Chapter 1- Acquiring Knowledge and Scientific Method Flashcards
Methods of acquiring knowledge
ways in which a person can know things or discover answers to questions
method of tenacity
information is accepted as true because it has always been believed or because superstition supports it
method of intuition
information is accepted on the basis of a hunch or “gut feeling”
method of authority
a person relies on info or answers from an expert in the subject area
method of faith
a variant of the method of authority in which people have unquestioning trust in the authority figure and, therefore, accept information from the authority without doubt or challenge.
the rational method, or rationalism
seeks answers by the use of logical reasoning.
logical reasoning
premise statements describe facts or assumptions that are presumed to be true.
argument
is a set of premise statements that are logically combined to yield a conclusion.
empirical method, or empiricism
uses observation or direct sensory experience to obtain knowledge.
tenacity
from habit or superstition
intuition
from a hunch or feeling
authority
from an expert
rationalism
from reasoning; a logical conclusion
empiricism
from direct sensory observation
scientific method
A method of acquiring knowledge that uses observations to develop a hypothesis, then uses the hypothesis to make logical predictions that can be empirically tested by making additional, systematic observations. Typically, the new observations lead to a new hypothesis, and the cycle continues.
induction, or inductive reasoning
involves using a relatively small set of specific observations as the basis for forming a general statement about a larger set of possible observations.
variables
characteristics or conditions that change or have different values for different individuals. For example, the weather, the economy, and your state of health can change from day to day. Also, two people can be different in terms of personality, intelligence, age, gender, self-esteem, height, weight, and so on.
hypothesis
a statement that describes or explains a relationship between or among variables. A hypothesis is not a final answer but rather a proposal to be tested and evaluated. For example, a researcher might hypothesize that there is a relationship between personality characteristics and cigarette smoking. Or another researcher might hypothesize that a dark and dreary environment causes winter depression.
deduction, or deductive reasoning
uses a general statement as the basis for reaching a conclusion about specific examples.
quantitative research
is based on measuring variables for individual participants to obtain scores, usually numerical values, which are submitted to statistical analysis for summary and interpretation.
qualitative research
is based on making observations that are summarized and interpreted in a narrative report.
participants
individuals who take part in research studies (humans)
subjects
nonhuman participants
