CE503 Research Methods

Science

1
Science, Knowledge, Information and
Computation

Science is (a well formed) knowledge structure.

Knowledge is (a well formed) information structure.

Information is (a well formed) data structure.

Data (raw data) yet unstructured ”atoms of information”

– signals, visual pixels, before processing and
integrating into common framework.

2
 Science, Knowledge, Information and
Computation

Science, based on knowledge, based on information,

based on data are the result of our interactions with the
physical world / the universe.

Our current ability of interaction with the world

is a result of a long evolution of our species.

3
Agent-Dependent Reality

Our interactions with the real world are observer-dependent,

depend on what we are - what sensors, actuators and
information processing capabilities we have.

Information /data structures that we develop throughout our

lives depend on our physical architecture and the environment,
and thus are observer (agent)-dependent.

Knowledge is observer-dependent (contextual).

4
Agent-Dependent Reality

Science is agent-dependent but definitely not arbitrary!

Two observers with close enough hardware and background
information/knowledge will have similar understanding of the
same phenomena. We agree on majority of basic things.
We chose the questions we ask and experiments to study
them but we definitely do not control the outcome!

Physical theories that make observer-dependency explicit:

- Relativity theory
- Quantum mechanics
- Chaos theory

5
 Agent-Dependent Reality

Meaning is use. (Wittgenstein) [for an agent!]

Communities of practice share meanings.

Consesnsus and controversy are

two major driving forces
in the development of sciences and human
knowledge in general.
Science is in a constant process
of development.

6
 SCIENCE
The Big Picture First

7
What is Science?

Eye
Maurits Cornelis Escher We can see Science from different perspectives… 8
Definitions by Goal (Result) and Process (1)

science from Latin scientia, scire to know;

1: a department of systematized knowledge as an
object of study
2: knowledge or a system of knowledge covering
general truths or the operation of general laws
especially as obtained and tested through scientific
method

9
Definitions by Goal (Result) and Process (2)

3: such knowledge or such a system of knowledge

concerned with the physical world and its phenomena
: natural science
4: a system or method reconciling practical ends with
scientific laws <engineering is both a science and an
art>

10
 Science: Definitions by Contrast

To do science is to search for repeated patterns, not

simply to accumulate facts.
Robert H. MacArthur

Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt.

Richard Feynman

11
Empirical approach.
What Sciences are there?
Dewey Decimal Classification®
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Troy/8866/15urls.html

000 – Computer science, Library and Information science,

& general work
100 – Philosophy and psychology
200 – Religion
300 – Social sciences
400 – Language
500 – Science
600 – Technology
700 – Arts
800 – Literature
900 – History, geography & biography
12
Dewey Decimal Classification®

500 – Science
510 Mathematics
520 Astronomy
530 Physics
540 Chemistry
550 Earth Sciences & Geology
560 Fossils & Prehistoric Life
570 Biology & Life Sciences
580 Plants (Botany)
590 Animals (Zoology)

13
 Language Based Scheme
Classical Sciences in their Cultural Context –
Logic
&
Mathematics
1

Natural Sciences
(Physics,
Culture
Chemistry,
(Religion, Art, …)
Biology, …)
5
2

Social Sciences
(Economics, Sociology,
Anthropology, …)
3

The Humanities
(Philosophy, History,
Linguistics …)
4 14
Understanding what science is
by understanding what scientists do

"Scientists are people of very dissimilar temperaments doing

different things in very different ways.
Among scientists are collectors, classifiers and compulsive
tidiers-up; many are detectives by temperament and many are
explorers; some are artists and others artisans.
There are poet-scientists and philosopher-scientists and even a
few mystics."

Peter Medawar, Pluto's Republic

15
 Science defined by its Method
Socratic Method
1. Wonder. Pose a question
(of the “What is X ?” form).
2. Hypothesis. Suggest a plausible
answer (a definition or definiens) from
which some conceptually testable
hypothetical propositions can be deduced.
3. Elenchus ; “testing,” “refutation,” or
“cross-examination.” Perform a thought
experiment by imagining a case which
conforms to the definiens but clearly fails
to exemplify the definiendum, or vice
versa. Such cases, if successful, are
called counterexamples. If a
counterexample is generated, return to
step 2, otherwise go to step 4.
4. Accept the hypothesis as provisionally
true. Return to step 3 if you can conceive
any other case which may show the
answer to be defective.
5. Act accordingly.
Scientific Method
1. Wonder. Pose a question.
(Formulate a problem).
2. Hypothesis. Suggest a plausible answer (a
theory) from which some empirically testable
hypothetical propositions can be deduced.
3. Testing. Construct and perform
an experiment, which makes it possible to
observe whether the consequences specified
in one or more of those hypothetical
propositions actually follow when the
conditions specified in the same
proposition(s) pertain. If the test fails, return
to step 2, otherwise go to step 4.
4. Accept the hypothesis as provisionally true.
Return to step 3 if there are predictable
consequences of the theory which have not
been experimentally confirmed.
5. Act accordingly.
16
 The Scientific Method

