This week was all about the concept of theory, how it is commonly used and how it is supposed to be used. There were two accompanying text this time: Gregor, S. (2006). The Nature of Theory in Information Systems and Sutton, R. I. & Staw, B. M. (1995). What Theory is Not.
Theory seems to be something almost ungraspable, there is no easy way to explain it. You almost have to enter some kind of context for it to make sense. I thought I had a rough understanding of theory as a concept but apparently I had woefully misinterpreted it. Here are some things I learned from the lecture and seminar that didn’t quite stick while only reading the texts:
Theory is often a misused word, especially in the common world. Out there it has the connotation of something speculative something you predict, which is actually closer related to the word “Hypothesis”. The word hypothesis refers to a prediction which should be testable, something you can prove. The two words do however share some bonds and are often used like a compliment to each other.
When observing an event, you try to make sense of it - by taking a step back and observing the event from a different angle, you could come up with a theory about that event. You can try to identify if the theory is strong by creating different hypothesis around it and testing your proposition. There is no such thing as a true theory, something absolute. If the theory is strong enough scientists agree that it should be taken as “true” but it can of course still be disproven. Theory should be thought of as a tool to describe, explain and enhance our understanding of the world.
A good example is the former theory about Earth as the center of the universe. As people saw this as the absolute truth, they conformed to it and therefore based other theories on this assumption. When Aristotle revealed our current vision , that the sun is the center of our solar system (triggering a paradigm shift) - all the theories built on the preceding became illogical, it was way easier to calculate the orbits of planets when they didn’t revolve around Earth.
“Theory is about the connections between phenomena, and explaining WHY, HOW and under WHAT circumstances acts, events, structures, and thoughts occur.” - Leif Dahlberg (2015). This is now my new interpretation of the word “theory”, at least when discussed in a broad sense. Context is important for its interpretation though, so there are different kinds of theory within different fields like science or philosophy.
I also learned that theory can be contrasted with practice. It is basically the difference between observing and doing. We at the Royal Institute of Technology are more practical in our approach to learning, while orthodox universities often delve more into the theoretical aspects. We do have to consider though that all things practical have a theoretical dimension.
As a last note, I found this theme easier to read and work through, but almost as hard as the previous to fully understand. Learning to find reliable journals and research papers will surely come to great use in my future when exploring new horizons!
You really have a good understanding on the conception of theory and I enjoyed your relfection a lot.I extremely like your example about the changing of our thought in the universe.It is quite good example that if one basic theory is proved to be incorrect,it will lead to a series of modification on other theories,just like we chenged our idea from Geocentric theory to Heliocentric theory.
SvaraRaderaKeep it up.
Hi! I like your reflection and explanation of relation between theory and hypothesis, especially the statement that hypothesis refers to a prediction which should be testable. You gave very good example of Earth theory, it was considered as absolute truth until proven otherwise. I think it can be related to all theories. Truth is a relative term and there is "new" truth at every stage of human development.
SvaraRaderaHi,
SvaraRaderaBefore the lecture I also found it difficult to explain what theory is. It was difficult to describe it without an example or without any context. But after the lecture and the seminar things became easier. I like that you written example and that you said your opinion in most of the part of your reflection. Theory is a form of practice. Praxis or practice in about doing and theory is about seeing. However, both of them are knowledge of the same thing, they are different ways to understand something. Thanks for sharing!
Hi!
SvaraRaderaI also think that it is hard to grasp the full extent of theory since it can be so complex and I went from understanding what theory is to what theory is not and back again multiple times during the week! I really liked how you summarized what you had learned and in an great way explained the different parts of the concept. I thugh tat the seminar this time wasn't so great, what do you think?
Good work!
/Maria
Hello !
SvaraRaderaI agree with your distinction between theory and practice. It's important to notice we're used to drawing conclusions based on observations, and that we base our learning on that. But as we become more accustomed to research, we've got to delve more into the theoretical aspects - that are inherently different from observations, as we talked about during this week's lecture. I didn't think about that before reading your blog, so I thank you for provoking such thoughts :-)