What is Theory?

What is Theory?
•
a well-substantiated explanation of
some aspect of the natural world; an
organized system of accepted
knowledge that applies in a variety of
circumstances to explain a specific
set of phenomena; "theories can
incorporate facts and laws and tested
hypotheses"; "true in fact and theory"
What is Theory?
•
hypothesis: a tentative theory about
the natural world; a concept that is
not yet verified but that if true would
explain certain facts or phenomena;
"a scientific hypothesis that survives
experimental testing becomes a
scientific theory"; "he proposed a
fresh theory of alkalis that later was
accepted in chemical practices"
What is Theory?

a belief that can guide behavior; "the

architect has a theory that more is
less"; "they killed him on the theory
that dead men tell no tales"
What is Theory?

A comprehensive explanation of a
given set of data that has been
repeatedly confirmed by observation
and experimentation and has gained
general acceptance within the
scientific community but has not yet
been decisively proven.
What is Theory?

a general principle that explains or

predicts facts or events
a statement or set of statements used
to explain a phenomena. A theory is
generally accepted as valid due to
having survived repeated testing.
What is Theory?

A theory is an abstract formulation of the

constant relations between entities or, a
series of events, ideas or things that are
connected and sequence of phenomena
and/or events. A theory may be true or
false. A valid theory attempts to eliminate
all contradictions in the application of
cause and effect to a given specific
situation or set of conditions. The aim of a
theory is always success in action. ...
What is Theory?

A scientific theory is an established

and experimentally verified fact or
collection of facts about the world.
Unlike the everyday use of the word
theory, it is not an unproved idea, or
just some theoretical speculation. The
latter meaning of a 'theory' in science
is called a hypothesis.
What is Theory?

A country will export that good which

intensively uses the country's
abundant (cheap) factor, and import
the good which intensively uses its
scarce (expensive) factor.
What is Theory?

An extremely well-substantiated
explanation of some aspects of the
natural world that incorporates facts,
laws, predictions, and tested
hypotheses. (Eg, Einstein's Theory of
Gravitation, 1916)
What is Theory?
During the Civil War, the US War
Department bought supplies of crackers
from a company called Orrins-Kendall.
Their initials appeared on the boxes, and
as the crackers were of a particularly high
standard, the letters OK became
synonymous with "all right". This theory
was originally put forward in a publication
called Linguist, from the Horace Mann
School for Boys in New York, although it
has subsequently appeared in a number of
other publications.
What is Theory?

The weight a person or an animal

maintains and returns to after dieting
or overfeeding. Set point varies with
age and activity levels, and may be
raised if the organism is subject to
chronic deprivation.
What is Theory?

is a set of statements or principles

devised to explain a group of facts or
phenomena, especially one that has
been repeatedly tested or is widely
accepted and can be used to make
predictions about natural phenomena.
What is Theory?
a step in the scientific method in which a
statement is generated on the basis of
highly confirmed hypotheses and is used to
generalize about conditions not yet tested.

several related propositions that explain

some domain of inquiry. Also called a
school or paradigm.
What is Theory?
A statement or set of statements designed
to explain a phenomenon or class of
phenomena. For example, Social Learning
Theory describes how human behavior is a
product of environmental, social and
personal factors.

explanation of a problem are based upon

observations and experiments.
What is Theory?
approach, which concentrates on the basic
conceptual issues and algorithms (a set of
mathematical instructions that must be
followed in a fixed order), in the design of
operating systems.
"a supposition or system of ideas
explaining something, especially one
based on general principles independent of
the particular things to be explained"
(Oxford Canadian Dictionary).
What is Theory?

An organized set of ideas that serves

as a framework for interpreting facts
and findings and a guide for scientific
research.

A general idea that explains a large

set of factual patterns.
What is Theory?

Explicit ideas about the nature of

phenomena. Theory is an inter-
related set of constructs (or variables)
formed into propositions (or
hypotheses) that specify the
relationship among the variables.
What is Theory?

A closely reasoned set of

propositions, derived from and
supported by established evidence
and intended to explain certain
phenomenon
Communication theory

A comprehensive term for

hypotheses underlying research
devoted to the study of consultation
and exchange of thought or data
among persons associated in a given
activity or setting.
Communication theory
Claude Shannon (Bell labs) and Warren
Weaver developed a theory of
communication in 1948. Shannon's original
theory (also known as "information theory")
was later elaborated and given a more
popular, non-mathematical formulation by
Warren Weaver, a media specialist with the
Rockefeller Foundation. ...
Communication theory

communications: the discipline that

studies the principles of transmitting
information and the methods by
which it is delivered (as print or radio
or television etc.); "communications is
his major field of study"
Communication theory
Some have suggested that the very
common practice of beginning a
communication theory class with an
attempt to define communication and
theory is flawed pedagogy. Nonetheless, it
is difficult to begin a study of the theories of
communication without first having some
grasp, however temporary and tenuous, of
what sorts of phenomena "count" as
communication, and what kinds of ideas
about those phenomena constitute
"theory," or, more specifically, good theory.