I think a good descriptive theory will likely be predictive, even though the theory was formulated to explain how some human behavior is now. The exceptions would be when there are intervening events between the formation of the theory and its dissemination, such as natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and so forth. So a descriptive theory of people's fear level formulated, say, in August 2001 and disseminated just after September 11, 2001 would probably have little to no predictive value. Such a theory would only be of historical importance as a record of preserving how people behaved in the past.

Kirk,

Couldn't one view history itself as a "prediction from the past to a later time"?

Dennis

Dennis Mazur

Hello,

Descriptive theories have an explanatory nature whose main focus is the description of already known phenomena by providing retrospective evidential basis for a given statement (i.e., theory). Scientists observe the world and develop theories based on their observations. However, to validate their theories, they need to use the existing data and to examine whether such descriptive theories can correctly predict the future.There is a popular maxim that goes like this: "The science without the power of prediction is history at best and story at worst". On this basis, it can be concluded that descriptive theories are a prerequisite to predictive theories. While one tries to describe a phenomenon, the other seeks to test its application in the real world.

Best regards,

R. Biria