Eg, what is a toddler doing when they force a square peg through a round role? More abstractly, what would you call it when you try to describe something via a model that doesn't really fit, and you make lots of stretches to try and get the situation to make sense with the model.
Eg: "I know we claimed this phenomenon could be described by theory X, but in retrospect we really just <BLANK>ed our observations into theory X's model".
edit: And just as I'm typing this I come up with "shoehorn". I'm pretty sure that's what I was trying to come up with. Still, I'd be interested in knowing if people think that actually does make sense here.
Best Answer
You might make use of the following idiom:
Procrustean bed - "a scheme or pattern into which someone or something is arbitrarily forced" (Merriam-Webster)
Procrustes was a figure from Greek legend who cut or stretched his guests to fit his bed.
If you need it as a verb, you might use the construction: __ was made to fit the Proceustean bed of __.