ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the confusing relationships among theory, theorizing, models, hypotheses, and empirical research. The theory must cover a substantial portion of the material in a field or subfield, and it must be systematically organized, or else one should not say that there is a body of theory in a discipline. The key element of theory is that it abstracts a few characteristics of reality in an attempt to isolate and describe its central features. A model is like a mini-theory. It has the same basic nature as a theory because it focuses on a few elements abstracted from all of reality. In “pure” research that seeks to explain the human world in general scientific terms, the relationship between theory and research is more complex and difficult. The relationship between theory and empirical research differs from situation to situation.
