From Theory to Theorizing

Troubles of Theory
Troubles of Theory
 Theory is a lens
• Machine can be fixed
by knowledge of how
it works
 Theory is abstract
• Theory is considered
difficult
• Some find it useless
• Theory considered
opposite of practical
 Student learn theory
but do not to know to
use it
Troubles of Theory
 Public policy theory is
not well-developed
 Methods have
advanced quickly, not
theory
• Theoretically
interesting journal
articles uncommon
• Can theory be
brought at par with
method?
Troubles of Theory
 Gap b/w the method
and theory can be
reduced by focusing on
theorizing*
From Theory to Theorizing

Theorizing
Theorizing
 To theorize mean: what
to do to produce a
theory
• Theorizing is a
process; theory is a
product
• By focusing on
theory, we ignore how
it is produced
 Student generally know
theories of others
Theorizing
 To theorize means
students theorize their
own empirical work
 Theorizing can be used
in the context of
discovery
 Basic rules for how to
theorize
• Successful theorizing
in close unison with
observation
Theorizing
 Theorizing is a skill;
iterative
• Intuitive ways of
thinking
 C W Mills: A sociologist
should be his own
theorist and
methodologist
• “Above all seek to
develop and to use
the sociological
imagination”
Theorizing
• “Let every man be his
own methodologist;
let every man be his
own theorist”
• “Let theory and
method again
become part of the
practice of a craft”
• “ Stand for the
primacy of individual
scholar”*
From Theory to Theorizing

Ways of
Theorizing
Ways of Theorizing
 Induction
 Deduction
 Generalizing
 Model-building
 Using analogies
 Charles Pierce:
abduction*
From Theory to Theorizing

Basic Rules of
Theorizing
Basic Rules of Theorizing
 Observing
• Comte’s concept
Mental Hygiene
 Developing a tentative
theory, explanation
• Naming,
conceptualizing,
using analogies,
metaphors*