1. Which of the following statements could be a scientific theory?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

A scientific theory must be a general, testable, and falsifiable explanation that organizes observed facts, makes predictions, and is supported by empirical evidence.

Relevant knowledge points:
- Distinction between theory, hypothesis, law, and value judgment: a theory explains patterns and mechanisms; a hypothesis is a testable prediction; a law describes a consistent regularity; value judgments (morality statements) are not scientific claims.
- Criteria for scientific theories: empirical testability, falsifiability, explanatory scope, predictive power, and revisionability based on evidence.

Step-by-step application to each option:
1) "Gender norms are dependent on specific social context." This is a general explanatory claim about how gender norms arise and vary. It is empirical and falsifiable: researchers can operationalize “gender norms” and “social context,” collect cross-cultural and historical data, test correlations and causal mechanisms (e.g., ethnographic studies, surveys, experiments), and find evidence supporting or contradicting context-dependence. It offers explanatory scope (why norms differ) and generates predictions (change context → change norms). Therefore it meets theory criteria.

2) "The death penalty is immoral." This is a normative value judgment rooted in ethics, not an empirical explanatory claim. It cannot be tested or falsified by observation alone, so it is not a scientific theory.

3) "54% of Americans oppose the death penalty." This is a specific empirical statistic — a factual claim or research finding — not a broad explanatory framework. It can be tested by surveys but lacks the explanatory generality and predictive scope of a theory.

4) "Some people support traditional gender roles." This is a trivial, descriptive observation about the existence of supporters. It can be true or false empirically but is not a general explanatory model; it lacks the scope and predictive power required for a theory.

Why the correct answer is correct:
The first option posits a general, testable explanation about causes and variation in gender norms across contexts, aligning with scientific theory criteria.

Conclusion:
Therefore, the correct answer is "Gender norms are dependent on specific social context," which matches the provided answer.

1. Which of the following statements could be a scientific theory? 单项选择题

类似问题

Only when an explanation has been supported by a large number of tests, and when a majority of experts have reached a general consensus that it is a reliable description or explanation, we call it a scientific ________ blank .

An explanation supported by many tests and accepted by a general consensus of scientists is a(n) Blank ______.

Question at position 3 A _____ is probabilistic and usually incomplete.spurious relationshipcorrelationtheorynomothetic explanationparadigm

What is a theory?

A principle that explains some phenomenon.Term: Blank 1 Question 6[select: , Hypothesis, Theory, Law, Regression, Normative Analysis]

Which of the following trees corresponds to a potential parse of the ambiguous sentence below, with correct syntactic categories? Some diagnostics are provided.

Which of the following sentences contain two non-finite verbs? Select all that apply.

更多留学生实用工具

智能学习助手

风格化写作助手

论文查重助手

文献引用助手

课堂转译助手

课堂笔记助手

Quiz搜索助手

学校历年真题

智能刷题助手

智能匹配练习

希望你的学习变得更简单