ABSTRACT
This chapter is not just concerned with theories but with theory. Theories and models are sets of proposals, more or less formally stated, that can be tested by empirical science. You may test theories that are formulated by other authors, or modified or invented by yourself. Theory, on the other hand, refers to the knowledge and understanding that you build up about your research topics based on scholarship and hard thinking about research findings of your own and other authors. To be sure, theory, in this sense, can lead you to formulate specific theories and models for test. But it is a broader notion. Without theory, you cannot formulate research questions, write introductions to journal articles, frame research grant applications, interpret findings and so on. This is the essential raft of ideas and understanding that makes you an academic. There are technical and philosophical issues surrounding the formulation and testing of theories that I leave to Part Two of this book. I include this chapter in Part One because without theory, you cannot do any of the other things I talk about: design studies, prepare grant applications, write journal articles, etc. So how do you go about developing theory (and theories)?
