本文分析理論在量化研究中的地位，牨由理論的意義談起，說明概念與關係的類型；接著討論不同類型研究中理論的地位。量化研究因其特色，經常從事理論驗證的研究，較少從事理論建構的研究，因此理論便扮演重要的角色，指引研究問題的擬定、資料的搜集、以及研究分析。描述性研究對理論的依賴較低，但是理論可以提貨很好的聚焦功能。相較之下，與理論無關的研究便較不可取。

This paper discuses the role of theory in quantitative research. It starts with clarifying the meaning of theory with special focus on the types of concepts and relationships. The second part of the paper deals with the role of theory in various types of social research, including descriptive research, explanatory research, and atheoretical study. Exploanatory research can be further divided into theory verification study and theory generation study. Theory plays a much important role in theory verification study because it provides important guidelines in the formulation of research questions, data collection, and statistical tests.