# Theory specification methods <span class="badge badge-draft1">✎ Very rough draft</span>
```{r}
#| include: false
if(file.exists("../_setup.R")){source("../_setup.R")}
```
## Building a discrimination repertoire
- Learning to make up tacts will help you spot it occurring elsewhere, give you a discrimination and tacting repertoire to point it out yourself
- See: Chambers book, Neuroskeptic 9 circles of hell
## Can you discriminate their hypothesis, RQ, and goals?
- Description, prediction, influence — or a mushy none-of-the-above?
## Bullshit
- Identifying claims that are not even attempting to be truthful
## Goals
- Description, prediction, influence
- Explananda vs explanantia, circular reasoning
## Subjunctive vs. indicative theory
### Would It Be Tight
- Burden of proof: what evidence do the authors provide that their theory would not merely be tight?
### In a world fallacy
- Theories that only work under unstated ideal conditions
## Logical arguments
- Sound and valid arguments
- Failure to consider alternative explanations
- Affirmation of the consequent
- Auxiliary hypotheses
## Motte and Bailey arguments
- Strategic retreat to defensible positions when stronger claims are challenged
## (Strategic) ambiguity
- General claims require generalised effects
## Not even wrong claims
- What is your estimand, counterfactuals
## Lego science
- Mechanistic assembly of findings without theoretical coherence
## Ignorance systems
- Research areas sustained by not asking certain questions