p.385 Products of the theorizing process seldom emerge as full-blown theories, which means that most of what passes for theory in organizational studies consists of approximations. Although these approximations vary in their generality, few of them take the form of strong theory, and most of them can be read as texts created "in lieu of" strong theories. These substitutes for theory... may... represent interim struggles in which people intentionally inch toward stronger theories... references, data, lists, diagrams, and hypotheses... ruling out those... five may slow inquiry if the problem is theoretical development still in its early stages.

p.385 Most products that are labeled theories actually approximate theory.

p.386-387 it can be tough to separate texts that are not theory from texts that are. A text that looks like "not theory" may simply be a clumsy attempt to disassemble a gestalt into linear propositions. With more practice and more nuanced language comes more of the originating insight.

p.388 I suspect that tight coupling between treatments and symptoms, with belated theorizing of the outcomes, is a fairly common tactic in theory construction. In my own ASQ paper reanalyzing the Mann Gulch disaster (Weick, 1993), the argument developed partially by taking the Mann Gulch data as symptoms and, through a series of thought trials corresponding to treatments, seeing which concepts made a difference in those symptoms. This exercise in disciplined imagination resulted eventually in the theory that sensemaking collapses when role structures collapse

p.389 The process of theorizing consists of activities like abstracting, generalizing, relating, selecting, explaining, synthesizing, and idealizing. These ongoing activities intermittently spin out reference lists, data, lists of variables, diagrams, and lists of hypotheses. Those emergent products summarize progress, give direction, and serve as placemakers. They have vestiges of theory but are not themselves theories. Then again, few things are full-fledged theories.

p.390 ASQ... Notice to Contributors: "If manuscripts contain no theory, their value is suspect." ..."Ungrounded theory, however, is no more helpful than are atheoretical data. We are receptive to multiple forms of grounding, but not to a complete avoidance of grounding."