Arrested Theory Development: The Misguided Distinction Between Exploratory and Confirmatory Research

Science progresses by finding and correcting problems in theories. Good theories are those that help facilitate this process being hard to vary: They explain what they supposed explain, consistent with other good theories, not easily adaptable anything. Here we argue that, rather than a lack of distinction between exploratory confirmatory research, an abundance flexible is better explanation for the current replicability psychology. We also why popular methods-oriented solutions fail address real problem flexibility. Instead, propose greater emphasis on theory criticism argument might improve replicability.