Surrogates for Theories
- 1 April 1998
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Theory & Psychology
- Vol. 8 (2) , 195-204
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354398082006
Abstract
I first discuss several strategies that serve as surrogates for theories in psychology: one-word explanation, redescription, drawing vague dichotomies, and data fitting. I then identify two conventions that allow these surrogates to flourish and multiply: null hypothesis testing, which makes precise hypotheses irrelevant, and the isolation of research in different disciplines, which prevents the exchange of positive metaphors between fields.Keywords
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