Discuss the role played by theory in social research.

1) A theory consists of basic concepts and the relationships between basic concepts.
   2) It provides a framework to help organize and explain observations.
   3) It points to possible additional relationships that can be stated as testable hypotheses (predictions).
   4) Tests of the hypotheses will either provide additional support for the theory or indicate that the theory needs to be modified (or possibly discarded).
   5) A theory can never be proven to be correct because it can always be tested further.
   6) A theory can be shown to be incorrect this is a basic hallmark of scientific methods.