ABSTRACT
The importance of theories is that they are simplifications or abstractions which highlight key variables or relationships in an effort to explain and understand the complexities of the real world. A true theory, moreover, offers more than a description of such relationships or processes. It should offer an explanation of how the current situation arose and be capable of predicting future changes or developments of the system. In other words, it must have explanatory and predictive power. Otherwise it is merely a descriptive relation. Put most simply, a theory represents a
‘way of seeing’, a view of the world, an aid to ordering and organising the world.
