Mahnoor Imtiaz 22110065

QNQ
“WHAT THEORY IS NOT”
The article “What Theory is Not” written by Sutton and Shaw sheds light on the fact that several
researchers confuse data, diagrams, references, variables, constructs and hypotheses for theory.
Furthermore, the authors also discuss if a theory and a model can be differentiated, if typology comes
under a theory and if falsifiability acts as a pre-requisite. The authors, via their article, called on
editors and journalists to gravitate more towards papers that look into a part of rather than the entire
theory and make use of illustrative (qualitative) instead of definitive (quantitative data).
The focal point of the article was towards the parts that are not theory. Sutton and Staw considered
the following as not theory:
 References: They do not believe that references are theory because references are used to
explain the concepts which are extracted from the cited sources and how these arguments are
then linked to the theory which is developed. Several references to an existing theory do not
form a new theory.
 Data: This is not considered as a theory because data simply showcases the empirical patterns
that were observed, while the theory explains the reasoning behind the appearance of those
patterns; therefore, the data itself doesn’t constitute a theory. When qualitative data is being
used by researchers, it must be backed up by causal arguments (theory) to explain the
observed findings.
 Variables/Constructs: These do not fall under the umbrella of theory since the lists of
variables do help in explaining theory, but are not theory by themselves. Conceptual
definitions are not theory. The variables’ comparative test is not equivalent to that of theory.
The key point is why some variables are more important than the rest and thus chosen, and
not which variables are chosen.
 Diagrams: The authors do not consider them as theory because diagrams merely explain how
a phenomenon has taken place and do not decode the reasoning behind it. Nevertheless, it is
also mentioned that a good theory is both verbal and representational.
 Hypotheses: these are statements regarding what is expected to take place, and do not explain
why the expectation present is in the first place. Theory is not a compilation of statement of
hypotheses because if they are not backed by logic, they cannot be considered theory.
According to Sutton and Shaw, a strong theory is the one which firstly, provides answers for
why. Secondly, a theory is about the links between phenomenons. It also uncovers the underlying
processes. Thirdly, it is essential for a theory to have logical and convincing arguments. It is said
that a good theory does three things: it explains, predicts and delights.
The article also showcases the other point of view that there is a huge amount of mediocre theory
present and instead of looking for more theorists should spend time to understand the
organizations through close observations. Another critique is that the researchers are mainly
trained in experimentation and are not trained enough in theory building.
The authors also gave recommendations that journals should reconsider the selection process of
method and theory- by publishing papers that are much stronger in theory as compared to
method. Quantitative papers usually lack theory, while in the qualitative papers, theory is mostly
over emphasized. Thus, there is a need to strike the balance between the two.