Psychology notes for sale of chapters 1,2,5,6,10. The notes are comprised of a combination of the textbook, slides and class notes at Stellenbosch University.
CHAPTER 1: THE DIFFERENT METHODS OF ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE:
- Gaining knowledge involves a process of formulating specific ques and then finding
answers to them, to gain a better understanding about ourselves and our
environment
- Social scientists use systematic rational thought and observation to gain knowledge
about human beings and the world they inhabit.
- The study of ways of knowing about the world = epistemology (includes Non-
scientific and scientific methods)
- The study of things existing in the social world and assumptions about the form and
nature of the social reality = Ontology
Non-scientific methods of acquiring knowledge:
- For children = 1st source of knowledge is most often their parents and caregivers
- Critique = no systematic way of determining which of this statement is accurate
= mainly based on faith/worldview which leads to contradictions
1. The method of authority:
- Used on both children and very commonly by each of us when we rely on the
knowledge and “wisdom” of prominent and significant ppl who are recognised as
having a better grasp of their enviro than ordinary ppl.
- Contrary = the knowledge imparted by them is usually accepted as absolute and a
certain amount of trust is placed in these authorities as source of knowledge.
- Eg: elderly ppl in a village, who, because of their age have had more opportunity to
accumulate experience in a society where formal education is minimal, are often
placed in this position
- Once people are placed in a position (ie: Authority), they often rely on particular
strategies to justify and preserve their position. It takes form of masking their own
ignorance with impressive rituals, using a very specialised way of expression
(professional jargon), or by emphasising the uniqueness of their position
- Method = allows individuals to hide the superficiality of their knowledge, its
underlying ideology and weakness in their argument = Critique
2. Mystical method:
- Variation of this method = mystical method = where the correctness of the
knowledge is assumed to reside in a supernatural source.
- ‘Knowledge producers = regarded as authorities
- Whether a person’s authority in knowledge is recognised because of their position/
presumed supernatural powers, their credibility is strongly related to the level of
education and general knowledge of the audience (This is why growing children
realise their parents don’t have all the answers)
1
, - Critique = the authority and mystical modes of acquiring knowledge lose influence
when better, alternative explanations can be found
3. The intuitive method:
- Ppl sometimes make judgements about the world based on what “feels” right for
them
- Know things through gut feeling / ordinary reasoning through instinct or intuition
- Others may not come to similar conclusions in the same situation as their intuitive
feelings may be different
- This method depends on the individual and his/her personal understanding of the
issue
- It is transparent and cannot be communicated easily to others
- It is also not replicable
- Critique= ppl’s intuitive feelings may differ across situations
4. Conventional wisdom:
- Reflects so-called common sense understanding of the world that are commonly
accepted as being true
- Critique = “Common wisdom” statements, being v general, without details on when
they are applicable, are often contradictory
- There is no systematic way of determining which of these statements I accurate
- Something that is generally accepted within the world
- ie. All Stellenbosch students drink a lot or all women are emotional or talk too much
The Scientific Method:
• It is a synthesis between empirical and rationalistic methods
• Uses rationalism to develop theories and
• Uses empiricism to test those theories
• Science is therefore a continuous interplay of rational thought and empirical
observation
• Rationalism = used to formulate theories vs empiricism = used to test these
formulated theories
5. The rationalistic method:
- based on human reasoning
- Human being have the ability to think logically (or to reason) and thus discover laws
through purely intellectual processes
- The basis of knowledge = correct reasoning which enables one to know what must
be true by principle (ie: maths core – laws and principles are discovered without
relying on any reality)
- This method has made little progress in social sciences
2
, 6. Empirical method (opposite of rationalistic method):
- Facts observed in nature are the foundation of knowledge
- Objectivity of observation is emphasised and only what is observable, what can be
perceived by our senses, constitutes knowledge
- Eg: wood floats on water but a piece of gold sinks
- Extreme empiricist = knowledge stops there ^^, since the reason for difference can’t
be observed
- Interpretations of observations and speculation about relationships btwn facts
introduce subjectivity and therefore seen as distortions of the data
*Note: point 5 and 6 = contrast non-scientific research methods
A Priori Knowledge : A Posteriori Knowledge:
• Knowledge that we have prior to • Knowledge that we can have only after we
experience have certain experiences
• This knowledge or justification is • This knowledge or justification is dependent on
independent of experience experience or empirical evidence
The scientific method and its properties:
- There is a distinction between qualitative and quantitative research methods
because they have different research aims
- The scientific method of acquiring knowledge is a systematic investigation of a
question, phenomenon or problem using certain principles
- All sciences are united by their common method of how knowledge is acquired
1. In Quantitative research,
Step 1: A description of the object, relationship or situation (empirical) is required
The object of the study must be accurately depicted
The empirical method of objective observation must be used
Step 2 : An explanation or statement of the relationship between the described facts should be
expressed (rationalistic), where possible in the form of a law
This explanation is therefore the result of a reasoning process using the rationalistic
method, and leads to the formulation of a natural or social law (law is not in a legal sense)
Step 3: A prediction of future events under well-defined conditions should be permitted by the
stated explanation
The correctness of this explanation should be tested
3
, Step 4: Intelligent intervention is based on correct explanations leading to the ability to predict
events
Correct explanations leading to the ability to predict events should yield intelligent
intervention which enables changes to occur that improve a situation
2. In Qualitative research,
- the researcher concentrates on the observation and recording of the events under
study
- Very little is known about the situation under observation = No a priori explanations
are given and thus, no expectations or predictions can be tested
- It is expected that some explanations will be found at the end on the basis of the
data collection and analysis
- Science can be defined as the building knowledge obtained by the use of a particular
methodology, the scientific one
Assumptions of science
1. The existence of natural and social laws - Science presumes order and regularity
in natural and social events
- Some of the aims of scientific research
like explanation, prediction etc. would
not be attainable without this
assumption
- The 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 humans - Science assumes that although human
beings are part of nature and are
themselves subject to its laws, they can
discover those laws
- These laws are the result of observation
of certain regularities that indicate that
natural events proceed according to
our expectations based on our
understanding of those events
3.Natural phenomena have natural causes - No supernatural powers are necessary
to grasp the cause of events and no
unexplainable supernatural forces are
needed to explain the way nature
functions
- Scientific understandings are based on
parsimony of ideas
4
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