[Excerpt] One of the trends I see in the popular press and even in some research circles is that the concept of “theory” seems to be under assault. The term “theory” has in some ways become a synonym for some to “impractical.” I regularly hear practitioners and even some academics make statements to the effect of “well, that may be good in theory, but in the real world…” There also seems to be a fairly poor understanding of what even constitutes a theory, what the characteristics of a theory are, and ultimately why theories are important and why we should study them. There is much written about theory in academic circles, but this information is rarely circulated more widely. Perhaps this editorial can shed a faint glimmer of light onto a subject to which many simply are never really introduced.