Open-ended theories inviting unlimited added conditions become unfalsifiable and impractical

Evidence

Allport’s hypothesis risks being an open-ended laundry list of conditions— ever expandable and thus eluding falsification (Pettigrew 1986, Stephan 1987). Researchers keep advancing new situational factors for optimal contact. … This growing list of limiting conditions threatens to remove all interest from the hypothesis. Too many factors would exclude most intergroup situations. — Thomas F. Pettigrew, Intergroup Contact Theory, 30 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Critical Theory rejected falsifiability because social truths imply possible alternatives to present order — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 302; All formal systems face internal limitations that cannot be escaped — Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on…, 323; Modigliani-Miller propositions resist empirical testing because risk classes cannot be fixed — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial…, 389 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Unbounded lists of qualifying conditions make contact theory unfalsifiable #corroborates (0.95) — Thomas F. Pettigrew, Intergroup Contact Theory, 30