Skip to ContentSkip to Navigation
About us Latest news News News articles

Tales of the (sometimes) unexpected: the ups and downs of theory and data

29 May 2012

Inaugural lecture: Mr. prof. R. Spears, 16.15 uur, Aula Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5, Groningen

Title: Tales of the (sometimes) unexpected: the ups and downs of theory and data

Chair: Social psychology, in particular social identity

Faculty: Behavioural and Social Sciences

Social psychologists pride themselves on being theory-driven, and often look down on “naïve empiricism” or descriptive research in their own ranks or other disciplines. This is reflected in the hypothetico-deductive approach associated with positivism. Good scientists have theories, which they test with experiments and succeed when hypotheses are confirmed.

However, as we have seen, this approach has its limits and even dangers. Just starting “top down” with theory is also potentially conservative (encouraging a conformity bias) and falsification (no pun intended) might not be the best way to innovate. But where does theory come from anyway? Some realist philosophers of science have suggested a “retroductive” approach that transcends the limits of pure deductivism and inductivism, in which theory does not just start our quest, top-down, but develops to explain sometimes unexpected results. In this model the failed experiment might even be a sign of success, and help to generate explanations we never even thought of.

Looking back at his career, many of the most interesting and fruitful findings were ones Spears did not expect (at first). Such results should exercise the imagination and theoretical creativity. What might be the case for this to happen? These new ideas have to be tested in turn of course.

Spears focus on a line of research that generated a result apparently contradictory to the main theoretical tradition within which he has worked: Social Identity theory. Social Identity Theory is one of very few theories that tries to explain social change. It proposes that disadvantage groups are most likely to contest the status quo when their disadvantage is illegitimate and unstable. However an unexpected finding in research of former PhD student Daan Scheepers seemed to contradict the theory and led us to a new explanation for radical and extreme behavior (and a program of research to test it). A lesson is that we should not just tolerate our theoretical and experimental failures but embrace them in order to develop new theory.

Last modified:13 March 2020 01.01 a.m.
Share this Facebook LinkedIn
View this page in: Nederlands

More news

  • 24 March 2025

    UG 28th in World's Most International Universities 2025 rankings

    The University of Groningen has been ranked 28th in the World's Most International Universities 2025 by Times Higher Education. With this, the UG leaves behind institutions such as MIT and Harvard. The 28th place marks an increase of five places: in...

  • 17 March 2025

    Liekuut | The high price of conflicts

    According to Carsten de Dreu, Professor of Foundations of Cooperation and Social Organization at the University of Groningen, a lot can be learned from conflicts.

  • 10 March 2025

    Science for Society | Memory Lab for higher marks

    Learning facts at school is something hardly anyone likes. The day before a test, pupils cram as many words or names as possible into their heads, only to hopefully remember them the next morning and then forget them again after the test.