0 a formal statement of the rules on which a subject of study is based or of ideas that are suggested to explain a fact or event or, more generally, an opinion or explanation:
1 something suggested as a reasonable explanation for facts, a condition, or an event, esp. a systematic or scientific explanation:
2 a formal statement of ideas that are suggested to explain a fact or event, or how something works:
He has four theories to explain organizational change and development.
economic/political theory Economic theory says that there is little connection between the euro's value against the dollar or the yen and the success of monetary union itself.
a theory of sth In this article the authors develop a theory of high-performing organizations.
3 a formal statement of the rules or principles on which an activity or a subject of study is based:
management/organization theory This case study has important implications for management theory
the theory and practice of running a department
4 a statement of an opinion or an explanation of an idea that is believed to be true, but might be wrong:
5 if something is possible in theory, it should be possible, but often it does not happen in that way:
It was Ptolemy who propounded the theory that the earth was at the centre of the universe.
This new evidence lends support to the theory that she was murdered.
This research seems to give some validity to the theory that the drug might cause cancer.
In Jungian theory, there are certain archetypes of human personality.
Does the autistic child have a "theory of mind"?
It is theory tested by many individual research findings that permits the generation of predictions about program outcomes under different conditions.
In theory, village development plans flow up through district and regional development committees to the central government.
