ABSTRACT
This chapter examines two distinct takes on the respective roles of theory and effects in research. It presents an integrated way of bridging the two different paradigms using L. J. Cronbach and P. E. Meehl’s nomological network framework. But both paradigms lead to an effects-and-theory view of research. The empirical justification paradigm leads researchers to tie constructs to variables and to view generalized variable effects as justified knowledge. In designing a series of studies from an effects-and-theory perspective, researchers presently face a choice between employing the nomological network from the standpoint of the empirical justification paradigm or that of the falsification paradigm. Mediation within the nomological network framework requires thinking about the roles of effects and theory more critically than is often reflected in research practice. A better broadening of the field lies in increased recognition that theory and effects should always be entwined in a nomological network covering both.
