Causation in Science
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Questions and Answers

What does radiation protection primarily focus on?

  • Environmental factors
  • Social interactions
  • Causal relationships (correct)
  • Scientific experimentation

    • What does a counterfactual condition aim to highlight?

  • The financial impact of medical decisions
  • The comparison between potential outcomes (correct)
  • The link between cause and effect
  • The inevitability of an outcome

    • In a counterfactual condition, which term describes keeping all other conditions equal?

  • Causation
  • Mutatis mutandis
  • Sine qua non
  • Ceteris paribus (correct)

    • How are counterfactuals generally viewed in terms of their determinism?

    <p>They can be both deterministic and probabilistic</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What challenge arises when evaluating counterfactuals in practice?

    <p>Determining exact individual outcomes</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the difference between necessary conditions and counterfactuals?

    <p>Counterfactuals support or undermine suppositions</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which example illustrates a counterfactual condition?

    <p>If Mrs. Jones had taken two aspirins, her headache would be resolved</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What type of conditions do epidemiological data and experiments provide clues about?

    <p>Group differences</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What defines a sufficient condition in causation?

    <p>It guarantees an event will occur in the presence of certain factors.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following statements is true regarding necessary and sufficient conditions?

    <p>Two insufficient conditions can combine to create a necessary and sufficient condition.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In the context of Yersinia pestis, what is true about sufficient conditions?

    <p>Being infected is necessary but not sufficient for getting the plague.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is an example of a combination of conditions that create an event?

    <p>Hypersensitivity to venom combined with a bee sting causing anaphylaxis.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How do sufficient conditions operate compared to necessary conditions?

    <p>Sufficient conditions work through their presence, while necessary conditions can operate alone.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a common misconception about sufficient conditions?

    <p>Presence indicates causation without considering other factors.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What conclusion can be drawn about known causes of diseases?

    <p>Very few diseases have known sufficient conditions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which statement accurately reflects the complexity of causation in medicine?

    <p>Interactions of sufficient and necessary conditions can complicate causation.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does scientific realism assert about entities in scientific theories?

    <p>They exist independently of human inquiry and investigation.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which argument questions the preconditions necessary for the existence of science?

    <p>Transcendental argument</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How does the transcendental argument relate to the existence of the world?

    <p>It argues that a structured world independent of human knowledge is essential for science.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a common challenge to the justification of scientific realism?

    <p>The difficulty in proving that entities studied actually exist.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the high-level empirical argument claim about scientific theories?

    <p>They tend to be approximately true as they explain the success of science.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What role do thought experiments play in scientific realism according to the text?

    <p>They serve as a means of validating the existence of certain entities.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What might challenge the reasoning that microbiological events require the existence of DNA?

    <p>The limits of scientific imagination could account for this reasoning.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which statement accurately reflects the common understanding of scientific realism?

    <p>It posits that scientific entities exist independent of human perceptions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is necessary for two people in a conversation to achieve full understanding?

    <p>They must acquire each other's horizons of understanding.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What concept describes the process where social science research interprets interviewees' interpretations?

    <p>Double hermeneutics</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What additional consideration must an interviewer take into account according to the content?

    <p>The interviewee’s self-image affected by social science theories.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    According to Jürgen Habermas, which factors influence an individual's interpretation of others?

    <p>Power, ideology, and interests.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does Habermas suggest about the nature of ideology?

    <p>It is a set of assumptions that furthers group interests.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following represents an apolitical ideology mentioned in the content?

    <p>The assertion that extensive hospital systems are essential in health care.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Why may an interviewee be misunderstood during an interview?

    <p>The interviewer fails to account for the interviewee's influences.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a significant challenge in social science interviews as noted in the content?

    <p>Interviews tend to be insufficiently long for understanding horizons.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What distinguishes the roles of healthcare professions like doctors and nurses?

    <p>They result from social convention.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is essential for generalizing research results to a wider population?

