Introduction - epistemology Flashcards
What are the four sources of knowledge?
Tradition, authority, personal experience, common sense and reason
Errors in inquiry? (5 elements)
- Inaccurate observations
- Selective observation
- Overgeneralisation from few similar events
- Illogical reasoning (“gambler’s fallacy”)
- Halo effect (relying solely on “authority”)
What are the two ways of reasoning?
- Inductive (hypothesis generating) : Specific –> General
- Deductive (hypothesis testing): General –> Specific
What are the two pillars of scientific inquiry?
Logic and Observation
What are important elements of inquiry? (8 elements)
- Systematic study
- Objectivity
- Clarity in defining concepts and measures
- Procedures should be accessible
- Should be possible to replicate
- Use of previous research
- Evidence
- Falsification
What do social sciences do?
Try to gain understanding of how the social world works
What’s a causality?
Relationship between two events: cause and effect
What are the conditions that establish a causal link between A and B?
Temporality (one precedes the other) Spatial contiguity ( A and B must be in contact) Necessary connection ( power in A to cause B)
What are the four things needed to establish causation?
Sequence (effect follows cause)
Correlation (effect related to cause)
Test spuriousness
Discover mechanism (reason cause and effect are related)
What is positivism?
The belief that there is only one scientific method that can establish all causations
What is interpretivism?
Calls for the rejection of that universal scientific method
What is subjectivity? (in this context)
The belief that there is no common reality
What are the two things critical realism rejects?
Positivism and interpretivism
What are the two factors that make knowledge acquisition problematic?
Incomplete or inaccurate observations
The fact that the social world is complicated so accurate predictions are impossible
If we can’t establish causation, what can we do?
Gain a certain degree of understanding
