From book website
"Students tend to fall into talking about what they think about an issue rather than what a theory would suggest about it."
"When we teach theory, we work very hard to help students think about the empirical implications of alternative theories. We encourage students to ask 1) what does the theory predict about the likely consequences of something (the internet, urbanization, and so forth)? 2) how would the theory explain an empirical observation? and 3) what would the theory suggest about how to solve a particular social problem (crime rates, educational outcomes, global climate change, and so forth)?"