few if any empiricists are content with discre...