Functions of Theory

• Description

• Prediction

• Explanation

• Guidance

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Hoy and Miskel: Explain and Guide Research

Beauchamp: Description, Prediction and Explanation

Description: provides a narrative classification of knowledge in a particular theoretical field

A theory can predict the occurrence of yet unobserved events on the basis of the explanatory principles embedded in it

Explanation not only points out the relationships between phenomena, but suggests either implicitly or explicitly the reasons for the relationships.

Guidance: theory helps researchers choose data for analysis and make economical summaries of the data.