With over 400 counseling theories, how do we sort through them? As part of this series on critical thinking, in this two-part post I will outline the steps for evaluating a counseling theory:
- Falsifiability: the degree to which a theory is constructed such that empirical refutation is possible. Falsifiable theories are coherent enough to be refuted, therefore falsifiability is a good indicator that the theory is logical and consistent. In another words, theories that can be tested are falsifiable. For example, a theory stating that in 100 years 75% of children 10 years and younger will be autistic is not falsifiable because it cannot be tested. On the other hand, a theory stating that currently 75% of children 10 years and younger are autistic is falsifiable because we can test it.
- Utility: the usefulness of a theoretical system. A theory is useful if it can both explain and predict the phenomenon that is modeled by the theory. For example, a theory about human behavior that states that people from cities with more than a million people are less social, but doesn’t explain why, is not useful. Without an understanding of the underpinnings, we cannot use this theory make predictions. Another example is if we theorize that human behavior results from parental influence, but do not provide enough detail to specify the various types of parental behavior and how this affects children, the theory is not useful.
- Importance: a measure of the importance of a theory is its applicability to more than a limited, restricted situation. For example, a theory that female adolescents sixteen years of age with green eyes from Eagle High School in Connecticut have high literary scores on Shakespeare is not important.
- Preciseness and Clarity: a theory is clear and precise if it is understandable, internally consistent, and free from ambiguities. These qualities of a theory can be tested by the ease with which a theory can be related to practice. Theories are explicit about their rules and theorems, and should pinpoint the limitations of their predictions. For example, a vague theory such as males are ruled more by their unconscious is not a good theory. Neither is an inconsistent theory that states males are ruled by their unconscious because of the way the human brain develops, yet somehow females aren’t.
Yours in the Joy of Knowledge,
Dr. Barbara LoFrisco
