What is Theory?
Puzzles and Maps as Metaphors in Communication Theory

"In this essay, we configure a taxonomy of definitions of and approaches to theory that sorts them by their suppositions or rejection of certain suppositions, rather than by their lineage (disciplinary or methodological traditions) or their focus (levels or areas of inquiry). We categorize definitions and approaches according to the concepts they value and employ, the characteristics and the roles they attribute to theories, and the methodologies and the practical implications they associate with theories, rather than according to what domain of study or school of thought their proponents seem to be affiliated with or to belong to. We have identified a preeminent tendency, theory as puzzle-solving or map-reading, with its varieties science and investigation, that views the object of study or problem as given and taken-for-granted, as exterior to the theorist, overcoming individual theorists, or as more venerable and more important than studying subjectivities. We also explore a counteracting tendency, theory as puzzle-making or mapmaking, with its varieties interpretation and inquiry, that positions the object of study or problem as constructed and disputable, as the theorist’s (or theorists’) choice and selection, and as separable from and intertwined with and studying subjectivities." [Information des Anbieters]