Theory: a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle
or body of principles offered to explain phenomena


"Gathering facts without a guiding principle leads
only to large collections of meaningless facts."
Roskin et al. Political Science: An Introduction, 8th Ed.  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall


Fankfort-Nachmias, Chava and David Nachmias.  (1992)  Research Methods in the Social Sciences, Fourth Edition.  New York:  St. Martin's.