This paper proposes basic epistemological, communicative and critically analytic criteria for the development of formal theory in adult education. Epistemological criteria focus on the ways in which the categories of knowledge comprising a theory are judged to be intellectually sound. Communicative criteria focus on the necessity for a theory to communicate its tenets clearly to practitioners. Critically analytic criteria refer to the manner in which a theoretical effort invites and exemplifies the critical scrutiny of its central propositions.
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