Part 3: Observation and measurement Flashcards
Empiricism:
sensory experience is considered to be the ultimate basis for knowledge.
Direct observation:
by unaided sense experience
Aided observation:
to amplify sense experience.
Indirect observation:
sense experience of the effect of an event, but not the event itself.
Theory dependence:
An observation is theory dependent if it requires theoretical assumptions in order to make and justify observations.
Logical empiricism:
Theories are created by inferences from fundamental observational statements.
Operationalization:
To operationalize a property of interest is to provide a way of linking it to a directly observable effect through a correlational relationship or a hypothesised causal chain.
Property of interest:
The property that is to be measured.
Hypothesized causal chain:
The supposed link between the property of interest and what can be directly observed.
Operationalism:
The view that all basic concepts are defined through their operations, by the way which we aim to measure them.
Comparability:
A measure must be comparable to what is being observed.
Stability:
A unit remains unchanged over time.
Ordinal scale:
Order objects according to a qualitative comparison with regard to a particular property
Mohs scale of mineral hardness.
Interval scale:
orders objects, but also quantifies the distance between them
Celsius scale.
Ratio scale:
orders objects, quantifies the distance between them but also has zero point where zero represents an absence of the property.
Kelvin scale.
