https://doi.org/10.1177/15226379231167125 Journalism & Communication Monographs 2023, Vol. 25(2) 117–133 © 2023 AEJMC Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/15226379231167125 jcmo.sagepub.com Essay Improving the Creation of Social Science Theory in Journalism and Mass Communication Scholarship Stephen Lacy 1 , Serena Miller 1 , and Jennette Lovejoy 2 Abstract Research into journalism and mass communication (JMC) theory use and creation suggests that scholars fall short of standards required for the scientific method to perform properly. Sociologist Gerald Hage said this reflects inconsistency among scholars in the use of language and a lack of tools used to create social science theory. To address these conditions, this essay draws on three books to provide a glossary of terms about social science theory and to develop a format for presenting such theory. The aim is to improve consistency and precision in the creation of JMC social science theory. Keywords theory creation, theory building, theory construction, theoretical concepts, theoretical statements, theoretical linkage Two interconnected processes form the foundation of the social science method: the empirical identification of patterns in behavioral, attitudinal, and social data; and the development of generalizable theoretical statements that explain the observed patterns (Tichenor & McLeod, 1989). Social science theory explains the causes behind data pat- terns and empirical studies test whether the validity of these explanations holds in vari- ous contexts. Although the social science method is often used in JMC scholarship, 1 Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA 2 University of Portland, USA Corresponding Author: Stephen Lacy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. Email: slacy@msu.edu 1167125JMO XX X 10.1177/15226379231167125Journalism & Communication MonographsLacy et al. research-article 2023