RESEARCH QUESTION/
EXISTING THEORIES PREDICTIONS
HYPOTHESIS
AND OBSERVATIONS
2 3
1 Hypotesen
Hypothesis
måste
Hypothesis must be
must be justeras
adjusted
redefined

SELECTION AMONG TESTS AND NEW

COMPETING THEORIES OBSERVATIONS
6 4
Consistency achieved
The hypotetico-deductive cycle
EXISTING THEORY CONFIRMED
(within a new context) or
NEW THEORY PUBLISHED
5
The scientific-community cycle
17
 The Scientific Method
Formulating Research Questions and Hypotheses

Different approaches:

Intuition – (Educated) Guess

Analogy
Symmetry
Paradigm
Metaphor
and many more ..

18
 The Scientific Method
Criteria to Evaluate Theories

When there are several rivaling hypotheses number of criteria can

be used for choosing a best theory.

Following can be evaluated:

– Theoretical scope
– Heuristic value (heuristic: rule-of-thumb or argument
derived from experience)
– Parsimony (simplicity, Ockham’s razor)
– Esthetics
– Etc.

19
 The Scientific Method
Criteria which Good Scientific Theory Shall Fulfill

– Logically consistent
– Consistent with accepted facts
– Testable
– Consistent with related theories
– Interpretable: explain and predict
– Parsimonious
– Pleasing to the mind (Esthetic, Beautiful)
– Useful (Relevant/Applicable)

20
KNOWLEDGE

21
What is Knowledge?
Plato´s Definition

Plato believed that we learn in this life by remembering knowledge

originally acquired in a previous life, and that the soul already
has knowledge, and we learn by recollecting what in fact the
soul already knows.

[At present we know that we inherit some physical preconditions,

structures and abilities already at birth. In a sense those
structures of our brains and bodies may be seen as the result of
evolution, so in a sense they encapsulate memories of the
historical development of our bodies.]

22
What is Knowledge?
Plato´s Definition

Plato offers three analyses of knowledge, [dialogues Theaetetus

201 and Meno 98] all of which Socrates rejects.

Plato's third definition:

" Knowledge is justified, true belief. "

The problem with this concerns the word “justified”. All

interpretations of “justified” are deemed inadequate.

Edmund Gettier, in the paper called "Is Justified True Belief

Knowledge?“ argues that knowledge is not the same as justified
true belief. (Gettier Problem)
23
What is Knowledge?
Descartes´ Definition
"Intuition is the undoubting conception of an unclouded and
attentive mind, and springs from the light of reasons alone; it is
more certain than deduction itself in that it is simpler."

“Deduction by which we understand all necessary inference from

other facts that are known with certainty,“ leads to knowledge
when recommended method is being followed.

24
What is Knowledge?
Descartes´ Definition

"Intuitions provide the ultimate grounds for logical deductions.

Ultimate first principles must be known through intuition while
deduction logically derives conclusions from them.

These two methods [intuition and deduction] are the most certain
routes to knowledge, and the mind should admit no others."

25
What is Knowledge?

– Propositional knowledge: knowledge that such-and-such is the

case.

– Non-propositional knowledge (tacit knowledge): the knowing how to

do something.

26
Sources of Knowledge

– A Priori Knowledge (built in, developed by evolution and

inheritance) (resides the brain as memory)

– Perception (“on-line input”, information acquisition)

– Reasoning (information processing)

– Testimony (network, communication)

27
 Knowledge and Ignorance

“Our knowledge is an island in the infinite ocean of

the unknown. “
Knowledge and wonder: the natural world as man
knows it, Victor F. Weisskopf (1962)

"We live in an island of knowledge surrounded by a

sea of ignorance.
As our island of knowledge grows, so does the
shore of our ignorance.“ John Wheeler

28