Psychologists test their theories by developing measures of the inferred entities and testing whether the measures relate to measures of other inferred entities as specified by theory. Repeated findings consistent with theory produce increasing confidence in both the theory and the measures used to represent the constructs of interest. Findings inconsistent with the theory likewise raise questions about both the theory and the measures used to test it. The indeterminate nature of this process is clear and has been described many times before (see Smith, 2005; Strauss & Smith, 2009).