    <p>The populations must be similar.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In what way can generalization in social science research be achieved?

    <p>By employing theoretical or conceptual generalization.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which statement about statistical generalization is true?

    <p>It is only acceptable with similar populations.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is theoretical or conceptual generalization?

    <p>The application of concepts across various fields based on shared theories.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following is NOT a limitation of statistical generalization?

    <p>It always results in precise conclusions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    When can results from a research study conducted in one country be applied to another country?

    <p>When the populations are assumed to be similar.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What aspect of the healthcare professions is highlighted in the content discussed?

    <p>Their roles emerge from social convention rather than innate characteristics.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Study Notes

    Causation in Science

    • Necessary Conditions: An event cannot occur without a necessary condition. The condition doesn't cause the event, but its absence prevents it. For example, Mycobacterium tuberculosis is necessary for tuberculosis, but its elimination doesn't cause the eradication of the disease.
    • Sufficient Conditions: The presence of a sufficient condition guarantees the event. But, the event can occur through other sufficient conditions. For instance, exposure to ionizing radiation with the right strength and sort guarantees skin burns, even though other factors can also cause them.
    • Necessary and Sufficient Conditions: Two conditions together can cause an event, individually they are insufficient. But, by acting jointly, they are necessary and sufficient for the event. For example, both a bee sting and bee venom hypersensitivity are necessary and sufficient for an anaphylactic reaction.
    • Counterfactual Conditions: They focus on whether a cause "makes a difference." If C causes E, then, all other conditions being equal, a different condition than C would result in a different condition than E. Counterfactuals are similar to necessary conditions, but they are not true or false, but rather acceptable or unacceptable.
    • Deterministic vs. Probabilistic Counterfactuals: They can either be deterministic or probabilistic. For instance, "if Mrs. Jones had taken two aspirins, her headache would be gone" is deterministic, while "if Mrs. Jones had taken two aspirins, she would be less likely to have a headache" is probabilistic.

    Scientific Realism

    • The Transcendental Argument: It asserts that science exists, and therefore, there must be a structured world independent of human knowledge, to enable science to exist. If science describes a world independent of our knowledge, then this world must exist.
    • The High-Level Empirical Argument: This argument claims that scientific theories are approximately true because they provide the best explanation for the successes of science.

    Hermeneutics in Social Science

    • Horizons of Understanding: The meaning of a statement or action depends on the understandings of the listener and the speaker. Complete understanding happens when both parties share each other's "horizons of understanding".
    • The Problem of Interpretation: When horizons of understanding differ, interpretations can differ, leading to misunderstandings.
    • Double Hermeneutics: In social science research, researchers interpret interviewees' interpretations of their own understandings. This means that interpretations are influenced by the concepts and theories of social science.

    Power, Ideology, and Interests

    • Habermas's View: Jürgen Habermas argued that power, ideology, and interests influence interpretations. These factors shape how we interpret statements and actions, leading to subjective interpretations rather than objective ones.
    • Ideology: An ideology is a set of assumptions that benefits a specific group in society. These can be political or apolitical. For instance, "an extensive hospital system is essential in health care" is an apolitical ideology benefiting both patients and healthcare professionals.

    Generalization in Research

    • Statistical Generalization: It involves applying research findings to a wider population (target population) based on statistical inference from a study sample of a well-defined source population. This assumes similarity between the source and target populations.
    • Theoretical or Conceptual Generalization (Transferability): It extends understanding beyond specific cases to a wider theoretical framework. For example, teleological explanations in biology are based on theoretical generalizations of evolutionary theory, not on statistical data.

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    Reading Assignment No. 1 (Philosophy of Science) PDF

    Description

    Explore the concepts of necessary and sufficient conditions in scientific causation. This quiz will help you differentiate between types of conditions and understand their roles in events, utilizing relevant examples like diseases and reactions. Test your knowledge on counterfactual conditions and their implications.

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