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Epistemological Development
Ways of knowing
So, we have a set of research questions
how do we know the answers to the
questions?
Epistemology: the division of philosophy that
investigates the nature and origin of
knowledge.
Six common forms of human knowledge
acquisition and formation
Tenacity
Intuition
Authority
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Rationalism
Development of knowledge through the application of
the rules of logic
Empiricism
Development and confirmation of knowledge through
the observation of events using human senses
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inductive logic:
from specific case, generalize to principles
Basis for hypothesis testing
analogical logic:
from a specific case, apply to another case
Based on similarities between the cases
casual logic
Characteristics of science
Logical
Adherence to the rules of logic
Empirical
Objects/phenomena being investigated should be observable.
Problem oriented
Begins with a problem statement then ends with other problems
Procedure driven
To keep objectivity
Community-Based
Exchange of ideas and procedures
Replicable
This is what a method section is for
Self critiquing
What you do at the end of a study (discussion section)
Evolutionary
Grows day by day
Creative
Revolutionary findings!; beyond the normal application of logic!
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Observation
Observation follows research methods
(survey, experiment, content analysis,
naturalistic observation, etc.)
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Evaluation of Theory
Clarity
Parsimony
Validity
Is it empirically true?
Testability
Scope
How big is it?
Flexibility
Can it adopt to explain new related observations?
Predictability
What can we predict based on this?
Utility
for explanation, generation of new knowledge, prediction, etc.
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A note on causality
Tendency to prove causal relationships
is very strong in science and in life
Need to consider the criteria for causality
Temporal ordering: cause precedes effect in
time
Meaningful correlation: must have a
theoretical foundations for observed
correlations
No competing hypotheses: correlation cannot
be explained by other factors
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End of Slides
ANY QUESTION?
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