A study of over 2000 papers highlights the need for more theory in psychology research, especially in view of the current replication crisis:
This means that even a prominent psychology journal dedicated to theory-based science only rarely tests theory. The finding may explain the lack of reliability in psychology, and signals a potential failing in the fundamental scientific enterprise of psychology. Can psychology develop a sound theoretical framework? Perhaps this new focus on the matter will push the field toward that goal.
Eagle Gamma, “Just 15 percent of psychology studies are strongly rooted in theory” at Massive Science
Reform, you say? But wait! What will we do without all the Sokal hoaxes. The righteous defenses of the current state of the discipline were always the best part of the hoaxes, of course.
On the other hand, findings that really shed light on something we need to hear about might be interesting in their own right…
The paper is open access.