----------
>From: "Petersik, Tim" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: "'[EMAIL PROTECTED]'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: Theory query
>Date: Fri, Apr 16, 1999, 10:55 AM
>
> Good Colleagues:
>
> Can anyone recommend a good, relatively short, article or chapter that
> attempts to explain
> Theory? Ideally, this article would both provide a useful definition of
> theory and some philosophical discussion of the the role of theory in
> psychology and its limitations. This would be for use by senior psychology
> majors who have to design research projects that address a theory in some
> way. I'm finding that they really have no clue about what Theory is despite
> the fact that they've been introduced to several.
I've always liked Don McBurney's discussion of theory in his Research
Methods text for experimental psych (published by Brooks/Cole). It's
brief--only about 7 pages long--but he makes nice distinctions about
different usages of the term 'theory' as well as important characteristics
of good theories and the roles that theories play in science.
John
