Lecture #2 Flashcards
Define science
A process of gaining knowledge about the natural world
What is the scientific method?
The use of experiments and observations to explain something in nature
Define hypothesis
Proposed (tentative) explanation of a phenomenon that can be tested (normally based on a prediction that follows from the hypothesis)
What is a theory?
Widely accepted and tested (confirmed) explanation for a phenomena
What is a law?
Description of how behaves under certain conditions (often mathematical formula, rare in natural sciences)
What fields of study are considered natural sciences?
Physics, geology, biology, and chemistry
Who is associated with Holism?
*He also co-developed island biogeography
Wilson
What is Holism?
Emphasizes a ‘complex systems’ approach to science that focuses on a ‘top-down’ approach by studying higher organizational levels: “The whole is more than the sum of its parts”
Define emergence
Properties of groups that can’t be entirely explained by their individual components (across scales)
Who is associated with Reductionism?
“Explain all biology in terms of physics and chemistry”
Crick
What is reductionism?
Describes systems by dividing them into smaller units to understand them through their elemental properties; bottom-up approach: “the whole is simply the sum of it’s parts”
What is normative science?
Information is developed or interpreted on an assumed, usually insinuated, preference for a particular outcome or policy; applied science; produces facts and measurements
What is a descriptive science?
Studying nature for the sake of understanding how nature worlds without an a priori application; basic science
___ reasoning is common in the basic sciences; starts with the theory -> hypothesis -> observation -> confirmation
Deductive
___ reasoning is common in the applied sciences; starts with an observation -> pattern -> hypothesis -> theory
**Natural sciences
Inductive
Define deductive reasoning
Building up to a specific principle through a chain of increasingly narrow statements
Define inductive reasoning
Proves a general principle by highlighting a group of specific events, trends, or observations
Who is associated with falsification of hypothesis?
Popper
How is a single hypothesis disproved?
By confirmation of data; be able to test
Who is associated with the following key phrase: paradigms, normal science, scientific revolutions
Kuhn
What hypothesis starts with 1 theory until evidence proves otherwise?
Single hypothesis
Republic of science is associated with who?
Polanyi
What did Polanyi believe when it comes to studying science?
Multiple views of the world allowed according to the different opinions of scientists; confrontation between these views and data judged on: 1) plausibility 2) value 3) interest
The confrontation of multiple hypotheses with data as an arbitrator (scientific research program) is associated with who?
Lakatos
Who had already thought of Lakatos’ theory?
Chamberlin
Hypothesis testing is usually what type of reasoning?
Inductive
What are Multiple Working Hypotheses (MWHs)? And who’s associated with it?
Involves the development, prior to research, of several hypotheses that might explain the phenomenon we want to study – Chamberlin
What are 3 key methods for testing ideas in natural sciences?
- Manipulative experiments
- Natural experiments
- Observational (only) study
What are some examples of studies that are classified as observational (only) studies?
Animals in their natural environment; stars, planets & astronomical phenomena; erosion or natural movement of land; human behaviours or screening humans for a disease
What is meta-analysis?
Many studies are more valuable than a single study; synthesizing and combining multiple studies into 1 major study
This person is largely considered the ‘father’ of modern conservation and wildlife in North America
Lovelock
This type of study is based on the synthesis of results from many other studies
Meta-analysis
Is the stratification of water temperatures greater in the summer than that in the winter?
Yes
___ fragmented a lake in order to experiment the effects of phosphorus in freshwater lakes
Schindler
What is the Winner’s Curse?
The winner in an auction tends on average to have overpaid, especially when no participant is sure exactly how valuable the item is
What is economic uncertainty?
Situation where the real long-term value of a commodity is largely unpredictable
What is the Winner’s curse phenomenon?
Science looks for true relationships, but there is uncertainty. ex: published articles, especially in very competitive journals, have on average exaggerated results
Who was famous for being a negative example of the winner’s curse?
Diederik Stapel
“The history of science has repeatedly shown that when hypotheses are proposed it is impossible to predict which will turn out to be revolutionary and which ridiculous. The only safe approach is to let all see the light and to let all be discussed, experimented upon, vindicated or destroyed.” What concept is this quote related to?
Horrobin’s hypothesis
What are desk rejections?
Manuscripts that an editor decides not to send for peer review after an initial evaluation
How are science articles/papers self-correcting?
Over the long-term, incorrect ideas (or fraud) will be uncovered (often by replicated studies), paradigms rejected or revised, etc.
The main point is to therefore understand that there is ___ in science. (In relation to papers and the processes of publication)
uncertainty
