Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Search

Refine search

Refine search

Access:
Content type:
Publication date:
Apply   From and To filters
Subject: Show more
Journals Show more
Publishers: Show more
Societies Show more
Series: Show more
Collections: Show more

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

78 results

Page 1 of 4

  • 1 - Promises and Pitfalls of Theory

  • from Part I - From Idea to Reality: The Basics of Research
  • Edited by Austin Lee Nichols, Central European University, Vienna, John Edlund, Rochester Institute of Technology, New York
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook of Research Methods and Statistics for the Social and Behavioral Sciences
  • Published online: 25 May 2023
  • Print publication: 08 June 2023, pp 3-24
    • Chapter
      • You have access
    • PDF
    • HTML
    • Export citation

  • Summary

    We present an overview of the role, benefits, and drawbacks of theory in scientific research, particularly in the social and behavioral sciences. We discuss what theory is and what it is not. We also focus on some key elements of theory such as its ability to explain phenomena at multiple parallel levels of analysis. Evolutionary theory is offered as an example that illustrates the importance of conceptual integration across different disciplines. We further describe the key characteristics of good theories, such as parsimony, depth, breadth, and coherence (both internal and external), and we encourage the use of “coherence stress-tests” to help refine theory. We then discuss 4 advantages and 10 disadvantages of using theory in social and behavioral science research. Finally, we suggest conceptual tools and provide a list of recommendations for theory-driven research. We hope this chapter will help in the complex pursuit of improving research practices in the social and behavioral sciences.

  • Chapter 19 - What the Evolutionary and Cognitive Sciences Offer the Sciences of Crime and Justice

  • Edited by Riadh Abed, Paul St John-Smith
  • Book: Evolutionary Psychiatry
  • Published online: 08 September 2022
  • Print publication: 29 September 2022, pp 295-304

  • Summary

    Science has become increasingly interdisciplinary, marked by the rapid expansion of social science fields melding with ‘natural’ sciences previously considered less relevant for the study of humans. Psychology in particular now depends heavily on insights from medicine, biology, sociology, genetics and cognitive science and has done so for years. By grounding itself in evolutionary theory, moreover, psychology has moved towards a more mature science of human mind and behaviour. The crime sciences – criminology and criminal justice – are poised to make similar progress. While already interdisciplinary fields, we make the case that the evolutionary and cognitive sciences can unify existing knowledge about crime and justice, can help to pose new and interesting questions to study and can push the fields forward in ways that will benefit not only the scientific world, but society in general as well.

Page 1 of 4