Linked from

The 20 pages that link to Scientific theory, each with the reason it gives.

• InstrumentalismNarrower topic: Instrumentalism evaluates theories as tools for handling observations.

• Scientific modelCompared with: Theories explain broad patterns; models represent selected systems or aspects of them.

• HypothesisCompared with: Unlike a tentative hypothesis, a theory integrates extensive evidence and connected explanations.

• Imre LakatosNarrower topic: Research programmes organize related theories rather than judging isolated hypotheses alone.

• Scientific explanationRelated: Theories provide organized principles that explanations use to account for particular phenomena.

• Natural scienceRelated: Theories connect evidence into explanations that can be tested and refined.

• Social scienceRelated: Theories organize findings and guide which social processes to investigate.

• Auxiliary hypothesisNarrower topic: Auxiliary hypotheses work alongside theories rather than replacing their central explanatory claims.

• Scientific lawCompared with: Unlike a law’s concise pattern statement, a theory explains how or why phenomena occur.

• ScienceBroader topic: Theories are developed explanations, not guesses awaiting confirmation.

• Ad hoc hypothesisNarrower topic: Ad hoc hypotheses are judged by whether they strengthen or merely shelter the theory they accompany.

• The Structure of Scientific RevolutionsNarrower topic: The book’s paradigms encompass theories but also methods and standards.

• ExplanationRelated: Theories organize explanatory claims across many observations.

• ScientistBroader topic: Theories are developed and refined through sustained scientific investigation.

• Niels Kaj JerneNarrower topic: Debates over immune network theory turn on how well its broad claims can be tested.

• ResearchRelated: Research can build, refine, or challenge explanatory frameworks.

• Concepts & principlesCompared with: A theory combines concepts and principles into a broader explanatory structure.

• Mario BungeRelated: For Bunge, theories organize facts and provide the premises from which scientific explanations are derived.

• Model (representation)Compared with: A theory can guide many models, while a model makes a more specific representation.

• Scientific modellingCompared with: Theories explain broad patterns; models represent selected aspects for particular tasks.