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Understanding Scientific Research (Chapter 1) (Methods of Acquiring…
Understanding Scientific Research (Chapter 1)
Methods of Acquiring Knowledge
Intuition: Process of coming to direct knowledge or certainty without reasoning or inferring without any observations or reasons to support it
Disadv: No mechanism for separating from inaccurate knowledge
Adv: Used in the process of forming hypotheses
Authority: Acceptance of information or facts stated by another person because it is acquired from a highly respected source
Disadv: Might be inaccurate to accept without questioning
Adv: Can consult the "expert" to assess if the hypothesis is testable and addresses an important research question + To design a study + Interpretation
Rationalism: Acquiring knowledge through reasoning + Assuming that valid knowledge obtained with reasoning
Disadv: Different individuals arriving at different conclusions + Insufficient on its own
Adv: Used to derive hypotheses + identify outcomes
Empiricism: Acquiring knowledge through experience
John Locke: Individuals born a "tabula rasa" (blank state) where all knowledge accumulated through senses which are then combined and made sense of through cognitive processes
Disadv: Perceptions being affected by different variables (e.g. past experiences/motivations/memory distortion)
Conducted under controlled conditions + minimise researcher bias + increase objectivity
Scientific methods enable us to systematically produce reliable and valid knowledge about the natural world
Experimentation being the strongest and best method so far
Induction: Reasoning process where we go from specific to general
Moving from particular observations to a much boarder and general claim
Sample to population (through careful observations of phenomena to arrive at correct generalizations)
Deduction: Reasoning process where we go from general to specific
Used to deduce observable consequences needed to claim that the hypothesis tested is supported
Hypothesis Testing: Process of formulating a hypothesis of a phenomena observed which is then compared and tested against observed facts
Logical positivism: The belief that the key aspect of science is the verification of hypothesis by objective experience or observation
Falsificationism: A deductive approach which believed that the key criterion of science is to falsify the hypotheses
Adv: Elimination of false theories
Disadv:
Focused only on falsification
Did not consider induction but it is needed to claim the best supported theories
it does not mean that a theory is necessarily false because of the data only
Duhem - Quine principle states that a hypothesis cannot be tested in isolation from other assumptions
Naturalism: The belief that science should be studied and evaluated empirically
Justified based on empirical adequacy: How well does theories and hypotheses closely fit empirical evidence
Historical influences
Kuhn and Paradigms
Paradigms: A framework of thoughts and beliefs upon which reality is interpreted
Normal science: Scientific activity governed by a single paradigm (one set of concepts, perceptions and practices shared by everyone to form a view of reality)
Revolutionary science: A period where scientific activity is replaced from one paradigm with another
Briefer period than normal science and restored back to another period of normal science
Feyerabend's Anarchistic Theory of Science
Argued that there is no such thing as the method of science
The single unchanging principle of scientific method is "anything goes"
Science not as simple and formulaic as it is sometimes made to appear --> With complexities
Basic Assumptions of Underlying Scientific Research
Uniformity or Regularity in Nature
A search for order and lawful relations in nature so as to gain knowledge of nature so as to develop theories and generalizations
Determinism: Belief that mental processes and behaviors being caused by prior natural factors
Probabilistic causes: What is usually obtained from research as these refer to regularities that usually occur, but not always
Reality in Nature
Assumption of an underlying reality where the things we see, hear, feel, smell, and taste are real
Discoverability
The assumption that it is possible to discover the regularities and reality of nature
Involves discovering what it actually is + putting the pieces together to make sense = scientific research
Characteristics of Scientific Research
Control
The need to hold constant or eliminate the influence of extraneous variables so as to ascertain cause and effect
Placebo effect: Improvement of symptoms or conditions due to the participants' expectations that the treatment will help them than the actual treatment itself
Need for control (e.g. a simulation with no effect) to ascertain that the effect is due to treatment
Operationalism
Representation of constructs made by a specific set of operations
Operational definition: Defining a concept by the operation used to represent or measure it
Disadv:
demands being too strict
could not completely specify the meaning of a term (need for many factors)
any set of operations always being incomplete
Multiple operationalism: Use of multiple measures of a construct
Suggested operationlization for operational definition
(E.g. Length defined by set of operations by which it was measured - inches/cm)
To convey meaning with minimal ambiguity and maximum precision
Replication
Ability to reproduce the results obtained in one study in subsequent studies
To check if the results obtained are reliable
If observations not repeatable, either due to chance or different operations in different contexts --> Need for systematic examination
Meta - analysis: quantitative technique to describe the relationship between variables across multiple research studies
Role of Theory in Scientific Research
Theory: To explain how and why something operates
Integrating and summarising existing data
Logic of discovery: Discovery portion of the scientific process (Based on empirical research)
Logic of justification: Theory - testing portion of the scientific process (Ability to derive predictions and to empirically test them)
Role of the Scientist
Patience
Curiosity
Objective
Open to Change
Characteristics of Science