What are the four requirements for science to result in knowledge acquisition?
- Rational (guided by reason and logic)
- Skeptical (scrutinize patterns and inferences)
- Objective (unbiased by preconceived notions)
- Methodologically Materialistic (explanations rely on natural, not supernatural, processes).
What are the three components of a scientific argument (CER model)?
Claim, Evidence, Reasoning.
What is the term for the quality of a scientific argument, and what does it depend on?
Inferential Strength. It depends on the nature of the claim, the quality/quantity of the evidence, and the soundness of the reasoning.
What are the two key attributes of a strong scientific claim?
It must be clear/precise and testable/refutable (falsifiable
Hypothesis-testing claim:
an assertion related to the validity (or not) of a
scientific hypothesis.
Descriptive claim:
an assertion of pattern in the physical and/or natural world;
i.e. that describes or characterizes the system of study
scientific hypothesis is
a causal explanation for a pattern/observation
Scientific method
a systematic approach to knowledge acquisition that seeks to ensure that
our understanding is based on evidence
induction
Specific observations (patterns; e.g., descriptive claims) are synthesized to produce a
general claim, hypothesis, or conclusion (not generated to be true)
deduction
– a general claim (e.g., hypothesis), if true, will lead to specific observations
(patterns) -> Must be true
How do descriptive claims and hypothesis-testing claims complement each other?
- Descriptive claims identify patterns in nature (“what”). These patterns provide the raw material (grist for the mill) to generate hypotheses.
-Hypothesis-testing claims then seek to explain the cause of those patterns (“why”), which in turn guides future descriptive research.
observational study
researcher observes/measures/characterizes, but does not
intentionally manipulate, one or more variables of interest
manipulative study
the researcher changes something and
compares what happens to a control (i.e., unmanipulated) treatment, or to one
or more other treatments with different values of the manipulated factor
What is extrapolation?
The act of inferring that results from a simplified model system (e.g., lab mice, a mesocosm) will apply to the actual system of interest
confounding variable
A separate, often unknown, variable that may be responsible for the observed
pattern.
