1 Watch the video and put the words into the gaps in the text.
In this video I’ll look onto import parts of chapter 2 in the text.
First, we’ll explore the characteristics of scientific knowledge. Second,
we’ll identify common structures and the scientific method. We will not,
however, debate the objections to applying this process to political science.
Instead we’ll save that for in-class discussion.
In life we know things in a (1)___ of ways. In science, however, we
are only interested in knowledge (2)___ from the scientific method, i.e. we (3)____
objectivity, observation-based methods including (4)____ and logical (5)____.
The reason for this is that our ultimate goal is to make verifiable knowledge
claims that are also (6)____, i.e. we want to be able to explain general
phenomena and have these explanations subject to others’ (7)___. If our conclusions are reached based on
intuition, feeling, emotion or any other individual method, and cannot be
seen by others, knowledge claims cannot be verified. Science is a social
activity, it is important to place findings and conclusions in public view so
that they are (8)____ and so that others can challenge, modify and build on
them. It is important to recognize that I’ve not used the word ‘prove’.
Science does not prove anything, instead, using a systematic process as it
now appears, (9)____ conclusions can be reached.
On the slide and in the
recording so far there are a number of concepts you should be able to
identify including (10)___, generalizable and a few others. These are
components of the scientific method and it is to them we now turn. There are several important components to
scientific knowledge. The results should be subject to (11)____ verification
and falsifiable, i.e. to (12)____ the previous slide, science should be
observable and have some kind of conclusive answer. We need to have a way to
know if we’re right or wrong. That’s not to say that we will know if we’re
right or wrong, but we need to be able to reach a conclusion. Second, we’re
concerned with non-normative (13)____; there are several kinds of research
and the statements that can be made.
In keeping with the first component we are not interested in
assertions that cannot be tested as is the case with normative claims. Third,
recognize that science is a cumulative enterprise. Each piece of research,
each conclusion is just part of a wider whole. It’s good at this term to
remember Isaac Newton’s modest claim that he was able to make such progress
in science only because of others that came before him. Newton was ‘standing on the shoulders of
giants’ and paid homage to those scientists that came before him. The fourth
component is empirical generalization or generalizability. Science aims to
extend explanation to a class or phenomena rather than just a single (14)____.
So we want to know how gravity works, not why this apple falls from this
tree. In our field we want to know why people vote the way they do, not why
John happens to vote for a democratic candidate. If, I relate it to the
former, you seek explanation, description is a necessary part of scientific
knowledge if we want to understand (15)____, i.e. when one in that always or
often brings about another condition. Another component of science is that it
is predictive. If we have a generalizable explanation, then we can predict
future (16)____. If we believe X leads to Y and we have X, than we can (17)____
Y. However, our predictions need not
be 100% accurate, we will accept statements of probability. As you’ll see
later, we are perhaps most concerned with just improving our predictive power
from the mean or average outcome. It is another way of saying we want to
improve the accuracy of our predictions.
Finally, we want our knowledge claims or explanations to be (18)___.
Parsimony means (19)____; we want simple explanations rather than complex
ones. That does not mean that we really focus solely on easy explanations,
rather if we explain a similar amount of variation with an explanation that
has only two moving parts or independent variables rather than many moving
parts or independent variables, we prefer the simpler explanation. You should
not think about these components as (20)____, rather they are features of
science or the knowledge claims we want to make. This is part of the process
of doing science. Again there are many
ways to know something using the scientific method, maintaining these (21)____
components is the best way to reach our goal of making knowledge claims that
are observable and above all useful.
Science (22)____ that ideas are transmissible; a prerequisite for this
is some systematic way to verify these knowledge claims. The scientific method is a way to do just
that, it brings the steps of (23)____ out of the mind and into public view,
in the text our authors tell us that scientists do not follow a specific
recipe, but there is an underlying (24)___ for scientific research. First, we
develop idea and form a research question, there’s no limit to the sources of
such ideas. However, the research question does follow a specified form which
we will talk about in the next lesson.
Second, we develop a theory or explanation. This theory answers the
research question. From this theory we derive (25)___ or testable aspects of
the theory that we should be able to see if our explanation is supported.
Hypothesis should make a statement about relationship and be worded very
clearly: X should lead to Y more than not-X, for example. Or if X than Y only
when Z is present, it is another example. Third, we move on to research. In
this stage we (26)____ in empirical analysis to either confirm or refuse the
hypothesis. In this step we’re looking for verification of our hypothesis
which would support our theory, which would answer our research question. An
import component of this is judging whether or not the results actually do
verify the hypothesis. This is sometimes an art more than a science, making
decisions about what to observe and how to measure specific concept and
finally how best to go about testing the relationship can be difficult. As
part of the analysis we decide whether our hypothesis should be accepted, (27)____
or modified. This might begin the process anew or conclude and allow our
findings to serve as inspiration for more research questions or for other
researchers.
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scrutiny
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reasoning
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tentative
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variety
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generalizable
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replicable
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maintain
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experimentation
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derived
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instance
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research
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empirical
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causality
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verifiable
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reiterate
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outcomes
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predict
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parsimonious
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hierarchical
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principal
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simplicity
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hypothesis
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requires
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abandoned
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logic
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engage
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inquiry
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2 Vocabulary focus. Sudy the words and word combinations, practise
their translation, spelling. Check your knowledge
in the test. Play vocabulary game and set your own vocabulary game record.
3 Mark the following statements as True or False.
1.
Scientific
methods include experimentation and logical reasoning.
2.
Scientific knowledge can be verified by other
researchers.
3.
Science tries to find solutions and prove hypotheses.
4.
Scientific knowledge is verified with the help of
empirical methods.
5.
Description is
always part of scientific knowledge.
6.
Scientific explanations help to predict future.
7.
Scientific claims should be simple.
8.
Research question does not have a specified form there
is no limits to the ways it can be formed.
9.
Empirical analysis is used only to confirm hypothesis.
10. As a result of analysis new hypothesis is
always formulated.
4 Answer the Questions.
1. What are the characteristics of scientific knowledge?
2. What is scientific method? Can all methods of analysis be called
scientific?
3 What is the aim of scientific method?
4 What are the components of scientific knowledge?
5 How do scientists make research statement and formulate research
questions?
6 What is the role of hypothesis in scientific research?
7 Why is generalizatoion important for scientific knowledge?
8 What can scientists generalize in their research?
9 What is parsimony? What role does it play in research?
10 Why is it important for scientific ideas to be transmissible?