As in any line of scientific inquiry, methods determine theories, and vice versa.
Yet experimental results that conform to rationally determined theory confirm it.
Thus, the need arises to find a criterion of ontological commitment: a test or method that can be applied to theories in a neutral way to determine the theory's ontological commitments.
The strong inference approach involves developing and contrasting alternative theories including null theories, which will not give rise to emergent properties to determine the theory most amenable to reproducing the observed patterns [ 28].
He recounts a charming episode, for instance, in which George Washington and Thomas Paine floated together one night down a New Jersey creek, lighting cartridge paper at the water's surface to determine whose theory was correct about the source of swamp gas.
How do we determine which theory is correct?
Kuhn developed the idea that such epistemic standards do not function as rules that determine rational theory choice, but as values that merely guide it (1977, 331).
However, were they taught a second and third theory, along with their respective pro and con arguments, students would be drawn into a more nuanced understanding of the problem, try to determine which theory was right, and discover their minds at a deeper level as they grappled with the question and experience the excitement of intellectual inquiry.
However, it is as yet unclear how one would determine which theory is more valid for a particular situation.
The significant finding regarding improvement in attitudes towards justification of IPV is particularly important, as attitudinal changes may be proxies for norms, which may precede changes in IPV [ 19]; longer-term research is needed to determine this theory of change.
