The purpose of theory is to generate hypotheses that can be tested and that will thereby allow explanations of laws to be assessed. The above statement refers to the principle of:

Deductivism states that theory generates testable hypotheses whose testing then assesses explanations of laws.

It reasons from the general theory down to specific empirical predictions.

Objectivism holds that social phenomena exist independently of social actors.

Constructionism treats social reality as continually built through interaction.

Inductivism runs the opposite way, deriving theory from accumulated facts.

Deductive testing may confirm or reject a hypothesis, feeding back to revise the theory.