A perspective on theories/models/typologies that I wish I had understood as a young grad student:

People often quip "all models are wrong but some are useful" (Box, 1976). But often it's also true that ***models are useful BECAUSE they are wrong.***

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The purpose of a model/theory is to aid us in making sense of the world (organize, explain, predict), not necessarily to be a literal representation of reality.

Much of the helpfulness and usability of a good model is because it's NOT a literal representation of reality.

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Theories/models/typologies are like a map in that they are a purposefully distorted abstraction (Fried, 2020). A map intentionally oversimplifies with sweeping omissions, AND adds many non-real things (region borders, colors)... all to make it more useful. Models do the same!
3/3

In comm/psych, models become less useful when we try to use them as a literal depiction of reality.
And they become MORE useful when we try to use them as a non-literal map. They make purposeful distortions to help us achieve our goals. The "our goals" part is key...

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There are some good frameworks for evaluating the value of a theory/model (e.g., Van Lange's TAPAS model). Past me was mostly interested in evaluating how well it relates to observed reality.

But now I'm appreciating criteria evaluating the value of a theory/model *to us*.

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For example, Shoemaker et al (2004) emphasize that the value of a theory/model also comes from their heuristic value, idea generation ability, and even aesthetics (!!!).
Basically, how user-friendly and helpful it is.

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In the past, I think I've focused too much on evaluating theories/models based on how accurately they depict observed phenomena.
But (like maps) lots of the value of a theory/model comes specifically from the fact that they DON'T do that. So let's not weight it so heavily.

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Instead, lots of their value comes from how well they accommodate US THE USER. The UX of theories/models.

Because ultimately, that's what they are for. They're a tool we've invented for ourselves to use in pursuing goals that we've also invented.

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Not sure where I'm going with this, but lately I've just been appreciating this perspective --- mostly due to long weedsy convos with @MattGoldberg100.

hmu with references to folks who have made these same points far more elegantly a long time ago, bc I'm sure they exist.

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