Non-Scientific vs Scientific Knowledge Methods

Non-Scientific Methods of Acquiring Knowledge

• Method of Authority: Relies on the knowledge of recognized authorities like parents, department heads, or elders. Their knowledge is accepted as absolute.

• Mystical Method: Knowledge transmitted by individuals claiming supernatural connections, such as traditional healers or prophets.

• Rationalistic Method: Relies on human reasoning to discover laws through intellectual processes. Knowledge is based on correct reasoning, exemplified by mathematics.

• Opinion of Peers: Based on the knowledge and opinions shared among friends and colleagues.

• Tradition: Beliefs passed down from one generation to the next.

• Empirical Method: Emphasizes the objectivity of observation. Knowledge is grounded in observed facts.

• Intuitive Method: Making judgments based on what feels right.

Scientific Methods of Acquiring Knowledge

• Existence of Natural and Social Laws: Assumes order and regularity in natural and social events, enabling scientific explanations and predictions.

• Laws Can be Discovered by Human Beings: Despite being part of nature, humans can discover these laws, such as those governing intelligence in psychology.

• Natural Phenomena Have Natural Causes: Rejects supernatural explanations for natural events.

• Knowledge and Truth are Founded on Evidence: Scientific claims must be supported by evidence. There are specific rules for what constitutes evidence.

• Scientific Observation is Systematic: Observations are conducted systematically by considering all possibilities logically.

• Scientific Statements Must Be Distinguished from Common-Sense Statements: Common sense often lacks systematic investigation and can lead to contradictory statements.

• Scientific Observation is Objective: Observations are independent of the researcher's subjective opinions and can be replicated by any observer.

Characteristics of Scientific Research

• Empirical: Each step is based on observation.

• Systematic: A logical order is followed to describe, explain, and predict phenomena.

• Replicable and Transmittable: The objective nature of observations allows anyone in the same circumstances to replicate the research and communicate their findings.

• Reductive: Simplifying the complexity of reality to grasp key relationships and omit unnecessary details.

Difference Between Natural and Social Sciences

• Natural Sciences: Focus on the properties and laws of natural phenomena. Development is often driven by production, commerce, and industry.

• Social Sciences: Investigate the properties and laws of social phenomena. Development arises from the need to manage and control social affairs.

• Uncontrolled Factors in Social Sciences: Due to the complexity of social reality, results are often expressed as probabilities. Natural sciences, on the other hand, can often predict with certainty.

Defining Research

• Scientific Research: A systematic, controlled, empirical, and critical investigation of natural phenomena guided by theory, hypotheses, and the presumed relationships among phenomena.

• Research: The process using scientific methods to expand knowledge within a particular field of study.

Classifying Research

• Reason for Conducting Research:

  • Applied Research: Addresses a current problem requiring timely solutions.
  • Basic Research: Pure or fundamental research with no immediate practical applications beyond contributing to a particular field of intellectual inquiry.

• Research Goals/Objectives:

  • Exploratory Research: Exploring a relatively unknown research area to gain insights and determine priorities for future research.
  • Explanatory Research: Explaining an observed phenomenon in terms of its causes.
  • Descriptive Research: Accurately describing existing phenomena, such as individuals, situations, groups, or interactions.
  • Correlational Research: Identifying relationships between variables.
  • Developmental Research: Creating new projects, policies, or programs.

• Methodology:

  • Quantitative Research: Uses measurement to compare and analyze different variables.
  • Qualitative Research: Employs descriptions and qualifying words to record aspects of the world.

Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research

• Quantitative Research: Examples of data-gathering methods: Questionnaires.
• Qualitative Research: Uses methods such as interviews.

Explore the various methods of acquiring knowledge, distinguishing between non-scientific approaches like authority and tradition, and scientific methods grounded in observation and reasoning. This quiz delves into the characteristics and implications of each method. Test your understanding of how knowledge is formed and validated in different contexts.