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Keywords:
Hypothesis,
Explanation,
Explain,
Hypotheses,
Phenomena
A doctrine, or scheme of things, which terminates in speculation or contemplation, without a view to practice; hypothesis; speculation.
An exposition of the general or abstract principles of any science; as, the theory of music.
The science, as distinguished from the art; as, the theory and practice of medicine.
The philosophical explanation of phenomena, either physical or moral; as, Lavoisier's theory of combustion; Adam Smith's theory of moral sentiments.
A set of propositions or analyses designed to show the relationships between any number of variables or phenomena; feminist theory seeks to explicate the relationships among gender, sexuality, and power as these create male dominance and maintain women's subordination.
An explanation for some natural phenomenon that has a large body of supporting evidence; to be considered scientific, a theory must be testable.
set of interrelated principles and definitions that serve to conceptually organize selected aspects of the empirical world in a systematic way. A theory attempts to provide systematic explanations and predictions relating to the nature, patterns, and dynamics of human social interaction, and often produces an account of the social world that goes beyond what can be seen or measured.
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.
A plausible or coherent scenario that has yet to be applied to experience.
A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, normally involving a number of interconnected hypotheses.
rational explanation for a phenomenon that is supported by repeatable experiments
an integrated set of statements that explain various phenomena.
explanation of a problem based upon observations and experiments.
an integrated set of statements that summarizes and explains research findings, and from which research hypotheses may be derived. (38)
A logically consistent set of principles which account for, explain, or render intelligible a set of observations.
An explanation or hypothesis that is supported by a wide body of evidence. (Contrast with hypothesis, paradigm.) Thermoneutral zone • The range of temperatures over which an endotherm does not have to expend extra energy to thermoregulate.
a supposition, or system of ideas that has been proposed to explain a given happening in the world.
An idea or model of how something in the world works, which can be used to make predictions. go to glossary index
a coherent collection of principles used in the science of psychology to explain phenomena. A substantial proportion of theories in psychology are related to the mechanisms by which things work.
A way of explaining or trying to explain a set of facts.
(the'-o-ry) A scientifically accepted general principle or body of principles offered to explain natural phenomena that is consistent with evidence, data, and experimental results. Theories can be disproved, but it is scientifically impossible to prove a theory correct.
An explanatory framework, containing a series of statements, that helps us understand why (something exists); theories suggest patterns, connections, and relationships that may be confirmed by new research.
a hypothesis that is confirmed through repeated experimentation.
A hypothesis that makes valid predictions, as demonstrated by evidence that is testable, unbiased, and repeatable.
A principle that explains a body of facts and the laws based on them.
A series of interrelated propositions that attempt to describe, explain, predict, and ultimately to control some class of events. A theory gains explanatory power from inherent logical consistency and is “tested” by how well it describes and predicts reality.
A scientific idea supported by an abundance of evidence that has passed many tests and failed none.
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.
a formulation of apparent relationships or underlying principles of certain observed phenomena which has been verified to some degree.
Gk. theorein, to look at] A generalization based on many observations and experiments; a verified hypothesis.
Coherent set of related concepts that seeks to organize and explain data and to generate hypotheses to be tested by research. (20)
A set of interrelated propositions that aim to explain or predict phenomena, thereby attempting to make the world more intelligible; systematic reflection on phenomena, designed to explain them or show how they are related to each other in a meaningful, intelligent pattern.
A statement of cause and effect that attempts to explain or predict a behavior or event. Note: This term varies in complexity depending on whether one takes a philosophical view or a purely scientific view.
A conceptual formulation that provides a rational explanation or framework for numerous related observations.
a thoroughly tested model that explains why experiments give certain results.
Larger body of principles offered to explain phenomena.
An analysis of a set of facts in their relation to one another, offered to explain events.
A concept that attempts to explain the relationships between events and that may be used to predict or control those events.
A formally stated and coherent set of propositions that purport to explain a range of phenomena, order them in a logical way, and suggest what additional information might be gleaned under certain conditions.
An hypothesis supported to some extent by evidence but not conclusively proven or accepted as a law.
Hypothesis, or set of related hypotheses, that withstood repeated testing to the point of widespread acceptance by the scientific community.
A statement that explains other facts or that predicts the occurrence of events.
A coherent set of ideas that helps to explain data and to make predictions.
An answer to a question; an explaination of why people do what they do.
level: Comprehensive (3) [ order by level] A more mature, more complex, and wider-ranging human mental construct than a hypothesis.
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"
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"
a "best guess"
a broad explanation that synthesizes many different once-unrelated facts observations, facts, and findings to explain natural processes or phenomena
a broad generalization of a set of ideas that have been supported by copious amounts of experimentation
a broad generalization that explains a body of facts or phenomena
a broadly based, widely accepted hypothesis supported by at least some good experimental evidence
a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena
a coherent model that has been substantiated by empirical evidence or experiment and has no known exceptions
a complete organization of a consistently proven hypothesis about a natural situation
a complex construction of facts explaining something
a complex intersubjective construct built from hypothesis, which is precisely what Evolution is
a conceptual framework that explains existing facts and predicts new ones
a conceptual framework which unifies disparate-seeming phenomena and laws
a conceptual scheme which organises a relatively small number of propositions which, taken together, explain a relatively wide range of human behaviour
a conjecture about some aspect of a phenomenon, and usually entails an explanation of causation
a connected and internally consistent group of statements, equations, models, or a combination of these, which serves to explain a relatively large and diverse group of things and events
a deliberate simplification of relationships whose purpose is to explain how those relationships work
a detailed explanation of the mechanisims behind empirically observable and objectively testable facts
a fact if the majority of the nation's college professors believe in it hard enough
a falsifiable hypothesis
a formalized set of concepts that organizes observations and inferences and predicts and explains phenomena
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