ABSTRACT
PSYCHOLOGISTS hold quite widely differing views about the usefulness and the general role of theory in psychology. Some stress simple inductive methods exclusively, maintaining that the time is not yet—or perhaps may never be!—when more ambitious generalizations of a theoretical kind would be appropriate. Others emphasize the similarities between all sciences, and conclude that ‘what is good for physics must be good for psychology!’ In all the discussion that has taken place, sight is often lost of a very simple fact which, to my mind, is quite crucial. Scientific theories differ among themselves to such an extent that any discussion about the place of ‘theory’ in science should really be restyled: a discussion about the place of theories in science. In particular, there is a continuum ranging all the way from weak to strong theories, and failure to pay attention to the distinction between these two kinds of theories renders much discussion, and many criticisms, quite meaningless.
