Lesson D: Philosophy of Science

Philosophy

It means “love of wisdom”

Love

Philo means ________

Wisdom

Sophos means _______

Philosophers

They think about the meaning of things and interpretation of that meaning

Ethics

It is the study of values in human behavior or the study of moral problems.

The rules of grammar in a language

Which of the following is not an example of ethics?

• The rightness and wrongness of actions

• The kinds of things which are good or desirable

• Whether actions are blameworthy or praiseworthy

• The rules of grammar in a language

Epistemology

It refers to the study of, focusing on how we come to acquire knowledge and what types of limits there are to our knowledge

Metaphysical

It refers to the study of what is really real, dealing with so-called first principles of the natural order and “the ultimate generalizations available to the human intellect.”

Metaphysics

It asks “What is the nature of Reality?”

Epistemology

It asks “What is the nature of Knowledge?”

Axiology

It goes alongside with ethics, asking “What is the nature of Values?”

Ontology

It asks “What is the nature of existence?

Cosmology

It asks “What is the origin and organization of the universe?”

Logic

_______ is a key dimension to epistemology

Deductive

It is a kind of logic that is discussing general topics to specific ideas

Inductive

It is a kind of logic that begins with specific facts to generalization

Aesthetics

It values beauty, nature, and experiences often associated with music, art, literature, dance theater, and other fine arts.

Facts

Science is based on ________

Inductivism

________ proposes and rests on a common understanding of the laws of the universe, where there are laws of nature, and uniformities that govern these laws

Observation

Facts are observable, and that theories should be derived from these facts by ________

True

Observation uses our senses

True or False

True

Seeing is believing

True or False

False

Observable facts are stated to be subjective

True or False

Hypothetico-Deductivism

It rejects the context of discovery and asserts that facts are not always observable

Accident

In Hypothetico-Deductivism, facts have come to scientists not by observation but rather by ________, through dreams, visions, and preexisting theories

False

Hypothetico-Deductivism affirms the notion that facts are neutral and objective

True or False

Falsificationism

It also rejects the context of discovery, stating that confirmation of hypothesis is not enough and no specific number of confirmations will make any hypothesis true

Tentative

The notion of scientific progress for the falsification rests on the premise that scientific theories are ________

Problems

Solving _______ is scientific progress

Qualitative Data

This data collection provides a deep understanding of how people perceive their social realities, and in consequence, how they act within the social world. It usually use diary accounts, interviews, documents, focus groups, etc.

Quantitative Data

This data collection uses statistics to help turn its data into useful information that are crucial for decision making. It is usually scientifically objective and ration, maximizing lab and field experimentations, rating scales, surveys, etc.

Reliability

It refers to how consistently a method measures something

Test-Retest Reliability

It refers to the consistency of a measure across time, asking the question “Did you get the same results when you repeat the experiment?”

Internal Consistency

It refers to the consistency of the measurement itself, asking the question “Do you get the same results from different parts of an experiment that are designed to measure the same thing?”

Interrater Reliability

It refers to the consistency of a measure across raters or observers, asking questions such as “Do you get the same results when different people conduct the same experiment?”

Validity

It refers to how accurately a method measures what it is intended to measure

True

High reliability is one indicator that a measurement is valid. If a method is not reliable, it probably isn’t valid.

True or False

Face Validity

It refers to the extent to which a measurement method appears to measure the construct of interest upon initial viewing.

Construct Validity

It is used to ensure that the measurement method is actually measuring what is intended to be measured, and not other variables

Content Validity

It refers to the extent to which the measurement covers all aspects of the concepts being measured

Criterion Validity

It refers to the extent to which the result of a measure corresponds to other valid measures of the same concept

Discriminant Validity

It refers to the extent to which scores on a measure are not correlated with measures of variables that are conceptually distinct

True

A reliable measurement is not always valid. However, a valid measurement is generally reliable.

True or False

Currency

It is a way to prevent the spread of misinformation, asking the question “Is the information current?”

Relevance

It is a way to prevent the spread of misinformation, asking the question “Is the information important?”

Authority

It is a way to prevent the spread of misinformation, asking the question “Who is the author/publisher/sponsor of the news?”

Accuracy

It is a way to prevent the spread of misinformation, asking the question “Is the information supported by evidence? Does the author cite credible sources? Is the information verifiable in other places?”

Purpose

It is a way to prevent the spread of misinformation, asking the question “What is the purpose of this news?”