Exam1: Family Science Flashcards
What is Family Science?
a social science that takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding families & relationships through the use of the scientific method, incorporates work from many disciplines, been its own independent field since 1980s
Detail the 7-point argument for why Family Science is important.
1) Modern families face many challenges
2) Avg person makes decisions abt those challenges based on little more than limited personal experience or belief (everyones experiences differ thus how people deal w/ these challenges differ)
3) Decisions based on experience/belief often ineffective/harmful b/c much of it is incorrect as a matter of scientific fact
Detail the 7-point argument for why Family Science is important.
1) Modern families face many challenges
2) Avg person makes decisions abt those challenges based on little more than limited personal experience or belief (everyone’s experiences differ thus how people deal w/ these challenges differ)
3) Decisions based on experience/belief often ineffective/harmful b/c much of it is incorrect as a matter of scientific fact
4) Little public education/knowledge abt what science shows is best for families to correct them (ppl don’t know & can’t make decisions based on facts that they don’t know exist)
5) People will turn to less reliable but more accessible sources w/o proper education abt Family Science research
6) These sources do not present research but stereotypical, inaccurate, oversimplified, & often counterproductive or harmful advice
7) Similarly, public policy affecting families is made by ppl who have insufficient understanding of family science (many well intended policies are actually harmful, EX: Bill passed to encourage marriage which resulted in less marriage and more ppl just living together)
Explain the four reasons why people know a lot about families that “just ain’t so.”
a) Misinterpret situations & draw incorrect conclusions from personal experience (ex: Every time I was my car it rains.)
b) Confirmation bias. Look for evidence to confirm beliefs not evidence that disprove it.
c) Mistake personal experiences to also be the way things are for everyone else
d) Mistake the way things “should” be w/ the way they actually are
Explain the scientific methodology that Family Scientists use, including why it is preferable to personal experience and how the four parts of the method lead to more reliable knowledge.
Trained Family Scientists use the Scientific Method instead of personal experience in order to avoid mistakes the avg person makes when thinking abt families. 4 parts of Scientific Method: objectivity, verifiability, control, and self-correction.
objectivity, verifiability, control and self-correction
4 Parts of the Scientific Method
objectivity, verifiability, control and self-correction
4 Parts of the Scientific Method
not open to subjective misinterpretation or bias, a fact is a fact regardless of personal experience or preference
objectivity
results can be confirmed or disconfirmed w/ replication ; not reliant on authority or experience, can verify it yourself
verifiability
accounting for confounding influences ( confounding variables) to ensure genuine results
Ex: ambient temp in ice cream sold & number of murders correlation)
control
scientists test their own findings & assumptions, looking for ERRORS & MISTAKES not confirmation; leads to growth and & revisions in theory and explanations
self-correction
1) Observation of problem
2) Hypothesis abt relationship btw variables
3) Test hypothesis for disconfirmation
4) Publication of test results
5) Verification of test results through replication (also seeking disconfirmation..others perform same test with same method & get same results or not)
6) Theory
Process of Family Science research
an educated, rational explanation for something that has been observed, but not yet “proven” through scientific testing. In Family Science this is not about proving something “true” or “false”, it is abt determining how common specific patterns are & under which conditions those patterns appear
Hypothesis
an explanation of an observation based on “proven” hypotheses that have been repeatedly verified by detached groups of researchers (diff groups of researchers who aren’t collaborating together & are also getting same results)
Theory
a) end result of long and rigorous scientific process
b) has been PROVEN BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT & is accepted as true by scientific experts
c) any scientist w/ right education & training could test it & show it to be true
d) is OBJECTIVELY true; if someone doesn’t “believe” it, that person is WRONG as a matter of FACT
Important Characteristics of Theory
a) end result of long and rigorous scientific process
b) has been PROVEN BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT & is accepted as true by scientific experts
c) any scientist w/ right education & training could test it & show it to be true
d) is OBJECTIVELY true; if someone doesn’t “believe” it, that person is WRONG as a matter of FACT
Why popular belief is irrelevant to the scientific accuracy of Theory
a) end result of long and rigorous scientific process
b) has been PROVEN BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT & is accepted as true by scientific experts
c) any scientist w/ right education & training could test it & show it to be true
d) is OBJECTIVELY true; if someone doesn’t “believe” it, that person is WRONG as a matter of FACT
Why popular belief is irrelevant to the scientific accuracy of Theory
1) Ask what do we know & how do we know it? Why do we accept/ believe it? What is the evidence for it?
2) Recognize missing info & conclusion that are made w/o complete info; being able to tolerate uncertainty, recognize when someone accepts conclusions w/o asking the previous questions
3) Distinguish observing from inferring, fact from opinion, knowledge from assumption
4) Draw appropriate inferences from data & know when they can’t be drawn, recognize when relevant variables have/haven’t been controlled
5) Testing one’s own reasoning/ conclusions for internal consistency and developing intellectual self-reliance
Critical Thinking Skills for Family Science
focusing on what participant does (answering ?s, surveys, being observed, etc.)
Research Methods
plans for the study that permit best possible test of hypothesis
Research Designs
