Research on Social Work Practice Does not Benefit from Blurry Theory

Abstract

Gomory uses a broader definition of theory than that discussed in my article. If by “theory” one means guesses, hypotheses, conjectures, assumptions, models, and perspectives, then yes, any research endeavor involves theory. But such an elastic definition of theory causes the concept to lose all scientific value, and is at variance with the more common (and restrictive) use of the term I employed. Many of Gomory's points were tangential to responding directly to the substance of my article, and others simply misrepresented positions made there and in other publications. Gomory agrees with the major point of my article that forcing doctoral students and others to include elements of grand theories into dissertation research and program evaluation in the absence of genuine integration is a poor practice and should be halted. His disagreement with my contention that some (not all) social work programs are atheoretical, and can (in some instances) be evaluated in an atheoretical manner, derives from his looser definition of the term “theory.”