Subtypes of Theory

What are the subtypes of a theory?

In the scientonomic context, this question was first formulated by Hakob Barseghyan in 2015. The question is currently accepted as a legitimate topic for discussion by Scientonomy community. The subtypes of Theory currently accepted in Scientonomy are:

• Normative Theory
• Descriptive Theory
• Definition

Scientonomic History

Acceptance Record of the Question

Here is the complete acceptance record of this question (it includes all the instances when the question was accepted as a legitimate topic for discussion by a community):

Community	Accepted From	Acceptance Indicators	Still Accepted	Accepted Until	Rejection Indicators
Scientonomy	1 January 2016	The question of Subtypes of Theory became accepted by virtue of the acceptance of Theory. The term became accepted together with the rest of the original TSC.	Yes

All Direct Answers

The following answers have been added to this encyclopedia:

Theory	Formulation	Formulated In
Descriptive Theory Is a Subtype of Theory (Barseghyan-2015)	Descriptive Theory is a subtype of Theory, i.e. theory is a supertype of descriptive theory.	2015
Normative Theory Is a Subtype of Theory (Sebastien-2016)	Normative Theory is a subtype of Theory, i.e. theory is a supertype of normative theory.	2016
Definition Is a Subtype of Theory (Barseghyan-2018)	Definition is a subtype of Theory, i.e. theory is a supertype of definition.	2018

If a theory concerning the subtypes of a theory is missing, please click here to add it.

Accepted Direct Answers

The following theories have been accepted as direct answers to this question:

Community	Theory	Formulation	Accepted From	Accepted Until
Scientonomy	Descriptive Theory Is a Subtype of Theory (Barseghyan-2015)	Descriptive Theory is a subtype of Theory, i.e. theory is a supertype of descriptive theory.	1 January 2016
Scientonomy	Normative Theory Is a Subtype of Theory (Sebastien-2016)	Normative Theory is a subtype of Theory, i.e. theory is a supertype of normative theory.	15 February 2017
Scientonomy	Definition Is a Subtype of Theory (Barseghyan-2018)	Definition is a subtype of Theory, i.e. theory is a supertype of definition.	1 September 2019

Suggested Modifications

Here is a list of modifications concerning this topic:

Modification	Community	Date Suggested	Summary	Date Assessed	Verdict	Verdict Rationale
Sciento-2017-0002	Scientonomy	23 January 2017	Accept a new ontology of scientific change where the two fundamental elements are theories - both descriptive and normative - and methods.	15 February 2017	Accepted	The community has agreed that after the solution of the paradox of normative propositions, there are no obstacles for including normative propositions into the ontology of scientific change.c1 c2 c3 It was also agreed that including normative propositions into the ontology of scientific change "would allow us to grasp the role that methodological and ethical rules play in science".c4
Sciento-2018-0006	Scientonomy	8 October 2018	Accept the new ontology of epistemic elements with, theories and questions are the two basic epistemic elements where and each theory is an attempt to answer a certain question, theories can be of three types – descriptive, normative, or definitions, and methods are a subtype of normative theory.	1 September 2019	Accepted	Following a series of off-line discussions, a consensus emerged concerning this modification: it was agreed that the modification is to be accepted.c1 It was mentioned that most of the elements of this new ontology "has already been accepted by the scientonomic community".c2 It was also stressed that "the consensus has been manifested on several occasions, including the first scientonomy conference in May 2019 in Toronto, where several of the presenters treated this new ontology as accepted."c3 The fact that the consensus concerning this modification has been achieved primarily off-line, i.e. outside of the discussion pages of this encyclopedia suggests that the scientonomic "workflow must have a way of accommodating these discussions".c4

Current View

In Scientonomy, the accepted subtypes of Theory are:

• Normative Theory
• Descriptive Theory
• Definition

Descriptive Theory Is a Subtype of Theory (Barseghyan-2015) states: "Descriptive Theory is a subtype of Theory, i.e. theory is a supertype of descriptive theory."

Normative Theory Is a Subtype of Theory (Sebastien-2016) states: "Normative Theory is a subtype of Theory, i.e. theory is a supertype of normative theory."

According to Sebastien, norms, such as those of ethics, aesthetics, or methodology, are normative theories.1

Definition Is a Subtype of Theory (Barseghyan-2018) states: "Definition is a subtype of Theory, i.e. theory is a supertype of definition."

According to Barseghyan, definitions are essentially a species of theories.