COMM 3007 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Dynamite Entertainment, Ethnography, Critical Theory
Document Summary
An objective theory is credible when it fulfills the twin objectives of scientific knowledge. The theory predicts some future outcome, and it explains the reasons for that outcome. Social scientists of all kinds agree on four additional criteria a theory must meet to be good relative simplicity, testability, practical utility, and quantifiable research. In the realm of the physical sciences, we are seldom embarrassed. Objects don"t have a choice about how to respond to a stimulus. The sun can"t choose to rise in the west instead of the east. Although theories of human behavior often cast their predictions with confidence, a good measure of humility on the part of the theorist is advisable. Even the best theory may only be able to speak about people in general, rather than about specific individuals and these only in terms of probability and tendencies, not absolute certainty. A good objective theory explains an event or human behavior.
