L22 - Theory Construction, Features of Science Pt 2

Question 1

what is a THEORY?

Answer 1

A THEORY is a COLLECTION of GENERAL PRINCIPLES that EXPLAIN OBSERVATIONS and FACTS

In other words it is a FRAMEWORK/EXPLANATION for DESCRIBING a PHENOMENON

It may be BASED ON OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE WORLD or EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE

Question 2

how are THEORIES CONSTRUCTED?

Answer 2

THEORIES are CONSTRUCTED VIA HYPOTHESIS TESTING and RE-TESTING which is PART OF THE SCIENTIFIC PROCESS

Theories are constructed BASED ON THE RESULTS of a RANGE OF WORK CONDUCTED BY MANY RESEARCHERS

SCIENTIFIC THEORY MUST BE FALSIFIABLE and TESTABLE

E.g FREUD’S PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY is UNFALSIFIABLE as the THEORY CANNOT BE TESTED PROPERLY and is REGARDED as NON SCIENTIFIC - researchers CANNOT SAY THAT FREUD’S THEORY IS FALSE, as it CANNOT BE TESTED PROPERLY IN THE FIRST PLACE

Question 3

what is DEDUCTIVE REASONING?

Answer 3

This involves FIRST HAVING A THEORY, and THEN DEVISING A HYPOTHESIS

Researchers THEN TEST THIS THEORY USING EMPIRICAL METHODS such as EXPERIMENTS

Once the theory has been tested, CONCLUSIONS ARE DRAWN FROM THE DATA

Question 4

what are the STAGES in DEDUCTIVE REASONING?

Answer 4

1) OBSERVATION
2) PROPOSE THEORY
3) MAKE A TESTABLE HYPOTHESIS
4) CONSTRUCT A STUDY TO TEST HYPOTHESIS

Question 5

what is INDUCTIVE REASONING?

Answer 5

A researcher OBSERVES INSTANCES of NATURAL PHENOMENON, or has observed SOME ASPECT OF BEHAVIOUR that then LEADS THE RESEARCHER to COME UP WITH A HYPOTHESIS

The HYPOTHESIS is then TESTED, and CONCLUSIONS are DRAWN FROM THE RESEARCH

From the CONCLUSIONS, a THEORY IS THEN GENERATED ABOUT THE TOPIC/AREA BEING INVESTIGATED

Question 6

what are the STAGES IN INDUCTIVE REASONING?

Answer 6

1) OBSERVATION
2) MAKE A TESTABLE HYPOTHESIS
3) CONSTRUCT A STUDY TO TEST HYPOTHESIS
4) DRAW CONCLUSIONS
5) PROPOSE THEORY

Question 7

what is HYPOTHESIS TESTING?

Answer 7

HYPOTHESIS TESTING is ANOTHER KEY FEATURE OF SCIENCE

This is HOW THEORIES are DEVELOPED and MODIFIED

A GOOD THEORY should GENERATE TESTABLE PREDICTIONS (HYPOTHESES), and if RESEARCH FAILS TO SUPPORT THE HYPOTHESES, then this SUGGESTS THAT THE THEORY NEEDS TO BE MODIFIED IN SOME WAY

Question 8

what is a PARADIGM?

Answer 8

A PARADIGM is ANOTHER KEY FEATURE OF SCIENCE

A PARADIGM is a SHARED SET OF ASSUMPTIONS and AGREED METHODS that are FOUND WITHIN SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES

Question 9

what is PARADIGM SHIFT?

Answer 9

A PARADIGM SHIFT is when ‘the RESULT OF A SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION OCCURS. A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE in the DOMINANT UNIFYING THEORY of a SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINE OCCURS and CAUSES A PARADIGM SHIFT’

Question 10

how does a PARADIGM SHIFT OCCUR?

Answer 10

It occurs in TWO STAGES:

1) ONE THEORY REMAINS DOMINANT within a SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINE, some researchers might QUESTION THE ACCEPTED PARADIGM and might have CONTRADICTORY RESEARCH that DISAGREES WITH THE MAIN PARADIGM - COUNTER EVIDENCE might start to ACCUMULATE AGAINST THE MAIN PARADIGM, CRITICS might begin to GAIN POPULARITY and eventually the COUNTER EVIDENCE is HARD TO IGNORE, the PRESENT PARADIGM may be OVERTHROWN due to the EMERGENCE OF A NEW ONE - this is an example of a PARADIGM SHIFT
2) An ESTABLISHED SCIENCE makes RAPID PROGRESS and a SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION OCCURS due to the PARADIGM SHIFT