Chapter 3 and 4 Flashcards
belief
true, justified: knowledge
justification
logic, observation, empirical, rational
logic
observation
subjective
deductive argument
The premises purport to guarantee, warrant, or insure the truth of the conclusion.
statistical argument
Show only the probability the premises confer on the conclusion.
valid deducted argument
An argument in which the truth of the premises guarantees the truth of the concept of the conclusion.
conditionals
Statements of the form “If_ _ _, then . . .” , also called “hypotheticals”. Used frequently in science because it does not address what happens when the first part (the antecedent) is not fulfilled.
experimental study
A population is divided into the control group, consisting of individuals who will not be exposed to the suspected causal agent, and the experimental group, containing only individuals who will be exposed.
prospective study
The sample population consists of an experimental group, which has already been exposed to the suspected cause, and a control group of individuals who have not been exposed.
retrospective study
The final type of statistical study. From the very meaning of “retrospective”, one can immediately see that these studies are “backwards-looking.”
margin of error
depends entirely on sample size and decreases inversely with sample size.
observation
the most convincing reason of all (in science)
explanation
When a particular event occurs before it is related to a universal generalization and the process of covering it with a generalization
prediction
In contrast to explanation, when the particular event is to occur in the future, its derivation from a universal statement
hypothetico deductive model
scheme for a simple deductive argument with a universal conditional (or hypothetical) statement as its principal premise
initial condition
situation created in the laboratory or observed in nature in which the principal factor is under scrutiny
auxillary hypothesis
Claims, other than the principal hypothesis under test, which are required in order to validly draw the conclusion from the principal hypothesis and initial conditions.
falsification
act of declaring a hypothesis, premise, etc. false
naive falsification
belief that the failure of a prediction conclusively falsifies the hypothesis in question
crucial experiment
a dramatic test used to explain the superiority of one hypothesis/theory to another
disinterested observer
someone who has no other pursuits or obligations and does not gain or lose from observing the experiment; i.e. gentlemen of leisure do not gain or lose financially from the experiment’s outcome
