Theory Mapping and Academic Research

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Academic research already has the scientific method to assist it in selecting theories with the highest probability of being true. The key aspects in selecting theories here being (in theory at least), their ability to be falsified, and how able they are to resist being falsified.

However, Theory Mapping can still make a big contribution to academic research in the following ways:

• Broadening the research community: because it is web-based, Theory Mapping potentially allows anyone in the world with an internet connection to contribute their brain power to improving academic theories. Academics are beginning to realize the power of the internet. For instance, the moral psychologist Jonathan Haidt has launched a public competition for people to revise his Theory of Moral Foundations, either by providing theoretical ideas or new empirical evidence. This is publicized via his website at www.moralfoundations.org. A Theory Mapping Competition would allow this to be done much more efficiently, in which Haidt would outline the Agreed Facts and a Theory Map of his theory in explaining them. Contestants would then enter their own Theory Maps to compete with his, and suggest additional facts that his theory cannot explain.
• Outside the physical sciences: outside the physical sciences it is much less practical to select theories according to their falsifiability and to conclusively falsify them. You therefore end up having a mass of empirical evidence and different competing theories, without a rigorous process for selecting between them. Theory Mapping can therefore help to improve the efficiency of academic debate and ensure that academics have the incentive to develop theories with the maximum probability of being true, rather than to maximise their output of peer-reviewed publications.

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