Part I    Introduction12
fei75766_ch01_001-018.indd 12  02/06/20 10:41 AMabletogenerate additional research ortoexplain research-related data, itloses its
usefulness andissetaside infavor ofamore useful one.
Inaddition tosparking research andexplaining research data,auseful theory 
must lenditselftoconfirmation ordisconfirmation, provide thepractitioner witha
guide toaction, beconsistent withitself, andbeassimple aspossible. Therefore, we
haveevaluated eachofthetheories presented inthisbook onthebasis ofsixcriteria: 
Auseful theory (1)generates research, (2)isfalsifiable, (3)organizes data,(4)guides 
action, (5)isinternally consistent, and(6)isparsimonious.
Generates Research
Themost important criterion ofauseful theory isitsability tostimulate andguide 
further research. Without anadequate theory topoint theway,many ofscience’s 
present empirical findings would haveremained undiscovered. Inastronomy, for
example, theplanet Neptune wasdiscovered because thetheory ofmotion generated 
thehypothesis thattheirregularity inthepathofUranus must becaused bythepres-
enceofanother planet. Useful theory provided astronomers witharoadmapthat
guided theirsearch foranddiscovery ofthenewplanet.
Auseful theory willgenerate twodifferent kinds ofresearch: descriptive 
research andhypothesis testing. Descriptive research, which canexpand anexisting 
theory, isconcerned withthemeasurement, labeling, andcategorization oftheunits 
employed intheory building. Descriptive research hasasymbiotic relationship with
theory. Ononehand, itprovides thebuilding blocks forthetheory, andontheother, 
itreceives itsimpetus from thedynamic, expanding theory. Themore useful thethe-
ory,themore research generated byit;thegreater theamount ofdescriptive research, 
themore complete thetheory.
Thesecond kindofresearch generated byauseful theory, hypothesis testing, 
leads toanindirect verification oftheusefulness ofthetheory. Aswehavenoted, a
useful theory willgenerate many hypotheses that,when tested, addtoadatabase that
mayreshape andenlarge thetheory. (Refer again toFigure 1.1.)
Is Falsifiable
Atheory must alsobeevaluated onitsability tobeconfirmed ordisconfirmed; 
thatis,itmust befalsifiable. Tobefalsifiable, atheory must beprecise enough 
tosuggest research thatmayeither support orfailtosupport itsmajor tenets. If
atheory issovague andnebulous thatbothpositive andnegative research results 
canbeinterpreted assupport, thenthattheory isnotfalsifiable andceases tobe
useful. Falsifiability, however, isnotthesame asfalse; itsimply means thatnegative 
research results willrefute thetheory andforce thetheorist toeither discard itor
modify it.
Afalsifiable theory isaccountable toexperimental results. Figure 1.1depicts 
acircular andmutually reinforcing connection between theory andresearch; each
forms abasis fortheother. Science isdistinguished from nonscience byitsability 
toreject ideas thatarenotsupported empirically eventhough theyseem logical and
rational. Forexample, Aristotle usedlogic toargue thatlighter bodies fallatslower 
rates thanheavier bodies. Although hisargument mayhaveagreed with“common 
sense,” ithadoneproblem: Itwasempirically wrong.Final PDF to printer