RESEARCH METHOD
and some phenomena may not be
WAY OF KNOWING
“Theory of knowledge is a product of doubt”
8 WOK
LANGUAGE- refers to a set of signs and
symbols that have a defined meaning.
- The basic goal of a language is to
communicate knowledge which can be
imperfect at times.
EMOTION - method of understanding
behaviors, feelings and thoughts.
- It is restricted since it can only impart
information to a single individual rather
than to a community.
IMAGINATION- means to generate new
thoughts, concepts, or pictures found in our
everyday lives. Vital in the development of new
information.
- We can imagine things is limited by our
real-world experiences, which is a
critical restriction of imagination as a
form of knowing.
MEMORY – how humans use memory to acquire
new information. Remembering anything is
nothing more than recalling old information
gleaned from previous thoughts or experiences.
- We have to employ concepts from our
memories to build new information
SENSORY PERCEPTION/ OBSERVATION
EMPIRICISM
ADVANTAGES:
 Knowledge is grounded in observable
“facts” and is thus termed objective
 Claims of knowledge may be tested and
criticized by others relatively easily
 It is basic to the scientific method,
which has proven to be valuable
process in establishing a great deal of
our knowledge in the modern world.
 It is a way of knowing that often can be
tested repeatedly
DISADVANTAGES:
 Phenomena are not easily observable,
observable at all.
 Our senses has limits and can mislead
us sometimes.
 Observable date takes on meaning by
the way it is organized and interpreted,
and such organization and
interpretation may introduce bias
 Emphasis on “objectivity” may mask
“subjective” influences
REASON/ LOGIC (RATIONALISM)
ADVANTAGES:
- Does not depend on the limits of
sensory observation
- Checked by rules of logic and internal
consistency
- In its least formal practice, this is often
a “common sense” way of knowing
DISADVANTAGES:
- it works with abstracttions which may
be unrelated to the “real world we live
in”
- logical arguments may hide logical
fallacies and rhetorical conceits
- things at first may seem “logical” may
turn out to be merely social/ cultural
convention
AUTHORITY
ADVANTAGES:
 utilizes the wisdom of “great” people
and traditions
 may “authorities” are recognized
because of their experience
 utilizing authorities can conserve our
own effort
DISADVANTAGES:
 Authorities can be wrong
 Authority is sometimes a largely just a
function of the popularity or political
power of a person or tradition
 Deference to authorities can hinder our
own critical judgment or cause us to
discount our own wisdom
INTUITION/INSPIRATION/REVELATION
ADVANTAGES:
 May allow us to “know” things which
could be unavailable to us by other
ways of knowing
 It may allow us a direct and unmediated
from of knowledge
 Seems to produce knowledge that is
personally powerful and deeply
affecting
 May allow us to tap into a certain
“emotional wisdom” or a transcendent
or diving knowing
DISADVANTAGES:
 Deals with personal and private
experience that is relatively
inaccessible to thers or to outside
critical evaluation
 May be quite vulnerable to personal
misconceptions/ delusions
 Because it is such a personal and
private way of knowing, it may be hard
to communicate/ translate this
knowledge for others’ use
 It may be the subtle product of
undifferentiated other ways of knowing
SCIENCE: A WAY OF KNOWING
 COMMUNICATION AMONG
SCIENTISTS
Meetings, journals, publicatons,
submission of papers to publish results
of their research. Peer review a process
of sending manuscripts to a panel and
sending it back with modifications and
corrections.
THE ROLE OF SCIENCE:
A. MAKING CHOICES
TECHNOLOGY: SETI HOME
extraterrestrial intelligence
FUNDING FOR SCIENCE
- Scientists seeking for research submit
grant proposalas
- A proposal has about a 10% to 40%
chance of being successful depending
on the subject
THE BRANCHES OF SCIENCE
 Physics- search for laws that describe
matter, energy, forces, motion, heat and
light
 Chemistry - atoms in combination
 Astronomy - stars, planets, and other
objects in space
 Geology - study of origin, evolution,
and present state of earth
 Biology - study of living systems
THE WEB OF KNOWLEDGE
 Intricate spider web
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
 OBSERVATION
Experiment- manipulating some aspect
of nature and observing the outcome
(Chemist)
 IDENTIFYING PATTERNS AND
REGULARITIES
Repeated observations- recognizing
patterns
Results of observations summarized
in mathematical form (falling object)
OTHER WAYS OF KNOWING
Different Kinds of Questions
PSEUDOSCIENCE
- A kind of inquiry falling in the realm of
belief or digma which includes subjects
that cannot proved or disproved. (UFO,
Astrology, ESP)
SCIENTIFUC METHOD IN OPERATION
 Endless Cycle - observations lead to
hypothesis which lead to more
observations.
 Scientists are not required to observe
with an “open mind”
 There is no right place to enter the
cycle
 Observations and experiments must be
reported in a way that results can be
verified
 Cycle is continuous
THE ONGOING PROCESS OF SCIENCE:
BIODIVERSITY
BIODIVERSITY- number of different species that
coexist at a given place
SCIENCE BY NUMBERS: ASTROLOGY
- Belief that positions of objects in the sky
at a given time , determine a person’s
future,
THE ORGANIZATION OF SCIENCE
THE DIVISIONS OF SCIENCE
 Field researchers- observe nature at
work
 Experimentalists - manipulate nature
with controlled expts.
 Theorits- spend their time imagining
universes that might exist
BASIC RESEARCH – finding out how the world
works, in knowledge for its own sake
APPLIED RESEARCH – develop technology in
which they apply results of science to specific
commercial or industrial goals
R & D – ideas developed by applied research
translated into practical systems
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER - large-scale
production
WHY STUDY SCIENCE?
 Newspaper headlines - weather,
environmental issues, earthquakes
 It is a powerful tool to understand how
our world works and how we interact
with our physical surroundings
 Represents our best hope for predicting
and coping with natural disasters curing
diseases, discovering new technologies
 Preparation to incorporate these
advances in your professional life and
better understand process by which
such advances are made.
 Consumer, tax payer, living being,
parent
MATHEMATICS, THE LANGUAGE OF
SCIENCE
- Concise language that allows them to
communicate their results in compact
form and allows them to make precise
predictions about expected outcomes of
expts or observations
HYPOTHESIS AND THEORY
HYPOTHESIS- educated guess
THEORY - description of the world that covers
large number of phenomena and has met many
observational and experimental test
PREDICTION AND TESTING
 A guess about how a particular system
will behave followed by observation to
see if the system behaved as expected
within a specified range of situations
 Every theory and law of nature is
subject to change, based on new
observations
SCIENCE IN THE MAKING: Dimitri Mendeleev
and the Periodic Table
 Chemistry professor at Technological
Institute of St. Petersburg, Russia,
developed the periodic table in 1869
 Arranged list of elements (63) by
increasing atomic weighs
 He realized that elements with similar
chemical properties appeared at regular
or periodic intervals
THE SCIENCE OF LIFE: William Harvey and
the Blood’s Circulation
 He gave us our current picture of the
pattern of circulation
 Blood is pumped from the heart to the
body through arteries and returned to
heart through veins.
SCIENTIFIC METHOD:
PURPOSE – State the problem
RESEARCH – find out about the topic
HYPOTHESIS – Predict the outcome to the
problem
EXPERIMENT – develop a procedure to test the
hypothesis
ANALYSIS- Record the results of the
experiment
CONCLUSION – Compare the hypothesis to the
experiment’s conclusion.