Military Strategy: Theory and Concepts (original) (raw)

and useful explanatory theories, as long as it wasn’t used as an end unto itself (Turner 1990). Additionally, acceptance of metatheory has grown in recent years as scholars have developed more rigorous research methods for metatheorizing (Wallis 2010). In short, metatheorizing is growing as a accepted research methodology for two reasons; it is needed in order to aggregate an ever-expanding body of mini-theories into knowledge in many disciplines, and secondly, better, more rigorous methods make 5 I have adopted Wallis’s definition of metatheory for the purposes of this dissertation. 19 metatheorizing more scientifically attractive as a way to answer questions that other methods can not. According to George Ritzer, there are three types of metatheorizing: (1) metatheorizing as a means of attaining a deeper understanding of theory (MU); (2) metatheorizing as a prelude to theory development (MP); and, (3) metatheorizing as a source of perspectives that overarch ... [a discipline’s] th...