Learning to Theorize : A Four-Step Strategy

by Dennis E. Mithaug

• ISBN13: 9780761909798
• ISBN10: 0761909796
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-07-14
• Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc

Summary

Through the use of compelling questions and examples, Dennis E Mithaug shows you how to implement his four-step strategy to construct explanations for uncertainties about how things work, how they ought to work, and what should be done about them. He begins the book with an explanation of the practical features of constructive theorizing and shows how it mirrors general problem solving, practical reasoning, and self-regulated learning. You will learn how to separate the facts, value and actions of a situation in order to clarify and understand their relationship as well as how a thinking strategy assists in learning to theorize better. This book will enable readers to separate questions of fact, value and action - explain their differences and similarities ' and summarize their explanations in a theory that reconstructs those facts, values and actions in a more credible and valuable way.

Author Biography

Dennis E. Mithaug is Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Knowing What to Believe	1	(30)
Constructing Credible and Valuable Beliefs	31	(18)
Empirical Theorizing About Facts	49	(20)
Moral Theorizing About Values	69	(20)
Policy Theorizing About Actions	89	(18)
Conclusion	107	(14)
Appendix A: Three Problems and the Sample Theories Generated From Them	121	(34)
Appendix B: List of the 23 Empirical, Moral, and Policy Theories	155	(10)
Appendix C: Terms and Definitions for Constructive Theorizing	165	(4)
References	169	(6)
Index	175	(6)
About the Author	181