ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the structure of theories, and discusses various explanatory-predictive strategies that, by virtue of this structure, are open to the theoretically oriented scientist. It also discusses some dimensions in which the phenomenal referents of theories may vary, and some ways that the concepts or terms of theories may vary. The interaction between the past and future implications of theories seems directly to serve the paramount goal of all science: to identify Necessity in nature. A concatenated theory is one whose component laws enter into a network of relations so as to constitute an identifiable configuration or pattern. The development of comprehensive theoretical systems seems to be possible only after a preliminary classification of kinds has been achieved. To concentrate entirely on special theories is to risk emerging with specific hypotheses that account for limited aspects of social behavior, organization and change but that remain mutually inconsistent.
