Chapters 13-18

Question 1

epistemology

Answer 1

The branch of philosophy that deals with knowledge and the methods of science.

Question 2

Occam’s razor

Answer 2

A rule of thumb, also known as the law of parsimony, that states that when two or more hypotheses are compatible with the available evidence, the one that introduces the fewest new assumptions is to be preferred.

Question 3

paradigm term developed by Thomas Kuhn to refer to a set of scienti c beliefs and assumptions that prevail at any particular time in history.

Answer 3

A term developed by Thomas Kuhn to refer to a set of scientific beliefs and assumptions that prevail at any particular time in history.

Question 4

philosophical naturalism

Answer 4

The philosophical position that the natural world is all that exists—that there is nothing that is supernatural.

Question 5

post-modernism

Answer 5

A school of philosophical thought that treats all knowledge as equally valid social constructs or narratives.

Question 6

agnostic

Answer 6

The notion that unfalsifiable hypotheses, such as the existence of God, are not only unknown—but are also unknowable.

Question 7

falsifiability

Answer 7

The key feature of any scientific hypothesis—that, at least theoretically, there must be some evidence to prove or imply that the hypothesis is not true.

Question 8

nonoverlapping magisteria (NOMA)

Answer 8

The term coined by Stephen Jay Gould to describe his philosophy that science and faith are separate and nonoverlapping schools of thought.

Question 9

Russell’s teapot

Answer 9

A hypothetical teapot proposed by Bertrand Russell that is orbiting the Sun between Earth and Mars to make the point that not all claims that cannot be proven false should be accepted as true.

Question 10

blinding

Answer 10

In scientific studies, this refers to the process of hiding the status of a subject (whether they are in the intervention or the control group) from the subject (single blind) or also from the experimenter (double-blind).

Question 11

control group

Answer 11

In an experimental study, the control group receives a sham or placebo intervention that is physiologically inert so that it can be compared to the treatment group.

Question 12

experimental study

Answer 12

Scientific studies that involve a specific intervention performed by the experimenters.

Question 13

meta-analysis

Answer 13

A mathematical process of combining the results of many studies into a single study for statistical analysis.

Question 14

observational study

Answer 14

Scientific studies in which the behavior of groups are observed in the real world—without experimenter intervention.

Question 15

prospective study

Answer 15

A study that involves selecting subjects and then following them to observe their future outcome.

Question 16

P value

Answer 16

A statistical term referring to the probability that the results of a study would be what they are or greater given the null hypothesis—that the proposed phenomenon being studied is not true.

Question 17

retrospective study

Answer 17

A study in which subjects are selected, and then data is gathered about their history.

Question 18

statistical significance

Answer 18

A statistical term referring to the comparison of target and control groups in scientific studies; when the difference in outcome or a particular feature is greater than a predetermined threshold, then the results are considered to be statistically significant.

Question 19

systematic review

Answer 19

A review and analysis of all the relevant scientific studies published on a specific question.