Seminar 1 Flashcards
What does it mean to say that a term is vague? Mark all correct options.
a) It means that people have conflicting ideas about what the meaning of the term is.
b) It means that it refers to different things depending on contextual factors, such as time and place.
c) It means that there is no sharp limit between the things the term does apply to and the things it does not apply to.
d) It means that it is at least possible that there are things for which it is indeterminate whether the term applies to them or not.
e) It means that it is meaningless.
Answer: c), d)
Why is it sometimes important to define the terms that are embedded into a hypothesis? Mark all correct options.
a) What does and does not count as an observable consequence of a hypothesis is dependent on the meaning of that hypothesis. This, in turn, is dependent on how we define the terms that make up the hypothesis. Therefore, the test conditions for our hypothesis are (in part) determined by how we define our terms.
b) Definitions are instruments for controlling variables. By continuously re-defining the terms that are embedded into a hypothesis during the course of conducting a test of that hypothesis, one can effectively avoid many sources of error that were previously impossible to predict.
c) If a hypothesis is constituted of words that have vague ordinary language-meanings, its set of observable consequences might be indeterminate. Therefore, in order to make sure that such a hypothesis comes out as having clear-cut test-conditions, it is important that one first has “defined away” the vagueness, so to speak.
Answer: a), c)
Which of these claims are conditional claims? Mark all correct options.
a) If a higher degree of concentration and a more correct quantity were achieved in the sample, then this would also appear in the actual process.
b) Higher degree of concentration was achieved in the sample than in the actual process.
c) If a high degree of concentration was achieved in the sample, then this would also appear in the actual process.
d) A high degree of concentration will appear in the sample if and only if it appears in the actual process.
Answer: a), c), d)
General Feedback
A conditional claim can always be rewritten as a statement with the main parts “if A then B” or “A if and only if B”. A and B in turn might be built up from several parts and e.g. be on the form “C and D” or even “if C then D”. However, whether it is a conditional claim or not depends only on the main parts of the claim.
Consider the following inference.
(1) If the temperature of the liquid is over 30 degrees, then the thermometer shows more than 30 degrees when I put it in the liquid.
(2) The thermometer shows more than 30 degrees when I put it in the liquid.
(C) Therefore, the temperature of the liquid is over 30 degrees.
What type of inference is this an example of? Mark the correct option.
a) Deductive inference. If the premises are true there is no way that the conclusion could be false, since the second part of the first premise includes everything in the second premise.
b) Invalid inference. The conclusion does not follow inductively nor deductively from the premises.
c) Inductive inference. There could be another reason why the thermometer shows more than 30 degrees, and the first premise does not say “if and only if”.
Answer: c)
What are the suggested characteristics for something to count as a good hypothesis? Mark all correct options. The statement should…
a) be verifiable on the basis of direct observation.
b) be either true or false.
c) be theory-dependent.
d) be neither necessarily true nor necessarily false.
e) have some generality or be about something that cannot be investigated by a direct observation.
Answer: b), d), e)
Which of the following fulfill the criteria for being good hypotheses? Mark all correct options.
a) Galaxies are held together only by the gravitational pull of visible matter.
b) This sentence is in English.
c) Triangles have three sides.
d) High intelligence causes laziness.
Answer: a), d)
Which of the following claims about observations are true? Mark all correct options.
a) Observing the sound of someone’s heart by listening to it through a stethoscope is an aided direct observation since the stethoscope is used as an aid for hearing the sound.
b) Observing the sound of someone’s heart by listening to it through a stethoscope is an indirect observation since we are using an instrument (the stethoscope).
c) Observing someone’s pulse by looking at the display of a pulse watch is an indirect observation since the numbers on the display are connected to the property of interest.
d) Observing someone’s pulse by putting your fingers on their wrist is an aided direct observation since you are using your fingers as an aid for feeling the pulse.
Answer: a), c)
Assuming that a scientist is justified in believing that X causes Y, which of the following are valid reasons for operationalizing X as Y? Mark all correct options.
a) X cannot be quantified. Y can be quantified.
b) X can be observed directly. Y cannot be observed directly.
c) X cannot be observed directly. Y can be observed directly.
d) One cannot do a precise measurement of X. One can do a precise measurement of Y.
Answer: a), c), d)
Feedback:
a) is a valid reason because if X is difficult to quantify, but Y can be measured in a quantifiable manner, it may be practical to operationalize X in terms of Y for the purpose of the study.
Suppose that you hear the following claim:
“We have tested all 50 persons in this sports team for infection X with our medical test equipment. Since we got a positive test result for five of them, we conclude that five people on the team have infection X.”
What assumptions about the operationalization need to be true for this inference to hold? Mark all correct options.
a) That we can read off the results of the test equipment and easily distinguish them as positive or negative.
b) That the test equipment doesn’t produce positive results for other things than the infection X.
c) That the test equipment doesn’t miss any cases when someone is infected by X and gives a negative result.
d) That it is clear what is meant by “infection X”, for example which kinds of infection count as X and which ones do not.
Answer: a), b), c), d)
Feedback
Quality criteria for operationalizations:
- Properly define what the property of interest is. What do we mean by happiness of an individual human, for instance: an emotional state, a judgment, a number of physical properties?
- Valid relationship between the property and the effect. It must be the case, according to our best knowledge, that the directly observable property shows up only when the target property is present, and it always shows up when the target property is present.
- Be sure that there are not too many disturbing factors involved, for instance in the case with the spring scale, there are many circumstances where we would say that it does not work because there are just too many factors that disturb the proportionality between the mass and the behaviour of the spring scale.
- Pick a property that actually is directly observable with sufficient precision.
Which of following statements about the quality of an operationalization are true? Mark all correct options.
a) The quality of an operationalization of a concept is a measure of how value-laden it is.
b) The quality of an operationalization is about to which degree it succeeds in measuring the property that it is supposed to measure.
c) The quality of an operationalization is about how reliable it is.
d) The quality of an operationalization is a measure of the extent to which it is theory-dependent.
Answer: b), c)
What is true about random and systematic errors? Mark all correct options.
a) Systematic errors might occur when the measurements are made even though the measurement instrument is calibrated correctly.
b) Some systematic errors can be avoided by calibrating the measurement instrument correctly before the measurements are made.
c) As long as the measurement instrument is calibrated correctly before the measurements are made, we don’t have to worry about random errors.
Answer: a), b)
Which of the following statements about accuracy and precision of measurements are true? Mark all correct options.
a) By increasing the precision of a measurement we automatically increase the accuracy as well.
b) If people try to estimate the number of beans in a large bowl without counting them their estimates will most likely be imprecise.
c) We typically get precise measurements by finding and eliminating all sources of random error.
d) Length measured with an old, worn wooden ruler might be inaccurate.
Answer: b), d)
Feedback:
c) In reality, it’s very challenging, if not impossible, to completely eliminate all sources of random error.
In what way, in particular, do scientists typically construct definitions? Mark all correct options.
a) A scientist primarily wants to give a particular term a new and refined meaning - hopefully with better precision and more clarity than its corresponding ordinary language-meaning. This new, stipulated meaning is foremost intended to be useful in the scientist’s own field of research and not necessarily in ordinary use.
b) A scientist might define airplanes as monoplanes that are over 50 meters long and powered by jet engines, even if that is not exactly what people mean when they talk about airplanes.
c) A scientist primarily wants to capture the actual meaning of a particular term, given how it is normally used in the language. Her aim is therefore to make the definition as accurate as possible in relation to the way that it is commonly used.
Answer: a), b)
