Chapter 1: Understanding scientific research:
1. Intuition:
-The act or process of coming to direct knowledge or certain without
reasoning or inferring.
-Occurs when one feels they have direct knowledge or insight but
cannot state any observation or reason for the knowledge.
-Relies on justification such as “it feels true to me” or “I believe this
point, although I can’t really tell you why.”
Problem with intuition:
-It does not provide a mechanism for separating accurate from
inaccurate knowledge.
2. Authority:
-Refers to the acceptance of information or facts stated by another
person because that person is a highly respected source.
-Used in the design stage of a study. If you are unsure of how to
design a study to test a specific variable, you might call someone
who is considered an authority in the research area and get his or
her input.
Problem with the authority approach:
-That the information or facts stated by the authority might be
inaccurate.
3. Rationalism:
-Approach uses reasoning to arrive at knowledge and assumes that
valid knowledge is acquired if the correct reasoning process is used.
-Mathematics is a type of rationalism.
, Problem with this approach:
-It is not unusual for two well-meaning and honest individuals to
reach different conclusions.
Empiricism:
-The acquisition of knowledge through experience.
- “If I have experienced something, then it is valid and true”.
Traced to John Locke (1632–1704) and David Hume (1711–
1776):
-Argued that virtually all knowledge is based on experience.
-Locke claimed that each person is born a tabula rasa (i.e.,
individuals’ minds are blank slates or tablets upon which the
environment writes).
-The origin of all knowledge is from our senses (sight, hearing, touch,
smell, and taste).
Problem with this approach:
-Our memory for events does not remain constant as we tend to
forget things and an actual distortion of memory might take place.
Science:
-Latin verb: scire means “to know.”
-Coined in 19th century by William Whewell (1794–1866).
-Before that time, scientists were called “natural philosophers”.
-The most trustworthy way of acquiring reliable and valid knowledge
about the natural world.
1. Intuition:
-The act or process of coming to direct knowledge or certain without
reasoning or inferring.
-Occurs when one feels they have direct knowledge or insight but
cannot state any observation or reason for the knowledge.
-Relies on justification such as “it feels true to me” or “I believe this
point, although I can’t really tell you why.”
Problem with intuition:
-It does not provide a mechanism for separating accurate from
inaccurate knowledge.
2. Authority:
-Refers to the acceptance of information or facts stated by another
person because that person is a highly respected source.
-Used in the design stage of a study. If you are unsure of how to
design a study to test a specific variable, you might call someone
who is considered an authority in the research area and get his or
her input.
Problem with the authority approach:
-That the information or facts stated by the authority might be
inaccurate.
3. Rationalism:
-Approach uses reasoning to arrive at knowledge and assumes that
valid knowledge is acquired if the correct reasoning process is used.
-Mathematics is a type of rationalism.
, Problem with this approach:
-It is not unusual for two well-meaning and honest individuals to
reach different conclusions.
Empiricism:
-The acquisition of knowledge through experience.
- “If I have experienced something, then it is valid and true”.
Traced to John Locke (1632–1704) and David Hume (1711–
1776):
-Argued that virtually all knowledge is based on experience.
-Locke claimed that each person is born a tabula rasa (i.e.,
individuals’ minds are blank slates or tablets upon which the
environment writes).
-The origin of all knowledge is from our senses (sight, hearing, touch,
smell, and taste).
Problem with this approach:
-Our memory for events does not remain constant as we tend to
forget things and an actual distortion of memory might take place.
Science:
-Latin verb: scire means “to know.”
-Coined in 19th century by William Whewell (1794–1866).
-Before that time, scientists were called “natural philosophers”.
-The most trustworthy way of acquiring reliable and valid knowledge
about the natural world.
