Psychology 243 Chapter 1 10th – 13th August 2021
Chapter 1
Research: to look again
Social: people/humans
Sciences: process of systematic inquiry (gain knowledge) which is logical, has a reference (observed
evidence), and gives an explanation (theory).
Social scientists use systematic rational thought and observation to gain knowledge.
Epistemology: the study of the ways of knowing about the world.
Non-Scientific Methods of Acquiring Knowledge:
Method of Authority: the first source of knowledge for children, acquired from parents/caregivers
(not only used by children – “qualified people”: elderly people; specialists, kings etc.).
- Critique: justification and the need to preserve their position of authority through masking
their ignorance using professional jargon/specialized way of expression + emphasizing their
“unique” position to hide the superficiality of their knowledge.
Mystical Method: variation of ‘method of authority’ in which correctness of knowledge is assumed to
reside in a supernatural source – traditional healers etc.
- Credibility is strongly related to level of educated and general knowledge of audience – lose
influence when “better” + alternative explanations can be found.
Intuitive Method: people sometimes make judgments about the world based on what “feels” right for
them.
- This method depends on the individual and their personal understanding of the issue.
- Not transparent and cannot be communicated easily to others.
- Not easily replicable.
Conventional Method: reflects common sense understanding of the world.
- Often contradictory.
- A variation of the Intuitive Method.
- “Opposites attract”; “out of sight, out of mind” etc.
- No systematic way of determining accuracy of certain statements.
General critique:
1) No systematic way of determining which of these statements is accurate.
2) Mainly based on a faith/worldview.
Scientific Methods of Acquiring Knowledge:
Rationalistic Method: based on human reasoning and logic – the basis of knowledge is correct
reasoning.
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,Psychology 243 Chapter 1 10th – 13th August 2021
- Human beings have the ability to think logically/reason and thus, to discover laws through
intellectual processes.
- Observation of reality; collection of facts and using the five senses are unnecessary.
Empirical Method: facts observed in nature are the foundation of knowledge.
- Opposite of the Rationalistic Method.
- Objectivity NB.
- What is observable (senses NB) constitutes knowledge.
- Interpretations of observations/speculations about relationships between facts introduce
subjectivity and are therefore seen as distortions of the data.
- Used to test theories about the world.
The Scientific Method and its Properties
- Synthesis of empirical and rationalistic methods.
- Uses rationalism to develop theories and uses empiricism to test theories.
- Science is a continuous interplay of rational thought and empirical observation.
- The scientific method – the process of knowing.
o A priori (“from earlier”) knowledge is knowledge we can have prior to experience,
knowledge or justification and is independent of experience.
o A posteriori (“from the later”) knowledge is knowledge that we can have only after
we have certain experiences, knowledge or justification and is dependent on
experience and empirical evidence.
- Quantitative:
o The 1st step to knowing is a description of the object, relationship or situation
(empirical);
o Thereafter an explanation/statement of the relationship between the described facts
should be expressed. The explanation is thus the result of a reasoning process using
the rationalistic method + leads to the formulation of a natural/social law.
o The stated explanation should permit a prediction of future events under well-defined
conditions.
o To ensure the explanation/law will enable prediction, correctness of the explanation
must be tested – achieved via perception using five human senses (+ empirical
approach). Intelligent intervention, based on correct explanations leading to the
ability to predict events.
- Qualitative:
o No a priori explanations are given and thus, no expectations/predictions can be
tested.
o Researcher concentrates on observation and recording of events.
o A posteriori explanations, at the end
Science can be defined as: the building of knowledge obtained by the use of a particular methodology
(scientific).
- Scientific Research: a systematic investigation of a question, phenomenon or problem using
certain principles.
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,Psychology 243 Chapter 1 10th – 13th August 2021
Science Assumes the Following: (x8)
1.) The existence of natural and social laws.
o Science presumes order and regularity in natural and social events.
o These laws are assumed to exist independently of the observer and they describe the
way phenomena interact or social events occur.
2.) Laws can be discovered by human beings.
o Scientific research assumes that, although humans are part of nature and subject to
its laws, they can discover those laws.
3.) Natural phenomena have natural causes.
o No supernatural powers are necessary to grasp the cause of effects.
o Scientific understandings are based on parsimony of ideas.
Parsimony requires that explanations for phenomena be based on as few
assumptions as possible: be as simply as possible – a simple explanation is
superior to a complex one.
4.) New knowledge is accumulated gradually and sequentially.
5.) Knowledge and truth are founded on evidence.
o Much of the time, observations that are made on the basis of the senses constitute as
evidence.
o In the absence of evidence, the claim remains at the level of conjecture/hypothesis.
6.) Scientific statements must be distinguished from common-sense statements.
o Common-sense statements are the result of non-scientific observations in that they
do not take into consideration the different variables at stake.
o Weakness: preconditions for validity are not specified due to lack of systematic
investigation.
7.) Scientific observation is objective.
o The more accurate a description, the greater the objectivity of the observation.
8.) Scientific observation is systematic.
o All possibilities are considered one at a time and in a logical order.
o E.g. Natural sciences.
Probabilistic Explanations: explanations that concede some uncertainty.
Probability Statement: if some conditions are satisfied, the event will occur more often than if some of
these conditions were not met.
Note:
1) Often some characteristics are unknown.
2) Can only predict an event when ALL conditions and circumstances are known.
In social sciences, it is rare to possess all information
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Characteristics of Scientific Research: (x4)
1.) Scientific research is empirical.
o Aim is to understand reality.
o Each step is based on observation.
o Scientists attempt to understand the world beyond their personal biases.
o Quantitative methods use a variety of tools to help scientists be more detached.
o Qualitative methods focus on acknowledging, understanding and allowing for biases
in a transparent manner.
2.) Scientific research is systematic and logical.
3.) Scientific research is replicable and transmittable.
4.) Scientific research is reductive.
o By grasping the main relationships between laws, the complexity of reality is reduced.
Reductionism: the method of considering only the essential and necessary properties, variables or
aspects of a problem, has to be used with great care as it can lead to significant bias in the research
process.
A scientific claim, statement or theory must be falsifiable (ability to test if it’s true). This means that a
scientific claim must be stated in such a way that can be demonstrated to be false.
In making a prediction, a scientific theory should not only tell us what should happen but what should
not happen – if these forbidden events do occur, then the theory is no longer credible.
- An effective theory is not one that accounts for every possible event, but one which actually
forbids some events from occurring.
The Relationship between Theory and Research:
- Deduction:
o Going from the general to the specific.
o Using general principles to suggest specific outcomes.
- Induction:
o Going from the specific to the general.
o Using a number of specific observations to formulate general principles.
NB Points:
1.) The rationalistic method of acquiring knowledge is based on the reasoning power of the
human mind.
2.) The empirical method is based on “facts” obtained through the five senses.
3.) Scientific research is a process that combines the principles of rationalism with the process of
empiricism.
4.) A quantitative research process develops from the description of the object under study, to
the explanation of the relationship between the described facts, to the inferred prediction
and finally, to the identification of intelligent intervention.
5.) Science is based on the following assumptions:
a. Natural and social laws exist and can be discovered by human beings;
b. Natural phenomena have natural causes;
c. Knowledge is founded on evidence;
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