Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T14:36:39.744Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

1 - Promises and Pitfalls of Theory

from Part I - From Idea to Reality: The Basics of Research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2023

By
Yzar S. Wehbe ,
Todd K. Shackelford  and
Laith Al-Shawaf
Edited by
Austin Lee Nichols  and
John Edlund
Austin Lee Nichols
Affiliation:
Central European University, Vienna
John Edlund
Affiliation:
Rochester Institute of Technology, New York
Get access

Summary

We present an overview of the role, benefits, and drawbacks of theory in scientific research, particularly in the social and behavioral sciences. We discuss what theory is and what it is not. We also focus on some key elements of theory such as its ability to explain phenomena at multiple parallel levels of analysis. Evolutionary theory is offered as an example that illustrates the importance of conceptual integration across different disciplines. We further describe the key characteristics of good theories, such as parsimony, depth, breadth, and coherence (both internal and external), and we encourage the use of “coherence stress-tests” to help refine theory. We then discuss 4 advantages and 10 disadvantages of using theory in social and behavioral science research. Finally, we suggest conceptual tools and provide a list of recommendations for theory-driven research. We hope this chapter will help in the complex pursuit of improving research practices in the social and behavioral sciences.

Keywords

Top-down ApproachTheory BuildingConceptual IntegrationLevels of AnalysisParsimonyInterdisciplinarityEvolutionary Theory
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Research Methods and Statistics for the Social and Behavioral Sciences
Volume 1: Building a Program of Research
 , pp. 3 - 24
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Al-Shawaf, L. (2020). Evolutionary psychology: Predictively powerful or riddled with just-so stories? Areo Magazine, October 20. Available at: https://areomagazine.com/2020/10/20/evolutionary-psychology-predictively-powerful-or-riddled-with-just-so-stories/.Google Scholar
Al-Shawaf, L. (2021). Evolution explains puzzling aspects of the human mind: Evolution helps explain anxiety, the hedonic treadmill, and other puzzles. Psychology Today, July 11.Google Scholar
Al-Shawaf, L., Conroy-Beam, D., Asao, K., & Buss, D. M. (2016). Human emotions: An evolutionary psychological perspective. Emotion Review, 8(2), 173–186. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073914565518Google Scholar
Al-Shawaf, L., Zreik, K. A., & Buss, D. M. (2018). Thirteen misunderstandings about natural selection. In Shackelford, T. K. & Weekes-Shackelford, V. A. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science (pp. 1–14). Springer.Google Scholar
Barrett, H. C. (2020). Deciding what to observe: Thoughts for a post-WEIRD generation. Evolution and Human Behavior, 41(5), 445–453.Google Scholar
Becker, G. S. (1968). Crime and punishment: An economic approach. Journal of Political Economy, 76(2), 169–217. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-62853-7_2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biswas-Diener, R. & Kashdan, T. B. (2021). Three lessons from Ed Diener. International Journal of Wellbeing, 11(2), 73–76. https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v11i2.1705Google Scholar
Borsboom, D., Mellenbergh, G. J., & Van Heerden, J. (2004). The concept of validity. Psychological Review, 111(4), 1061–1071. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.111.4.1061CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Borsboom, D., van der Maas, H. L. J., Dalege, J., Kievit, R., & Haig, B. (2020). Theory construction methodology: A practical framework for theory formation in psychology. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16(4), 756–766. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691620969647CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyer, P. (2018). Minds Make Societies: How Cognition Explains the World Humans Create. Yale University Press. https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300235173Google Scholar
Burns, M. K. (2011). School psychology research: Combining ecological theory and prevention science. School Psychology Review, 40(1), 132–139. https://doi.org/10.1080/02796015.2011.12087732Google Scholar
Buss, D. M. (1989). Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 12(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X00023992CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coelho, M. T. P., Diniz‐Filho, J. A., & Rangel, T. F. (2019). A parsimonious view of the parsimony principle in ecology and evolution. Ecography, 42(5), 968–976. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.04228Google Scholar
Cosmides, L. (1989). The logic of social exchange: Has natural selection shaped how humans reason? Studies with the Wason selection task. Cognition, 31(3), 187–276. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(89)90023-1CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Credé, M., Tynan, M. C., & Harms, P. D. (2017). Much ado about grit: A meta-analytic synthesis of the grit literature. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113(3), 492–511. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000102Google Scholar
Cronbach, L. J. & Meehl, P. E. (1955). Construct validity in psychological tests. Psychological Bulletin, 52(4), 281–302. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0040957CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Darwin, C. (1871). The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. John Murray.Google Scholar
