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1. INTRODUCTION
Any view, assumption, or hypothesis, which is unproven & variable, may
form into a theory which may be proved or disproved after analytical or
scientific qualification of the same. Analytical or scientific qualifications
include proving &/or disproving the view, point, assumption, or hypothesis
and forming a logical equation of that theory.

2. DEFINITIONS OF THEORY
I. plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of
principles offered to explain phenomena the wave theory of light

II. belief, policy, or procedure proposed or followed as the basis of action

“Her method is based on the theory that all children want to learn”

III. An ideal or hypothetical set of facts, principles, or circumstances often

used in the phrase in theory
“In theory, we have always advocated freedom for all.”
IV.(a) A hypothesis assumed for the sake of argument or investigation
(b) An unproved assumption.
(c) A body of theorems presenting a concise systematic view of a subject
theory of equations

3. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HYPOTHESIS AND THEORY

A hypothesis is an assumption, an idea that is proposed for the sake of
argument so that it can be tested to see if it might be true.
In the scientific method, the hypothesis is constructed before any applicable
research has been done, apart from a basic background review. You ask a
question, read up on what has been studied before, and then form a
hypothesis.
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A hypothesis is usually tentative; it's an assumption or suggestion made

strictly for the objective of being tested.

A theory, in contrast, is a principle that has been formed as an attempt to

explain things that have already been substantiated by data. It is used in the
names of a number of principles accepted in the scientific community, such as
the Big Bang Theory. Because of the rigors of experimentation and control, it is
understood to be more likely to be true than a hypothesis is.
In non-scientific use, however, hypothesis and theory are often used
interchangeably to mean simply an idea, speculation, or hunch, with theory
being the more common choice.
Since this casual use does away with the distinctions upheld by the scientific
community, hypothesis and theory are prone to being wrongly interpreted even
when they are encountered in scientific contexts—or at least, contexts that
allude to scientific study without making the critical distinction that scientists
employ when weighing hypotheses and theories.
The most common occurrence is when theory is interpreted—and sometimes
even gleefully seized upon—to mean something having less truth value than
other scientific principles. (The word law applies to principles so firmly
established that they are almost never questioned, such as the law of gravity.)
This mistake is one of projection: since we use theory in general to mean
something lightly speculated, then it's implied that scientists must be talking
about the same level of uncertainty when they use theory to refer to their well-
tested and reasoned principles.
The distinction has come to the forefront particularly on occasions when the
content of science curricula in schools has been challenged—notably, when a
school board in Georgia put stickers on textbooks stating that evolution was "a
theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things." As Kenneth R. Miller, a
cell biologist at Brown University, has said, a theory "doesn’t mean a hunch or
a guess. A theory is a system of explanations that ties together a whole bunch
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of facts. It not only explains those facts, but predicts what you ought to
find from other observations and experiments.”
While theories are never completely infallible, they form the basis of scientific
reasoning because, as Miller said "to the best of our ability, we’ve tested them,
and they’ve held up."

4. TWO RELATED, YET DISTINCT, MEANINGS OF THEORY

There are many shades of meaning to the word theory. Most of these are used
without difficulty, and we understand, based on the context in which they are
found, what the intended meaning is. For instance, when we speak of music
theory we understand it to be in reference to the underlying principles of the
composition of music, and not in reference to some speculation about those
principles.
However, there are two senses of theory which are sometimes troublesome.
These are the senses which are defined as “a plausible or scientifically
acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain
phenomena” and “an unproven assumption; conjecture.” The second of these
is occasionally misapplied in cases where the former is meant, as when a
particular scientific theory is derided as "just a theory," implying that it is no
more than speculation or conjecture.

5. CONCLUSION

One may certainly disagree with scientists regarding their theories, but it is an
inaccurate interpretation of language to regard their use of the word as
implying a tentative hypothesis; the scientific use of theory is quite different
than the speculative use of the word.