What is appeal to authority?
a logical fallacy where a claim is accepted based on authority of person making that claim rather than real evidence. ex. doctors in cigarette ads. not always fallacy though, can be reliable if someone is an expert in their field.
What is a heuristic?
mental short cut or problem solving strategy, relies on “rule of thumb” methods. Makes us vulnerable to appeal to authority.
What is deductive reasoning?
- draw specific conclusions based on general principles. ex. we know this, therefore this is also true.
-conclusions are logically derived.
-guarantees true conclusion
what is inductive reasoning?
-drawing general conclusions based on specific observations or experiences
-provides strong evidence for a conclusion but does not guarantee it is true
What is abductive reasoning?
basically inferring something, forming a hypothesis based on limited or incomplete evidence, deemed most likely given available information
-does not guarantee truth of conclusion
What is epistemology?
-nature of research
-the study of knowledge and belief. Nature, sources and limits of knowledge.
-investigates how we acquire knowledge, difference between knowledge and belief, and true and false belief.
Role in science:-guides research design and methodology
-influence researchers choice of research question, methods, data analysis.
-influence approaches to generating, evaluating and interpreting evidence
-establish criteria for evaluating knowledge claims and quality of research
What is Ontology?
-study of nature of being, existence and reality.
Explores relationship between different entities and their properties, and organization of entities like objects, events and processes.
In science: -framework for understanding and organizing knowledge
- ontology is concerned with assumptions and beliefs on nature of phenomena being studied, including their properties, relationships and classifications. May effect research methods and approaches, formulation of hypothesis, evaluation of evidence, validity of research findings.
What is Positivism?
An ontological or epistemological worldview. Belief that objective reality exists independently of our perspectives and interpretations.
-Empirical
-pursuit of objective truths through systematic observation, measurement, experiment.
What is Constructivism?
An ontological worldview. Belief that reality is socially constructed, our understanding of reality is shaped by our experiences, beliefs and social context.
-knowledge is constructed by individuals
What is Interpretivism?
Epistemological worldview, focus is on subjective experiences and cultural contexts.
Understanding the meaning and significance of phenomena requires interpretation of experiences, beliefs and values of people involved. Social interaction and personal interpretations guide significance and meaning.
What is Pragmatism?
Prioritizes practical implications, usefulness and effectiveness of ideas and theories.
-focus on addressing specific problems or challenges instead of abstract principles/metaphysical truths.
What is Two-Eyed seeing in research?
-an integration of Indigenous and Western knowledge systems
-Values indigenous ways of knowing and understands it alongside western scientific knowledge
-promotes respect, balance and understanding between different perspectives.
What is realism?
-objective reality is the fundamental truth, it exists independently of human perception and understanding. We gain knowledge through systematic observation and research.
What is existentialism?
-emphasis on individual freedom, choice and personal responsibility to shape one<s existence.
-Life has no inherent meaning, individuals must make their own purpose
-
Relativism
-asserts that there are no absolute truths or universal values.
-All beliefs, norms, ethics, knowledge is shaped by cultural, historical, social contexts.
What is idealism?
Objective reality is shaped by individuals’ own ideas.
-Reality is mental or immaterial in nature
-understanding of the world is shaped by our perceptions, consciousness rather than objective, external reality.
Define Qualitative research and its characteristics.
Research design with emphasis on understanding and interpretation. Uses theory.
-focuses on understanding experiences and perspectives
-uses narrative data and thematic analysis
-data collection methods: in depth interviews, focus groups, observations, document analysis
-research approaches: case study, ethnography, grounded theory, phenomenology
What is Quantitative research and its characteristics?
Research design that uses theory, must have falsifiable hypothesis, uses measurement and analysis.
-focus on relationships between variables, uses numerical data and statistical analysis.
-Research design: causal, experimental, correlational.
-Data collection methods: surveys, measurement of variables, instruments.
What is mixed methods research?
research method that combines quantitative and qualitative.
-gives more comprehensive understanding of a research problem.
research designs: concurrent, explanatory, exploratory
What are the three R’s of animal research?
Replacement (limit number of animals), Reduction (of their suffering)
Refinement (in tests to absolute minimum)
What document provides guidelines for conducting research involving humans?
The tri-council policy statement II (TCPS II) is an ethics statement that gives guidelines for research with humans.
Core principle are:
-Respect for Persons
-Concern for Welfare
-Justice
What are the 4 ethical obligations of researchers to ensure safety of their participants?
- informed consent
- Confidentiality
- Minimizing harm
- Animal ethics
What is a systematic review?
-a type of literature review that uses systematic methods to collect secondary data
-provides a complete, exhaustive summary of current literature relevant to a research question
Key characteristics;
-pre defined eligibility criteria for studies
-explicit, reproducible methodology
-systematic search that attempts to identify all studies that meet eligibility criteria
-assessment of validity of findings in the included studies
What is a Meta-Analyses?
-it is the use of statistical methods to summarize the results of independent studies
-combines info from all relevant studies to provide more precise estimates of effects than from individual studies in a review, which have weaker statistical power.
-More statistically powerful than individual studies
-A type of systematic review, quantitative, study design used to assess results of previous research to derive conclusions about that body of research.