Dawkins, R. (1983). Universal Darwinism. In Bedau, M. A. & Cleland, C. E. (eds.), The Nature of Life: Classical and Contemporary Perspectives from Philosophy and Science (pp. 403–425). Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Dawkins, R. (1986) The Blind Watchmaker. Norton.Google Scholar
De Courson, B. & Nettle, D. (2021). Why do inequality and deprivation produce high crime and low trust? Scientific Reports, 11(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/p2aedGoogle Scholar
Dobzhansky, T. (1964). Biology, molecular and organismic. American Zoologist, 4(4), 443–452. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/4.4.443Google Scholar
Doyle, A. C. (1887; electronic reprint 1995). A Study in Scarlet. J. H. Sears & Co.Google Scholar
Earman, J. (1992). Bayes or Bust? A Critical Examination of Bayesian Confirmation Theory. MIT Press.Google Scholar
Ellis, B. J. & Ketelaar, T. (2000). On the natural selection of alternative models: Evaluation of explanations in evolutionary psychology. Psychological Inquiry, 11(1), 56–68. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1101_03CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Epstein, J. M. (2008). Why model? Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, 11(4), Article 12. http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/11/4/12.htmlGoogle Scholar
Fried, E. I. (2020). Theories and models: What they are, what they are for, and what they are about. Psychological Inquiry, 31(4), 336–344. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2020.1854011Google Scholar
Gainsburg, I., Pauer, S., Abboub, N., Aloyo, E. T., Mourrat, J. C., & Cristia, A. (2022). How effective altruism can help psychologists maximize their impact. Perspectives on Psychological Science. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916221079596Google Scholar
Gerring, J. (1999). What makes a concept good? A criterial framework for understanding concept formation in the social sciences. Polity, 31(3), 357–393.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gigerenzer, G. (2008). Why heuristics work. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3(1), 20–29. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6916.2008.00058.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gigerenzer, G. (2009). Surrogates for theory. Association for Psychological Science Observer, 22, 21–23.Google Scholar
Gigerenzer, G. (2010). Personal reflections on theory and psychology. Theory & Psychology 20(6), 733–743. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354310378184Google Scholar
Gigerenzer, G. (2017). A theory integration program. Decision, 4, 133–145. https://doi.org/10.1037/dec0000082Google Scholar
Gigerenzer, G. (2020). How to explain behavior? Topics in Cognitive Science, 12(4), 1363–1381. https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12480CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goetz, A. T. & Shackelford, T. K. (2006). Modern application of evolutionary theory to psychology: Key concepts and clarifications. American Journal of Psychology, 119, 567–584. https://doi.org/10.2307/20445364Google Scholar
Godfrey Smith, P. (2003). Theory and Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Gopnik, A. & Wellman, H. M. (1994). The theory theory. In Hirschfeld, L. A. & Gelman, S. (eds.), Mapping the Mind: Domain Specificity in Cognition and Culture (pp. 257–293). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511752902.011CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, K. (2017). How to map theory: Reliable methods are fruitless without rigorous theory. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(5), 731–741.Google Scholar
Greenwald, A. G., Pratkanis, A. R., Leippe, M. R., & Baumgardner, M. H. (1986). Under what conditions does theory obstruct research progress? Psychological Review, 93(2), 216–229.Google Scholar
Guest, O. & Martin, A. E. (2021). How computational modeling can force theory building in psychological science. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16(4), 789–802. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691620970585Google Scholar
Kenrick, D. T. (2020). Discovering the next big question in evolutionary psychology: A few guidelines. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, 14(4), 347–354.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kerr, N. L. (1998). HARKing: Hypothesizing after the results are known. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2(3), 196–217.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ketelaar, T. & Ellis, B. J. (2000). Are evolutionary explanations unfalsifiable? Evolutionary psychology and the Lakatosian philosophy of science. Psychological Inquiry, 11(1), 1–21.Google Scholar
Lakatos, I. (1976). Falsification and the methodology of scientific research programmes. In Harding, S. G. (ed.), Can Theories Be Refuted? (pp. 205–259). Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, D. M. G., Al-Shawaf, L., Conroy-Beam, D., Asao, K., & Buss, D. M. (2017). Evolutionary psychology: A how-to guide. American Psychologist, 72(4), 353–373.Google Scholar
Lilienfeld, S. O. (2010). Can psychology become a science? Personality and Individual Differences, 49(4), 281–288.Google Scholar
