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Evaluating Theories
Comm Theories Chap 3
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Scope | range of how much the theory describes and explains |
| Law Based Explanations | if x, then y follows; causal or correlationsal universal laws |
| Rules Based Explanations | identify and describe regularities and generalities |
| Testability | ability of claims to be investigated to determine acuracy |
| Parcimony | quality of being appropriately simple; Occam's Razor |
| Utility | practical value and usefulness of theory; extent to which it increases understanding, prediction and/or quality of life. |
| Heurism | ability of theory to generate new thoughts, ideas, insights, thinking and research. |