science - Answers Systematic approach for seeking & organizing knowledge about the natural
world
purpose of science - Answers ◦To achieve a thorough understanding of the phenomena under
study
ABA seeks to - Answers discover the real truths (not those held by certain groups, organizations,
etc.)
Three different types of investigations provide different levels of understanding - Answers 1.
description
2. prediction
3. control
description - Answers ◦Collection of facts about observed events that can be quantified,
classified, & examined for possible relations with other known facts
◦Often suggests hypotheses or questions for additional research
prediction - Answers ◦Relative probability that when one event occurs, another event will or will
not occur
◦Based on repeated observation revealing relationships between various events
◦Demonstrates correlation between events
◦No causal relationships can be interpreted
◦Enables preparation
control - Answers ◦Highest level of scientific understanding
◦Functional relations can be derived
Specific change in one event (dependent variable)....
Can reliably be produced by specific manipulations of another event (independent variable)...
And the change in the dependent variable was unlikely to be the result of other extraneous
factors (confounding variables)
◦Events can only really be "co-related"
Nearly impossible to factor out all other possible "causes"
, attitudes of science - Answers - Definition of science lies within the behavior of scientists, not
the instruments or materials they use
- Only known as science due to an overriding idea of "scientific method"
- Fundamental assumptions about the nature of events
6 attitudes of science - Answers 1. DETERMINISM
2. EMPIRICISM
3. EXPERIMENTATION
4. REPLICATION
5. PARSIMONY
6. PHILOSOPHIC DOUBT
determinism - Answers - Assumption upon which science is predicted
- Presumption that the universe is a lawful and orderly place in which all phenomena occur as
the result of other events
- Events do not just occur at will
- Events are related in systematic ways
empiricism - Answers - Practice of objective observation of phenomena of interest
- What all scientific knowledge is built upon
- "Objective" is the key to gaining a better understanding of what is being studied
experimentation - Answers - Basic strategy in most sciences
- Experiment:
◦Controlled comparison of some measure of the phenomenon of interest (dependent variable)
under two of more different conditions in which only one factor at a time (independent variable)
differs from one condition to another
replication - Answers - The repetition of experiments to determine the reliability and usefulness
of findings
- Includes the repetition of independent variable conditions within experiments
- Method for which mistakes are discovered