Loehle, C. (1987). Hypothesis testing in ecology: Psychological aspects and the importance of theory maturation. The Quarterly Review of Biology, 62(4), 397–409.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mayr, E. (1961). Cause and effect in biology. Science, 134(3489), 1501–1506.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meehl, P. E. (1978). Theoretical risks and tabular asterisks: Sir Karl, Sir Ronald, and the slow progress of soft psychology. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46, 806–834.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merton, R. K. (1973). The Sociology of Science: Theoretical and Empirical Investigations. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Miller, G. (2000). How to keep our metatheories adaptive: Beyond Cosmides, Tooby, and Lakatos. Psychological Inquiry, 11(1), 42–46.Google Scholar
Muthukrishna, M. & Henrich, J. (2019). A problem in theory. Nature Human Behaviour, 3, 221–229.Google Scholar
Nesse, R. M. (2013). Tinbergen’s four questions, organized: A response to Bateson and Laland. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 28(12), 681–682.Google Scholar
Nettle, D. (2021). Theories and models are not the only fruit. Blog post. Available at: https://leonidtiokhin.medium.com/theories-and-models-are-not-the-only-fruit-a05c7cf188f6.Google Scholar
Norris, D. & Cutler, A. (2021). More why, less how: What we need from models of cognition. Cognition, 213, 104688. 10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104688Google Scholar
Pietraszewski, D. (2021). Towards a computational theory of social groups: A finite set of cognitive primitives for representing any and all social groups in the context of conflict. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, April 27, 1–62. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X21000583CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Popper, K. R. (1959). The Logic of Scientific Discovery. Basic Books.Google Scholar
Poincaré, H. (1905). Science and Hypothesis. Science Press.Google Scholar
Rozin, P. (2001). Social psychology and science: Some lessons from Solomon Asch. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5(1), 2–14.Google Scholar
Scheel, A. M., Tiokhin, L., Isager, P. M., & Lakens, D. (2020). Why hypothesis testers should spend less time testing hypotheses. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16(4): 744–755. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1745691620966795CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schmitt, D. P. & Pilcher, J. J. (2004). Evaluating evidence of psychological adaptation: How do we know one when we see one? Psychological Science, 15(10), 643–649.Google Scholar
Schooler, L. J. & Hertwig, R. (2005). How forgetting aids heuristic inference. Psychological Review, 112(3), 610–628. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.112.3.610CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smaldino, P. E. (2020). How to translate a verbal theory into a formal model. Social Psychology, 51(4), 207–218. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000425CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Symons, D. (1992). On the use and misuse of Darwinism in the study of human behavior. In Barkow, J. H., Cosmides, L. & Tooby, J. (eds.), The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and the Generation of Culture (pp. 137–159). Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tinbergen, N. (1963). On aims and methods of ethology. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie, 20(4), 410–433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tiokhin, L. (2021). Models are for transparency. Blog post. Availabale at: https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.11024.53767.Google Scholar
Tooby, J. & Cosmides, L. (1992). The psychological foundations of culture. In Barkow, J.H., Cosmides, C., & Tooby, J. (eds.), The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and the Generation of Culture (pp. 19–136). Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tooby, J. & Cosmides, L. (2015). The theoretical foundations of evolutionary psychology. In Buss, D. M. (ed.), The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology, Second Edition. Volume 1: Foundations. (pp. 3–87). John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Trivers, R. L. (1972). Parental investment and sexual selection. In Campbell, B. (ed.), Sexual Selection and the Descent of Man: 1871–1971 (pp. 136–179). Aldine.Google Scholar
Tybur, J. M., Bryan, A. D., & Hooper, A. E. C. (2012). An evolutionary perspective on health psychology: New approaches and applications. Evolutionary Psychology, 10(5), 855–867.Google Scholar
van Rooij, I. & Baggio, G. (2021). Theory before the test: How to build high-verisimilitude explanatory theories in psychological science. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16(4), 682–697. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691620970604Google Scholar
von Hippel, W. & Buss, D. M. (2017). Do ideological driven scientific agendas impede understanding and acceptance of evolutionary principles in social psychology? In Crawford, J. T. & Jussim, L. (eds.), The Politics of Social Psychology (pp. 7–25). Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Williams, G. C. (1966). Adaptation and Natural Selection. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Yarkoni, T. & Westfall, J. (2017). Choosing prediction over explanation in psychology: Lessons from machine learning. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(6), 1100–1122. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617693393Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×