Bailey And Pillard Formulating Theory Essay

The study of the human mind is a discipline immensely diverse. In a world of enormous range of questions and issues, discovering the truth proves disconcerting to both students and professionals alike. Furthermore, scoping the exact answer to underlying issues proves to be impossible; Psychologists struggle between the lines of theory and practicality. Because of this ever-growing phenomena, students are often confused by psychology’s theoretical pluralism and view this as a weakness. However, the discipline’s focal weakness may also be one of its strengths. With Psychology’s broad range of content, psychologist’s must draw a line between diversity and unity. They do not simply set out collected facts. Instead, they seek to explain and understand

Although theories are not based on fact, psychologists prove to gain trust over their audience by conducting empirical research; that is, acquiring knowledge through observation. Furthermore, empirical research serves as the basis and platform for formulating theories. Instead of reasoning, speculation, traditional beliefs, or common sense, empirical research relies on direct observation. One can’t easily formulate an explanation without observing the question or issue itself. A study conducted in 1991 by theorists Bailey and Pillard prove to explain the importance of empirical research in formulating theories. In their research, Bailey and Pillard focused on the roots of homosexuality. Furthermore, they sought to explain the phenomenas biological component. According to Tim Taylor, “The use of twin studies provides us, in theory, with a method of investigating the importance of genetic… in the genesis of homosexuality” (Taylor 1992). In their study, Bailey and Pillard observed homosexual males who had either a twin brother or an adopted brother. Based on their studies, 52% of the participants’ identical twins were gay, 22% of their fraternal twins were gay, and that 11% of their adoptive brothers were gay, shown in Fig 1 (301). By carefully observing the participants, they were able to formulate a theory by utilizing the results; genetics plays a crucial role in