理论 [Theory]
定义: 理论指对某一过程或现象的统一解释或描述，它需要使用由几个独立的研究人员领导的各种实验，进行反复测试和验证。当新假说经过严格检验，可能完全推翻原有理论，或质疑其解释力不足——特别是当新假说能更好地解释现象，或虽与某些现象矛盾但更具普适性时。
相关术语: Hypothesis, Model (philosophy), Theory building
参考文献:
- Schafersman, S. D. (1997). An Introduction to Science. https://www.geo.sunysb.edu/esp/files/scientific-method.html
- Wacker, J. (1998). A definition of theory: research guidelines for different theory-building research methods in operations management. Journal of Operations Management, 16(4), 361–385. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0272-6963(98)00019-9
原稿作者: Aoife O’Mahony
审阅者: Mahmoud Elsherif, Helena Hartmann, Charlotte R. Pennington, Graham Reid
翻译者: AI-driven translation tool "TransFlow" (developed by Jinbiao Yang and COSN OpenTransfer team)
译稿审阅者: Yu Xu, Liangjie Chen, Ruoting Liu, Xiujuan Wen, Shuxian Jin