Meanings of Theory: Clarifying Theory through Typification

2020/05/11 by Jörgen Sandberg, Mats Alvesson · 11 citations
Arts and Humanities · Business, Management and Accounting · Decision Sciences · #Management and Organizational Studies #Philosophy and History of Science #scientometrics and bibliometrics research

paper · doi:10.1111/joms.12587

openalex publication_date 2020/05/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25

Abstract

Abstract Developing and evaluating scientific knowledge and its value requires a clear – or at least not too unclear – understanding of what ‘theory’ means. We argue that common definitions of theory are too restrictive, as they do not acknowledge the existence of multiple kinds of scientific knowledge, but largely recognize only one kind as ‘theory’, namely explanatory knowledge. We elaborate a typology that broadens and clarifies the meaning of ‘theory’. Consisting of five basic theory types – explaining, comprehending, ordering, enacting and provoking theories – the typology offers a framework that enables researchers to develop and assess knowledge in more varied ways and for a broader set of purposes than is typically recognized, as well as providing a more level playing field within the academic community.

Citations

• CONSTRUCTING OPPORTUNITIES FOR CONTRIBUTION: STRUCTURING INTERTEXTUAL COHERENCE AND "PROBLEMATIZING" IN ORGANIZATIONAL STUDIES.
• Two Types of Bureaucracy: Enabling and Coercive
• Identity Regulation as Organizational Control: Producing the Appropriate Individual
• Theory Building From Cases: Opportunities And Challenges
• What is Wrong with Social Theory?

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Related

• The Meaning of ‘Theory’
• What Makes a Good Theory, and How Do We Make a Theory Good?
• What makes a good theory, and how do we make a theory good?
• Schematizing the Observer and the Epistemic Content of Theories
• Theory of Theories: The Coherence Hypothesis