Theme 3: Research and theory - Afterthoughts

The term theory is derived from a ancient greek word which means looking. So theory is about looking at objects in the world. Moreover, one must distinguish between a theory and a hypothesis. The latter is unproven or even speculative whereas a theory can be rather seen as a description or an explanation. In science a theory is a model or a framework which represents or observes the reality or ideas. In order to come up with a theory, one has to take a step back and observe the object from within a certain distance. An abstract view has to be taken to gain another idea about the object. Since theory is not about doing something it can be set into contrast to praxis. This does not mean that one of both should be valued higher than the other. Both differ only in the way of how they view an object. Both theoretical and practical knowledge are important and only together they can provide a concept of an object which is as complete as it can be in the given context. It is always important to bear in mind that every theory is relative to the context within it is settled. No theory can be considered as truth since it is all influenced by the context, by the store of knowledge at the time when a theory arises. Only in this way paradigm shifts are possible. Such things would not exists if it were not for the context dependence of theory. Nevertheless, an important criterium for theories is that they should be generalisable. Even if a theory cannot be truth it can be useful all the same. But for this purpose it should be applicable in a general context. In my opinion another requirement for a theory is that is should be verifiable. Otherwise it is hardly more than an empty concept. This is also the reason why research is done all over the world to verify theories, achieve a progress and construct new theories. Research can also be seen as the process of producing knowledge. The aim of research is to confirm that our knowledge can be considered as true within the frameworks of the current context. As mentioned in my previous blog entry, data alone is not equal to a theory. But it can be used to support a theory. This is the reason why the major part of research is the collecting of data. But since data cannot simply be found somewhere, there is a need for scientifically approved methods to collect data. However, collecting data is quite similar to constructing theories: it is made up human beings. As theories, data cannot really be objective since it is always filtered in a certain way. For example you begin filtering the data by deciding which data you want to collect. Maybe it would have been more useful to collect other data instead. Or to use a different method to collect the data.
And then again, our theory of theories is nothing more than just a theory. Maybe some day there might also be a paradigm shift concerning this special theory.