A theory has been extensively tested and is generally accepted among scholars; a hypothesis is a speculative guess that has yet to be tested.
Cherry, Kendra. Introduction to Research Methods: Theory and Hypothesis.© University of Southern California https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide
Theories generally are classified as descriptive, [relational], or [explanatory]. The research designs that generate and test these types of theories are, respectively, descriptive, correlational, and experimental.