characteristics of a theory?

Answer 1

A theory is an explanation for what has been observed. Theories are always tentative, but long-tested theories are usually mostly true. Scientists are always trying to find flaws in theories because success in science comes from seeing what no one else has seen and being the first to tell the world. In politics, on the other hand, success usually comes from being a stinking, conformist yes-man.

Answer 2

A few definitions have already been offered. Check the one offered by Wikipedia.

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I see a theory as a tool. As such, it is neither "true" nor "false". Rather, you have to see a theory as more useful or less useful at explaining and predicting things.

If your theory has, as a hypothesis, that the Earth is flat, must it be thrown away? Depends what you are doing. If you are measuring and comparing the size of gardens in your neighbourhood, plane trigonometry will give you very accurate results. Plane trig is much easier than spherical trig.

However, when you begin to measure whole continents, you will run into problems: the inner angles in large triangles will add up to more than 180 degrees (plane trigonometry does not like that).

So, switch to a hypothesis that the Earth is a sphere. There, the area of a triangle is directly related to the "excess" (the value by which the sum of angles exceeds 180 degrees). Spherical trigonometry is more complicated than plane trigonometry, but it will give you more accurate results for large distances (e.g., Paris to New York).

However, the Earth is not a sphere. If you need very accurate measurements of large distances, you have to use even more refined models of the Earth. For example, an ellipsoid with the long axis (the equatorial diameter) 12,756.28 km and the minor axis (polar diameter) 12,713.50 km.

Still, if you are studying plate tectonics and you need the distance between two antennae, one in Paris, the other in New York to an accuracy of fractions of millimetres, then even the ellipsoid is not accurate enough.

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Some claim that Einstein's theory of gravity proved Newton's theory to be wrong. Yet, I continue to use Newton's in everyday things. If the engine in a car develops a known power that gets transmitted to the wheels as a known couple, causing the tires to push off the road with a force, I do not calculate how much of the energy goes to increasing the car's mass. I pretend that this (Einstein's) correction does not exist and I still find a very accurate value for the acceleration of the car. Newton's theory is still "useful" because it helps me predict things with sufficient accuracy.

Answer 3

In the sense of everyday speech, a theory is just an educated guess.
However, in science, a theory is a body of hypotheses that have been supported through many experiements that have been repeated and peer verified. The mathematics for hypothesis testing is rigorous and well developed, and a required study for most science majors, whether in social or hard sciences. It is this mathematical rigor of experimental design that sets science, especially social science, apart from mere speculation based on anecedotal evidence.
Some people put down scientific endeavor that conflicts with their religious beliefs, saying "it's only a theory". They are thinking of theory in the sense of everyday speech, not in the scientific sense.

Answer 4

"Theories are schemes of thought with assumptions chosen to fit experimental knowledge, containing the speculative ideas and general treatment that make them grand conceptual schemes." E. M. Rogers, Physics for the Inquiring Mind (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1966).

Answer 5

A theory is an explanation put forward that attempts to explain data that has been observed.

Answer 6

a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena

Answer 7

What?

Answer 8

an idea