Editing Theory (section)

== Theory–practice relationship==
{{See also|Praxis (process)}}
Theory is often distinguished from practice or praxis. The question of whether theoretical models of work are relevant to work itself is of interest to scholars of professions such as medicine, engineering, law, and management.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Van De Ven|first1=Andrew H.|last2=Johnson|first2=Paul E.|date=1 October 2006|title=Knowledge for Theory and Practice|url=https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/amr.2006.22527385|journal=Academy of Management Review|volume=31|issue=4|pages=802–821|doi=10.5465/amr.2006.22527385|issn=0363-7425}}</ref>{{Rp|802}}

The gap between theory and practice has been framed as a [[knowledge transfer]] where there is a task of translating research knowledge to be application in practice, and ensuring that practitioners are made aware of it. Academics have been criticized for not attempting to transfer the knowledge they produce to practitioners.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|804}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Beer|first=Michael|date=1 March 2001|title=Why Management Research Findings Are Unimplementable: An Action Science Perspective|url=http://www.catchword.com/cgi-bin/cgi?body=linker&ini=xref&reqdoi=10.1162/152417301570383|journal=Reflections: The SoL Journal|volume=2|issue=3|pages=58–65|doi=10.1162/152417301570383}}</ref> Another framing supposes that theory and knowledge seek to understand different problems and model the world in different words (using different [[Ontology|ontologies]] and [[Epistemology|epistemologies]]). Another framing says that research does not produce theory that is relevant to practice.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|803}}

In the context of management, Van de Van and Johnson propose a form of [[engaged scholarship]] where scholars examine problems that occur in practice, in an [[Interdisciplinarity|interdisciplinary]] fashion, producing results that create both new practical results as well as new theoretical models, but targeting theoretical results shared in an academic fashion.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|815}} They use a metaphor of "arbitrage" of ideas between disciplines, distinguishing it from collaboration.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|803}}