Reflections: Theory

There are many ways to define theory. I now know that theories seek answers to the questions: “why”, “when”, “where”, “how”... and not just “why” which I had previously referred to in last post. It was also good to know that most theories that are studied are theories of explanation and prediction. It’s uncommon to find papers that explore theory of analyzing.

It was interesting to note that I actually did learn a theory last week from the paper that I had selected. The first research paper that I selected used the the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. With the knowledge that I learnt this week about types of theory, I can now classify this theory as a theory of explanation and prediction. This theory tries to understand why people are likely to adopt and use a particular information technology tool.

I also learnt a new and interesting theory from my group discussion members: The Theory of Transmedia Narratives. This theory, based on Vladimir Propp’s Narratology, analyzes the meaning and application of various narrative structures as used in different types of media. This led me to go on and read about Narratology: the study of narrative and narrative structures and the ways that these two affect our perception.

P.S. My apologies for posting this late... I've been lagging behind in the past weeks. I'm now working towards making sure that all my postings are on time. I also hope to comment on many more blogs in the coming week.