Lecture #1. Sci-Sci Method

8/12/2019 Lecture #1. Sci-Sci Method

1/34

METHODSOF ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE

LECTURE #1


2/34

4 Ways

of Acquiring Knowledge

Tenacity

AuthorityA prioriScience


3/34


4/34

Authority ~ knowledge is valid because it isclaimed as valid by a respectable source orauthority~ better than tenacityEx: teachers, artists, politicians, experts,opinion leaders


5/34

A priori ~ agreeing with reason, not withexperience

~ method of intuition~ natural inclination toward truthEx: The way we decide in our family or

personal lives ~ out of gut feel


6/34

Science ~ or scientific method~ self-correcting

~ the method must be such that the ultimateconclusion of every man shall be the same ~ a positivist view

Ex: national census, research studies, polls


7/34

Schools of Thought

Rationalism ~ acquiring knowledge thru theprocess of reasoning

~ information is stated and logical rules arefollowed in order to arrive at an acceptableconclusion~ permits us to hypothesize


8/34

Empiricism ~ gaining knowledge thruobservation of real events

~ knowing by experience through the senses~ it is not enough that we arrive at knowledgethrough reasoning; we must experience theseevents through our senses


9/34

Science

A combination of rationalism and empiricismA way of thinking that involves a continuous

and systematic interplay of rational thoughtand empirical observation


10/34

Group Discussion

Consider these:

~ science is difficult~ scientists are weird people who have gray

hair, are bespectacled, wear white laboratorygowns, are old and have that strange stare as

they sit in their laboratories tinkering withsome glass tubes, and so forth


11/34

Points to Ponder

Do you agree that science is better left to thescientist than have the public tinker with it?

That science is the business of scientists andthat the ordinary individual has nothing to dowith it?


12/34


13/34

Two Themes

Science is a method of inquiryScience is a product of such inquiry


14/34


15/34

objective

Unbiased, unprejudiced, detached,impersonal

Viewing things as they areYou dont go ego -involved in research actsA hallmark of any scientific endeavor

Shuns away personal biases andidiosyncrasies


16/34

accurate

Striving to be definite, precise, exactA function of research measurement


17/34

systematic

Science is methodical, thorough, and regularClassificatory schemes

Interrelatedness of various partsParts form a coherent whole


18/34

analysis

The identification and study of thecomponent parts or elements which make upthingsBreaking down a whole into parts, aprocedure into steps, a question into issues


19/34

determinate

Relatively agreed-upon defined traits orboundaries

Ex: Orgcom does not deal with fiscalmanagement; but both Orgcom and FiscalAdministration look at things in the contextof their own fields


20/34

Aims of Science

To describeTo explain

To predict


21/34

Description

What are the facts ?What is the case ?

What is out there ?


22/34


23/34

Prediction

Making inferences from facts or lawssuch and such will happen

if these conditions prevail so and so will occur You leapfrog into the future


24/34

Theory

A set of propositionsWith defined and interrelated constructs

Interrelations among sets of variablesA systematic view of phenomenaExplains a phenomenon

A way of seeing


25/34

The Scientific Method

Identify the problemDefine the problem

Formulate hypothesisDeduce consequencesTest hypothesis


26/34

Problem Identification

An obstacle to understandingA felt difficulty

A knowledge gap


27/34

Defining the Problem

Observe the problem situationProblematize!

Intellectualize what may be initially anemotional observation of a situation


28/34

Hypothesizing

Suggest solutions to the problemCraft tentative propositions about relations

between variables


29/34

Deductive Reasoning

If each hypothesis is true, certainconsequences can lead to more significantproblems or implications


30/34

Hypothesis Testing

Search for observable evidence that willconfirm or nullify consequences

Finding which hypothesis goes withobservable facts ~ offering most reliablesolution to a problemTesting the relation expressed by thehypothesis


31/34

In concrete terms

There is doubt, a barrier, an emotionaldisturbance

You struggle to define the problemYou study the literatureYou analyze experiences

You wait for an inventive leap of the mind You formulate hypothesisYou deduce the empirical implications


32/34

A more concrete example

Problem : Job Satisfaction (JS)What is the relation between JS and Job

Position (JP)?Hypothesis : Ones JP in the organizationalladder determines ones level of JS As one climbs up the organizationalstructure, the more satisfied the personbecomes in his/her job


33/34

Getting into real action

Ill conduct a survey to test my hypothesisAnalysis of survey data may lead to (1)JS and

JP are directly related (as one goes up anddown the organizational ladder, his/her JSfollows), or (2) JS and JP do not affect eachother (JS is not determined by JP; thus, one

may be satisfied or dissatisfied with his/her job regardless of ones JP)


34/34

Your Turn!

Think of your own Problem . Problematize!Follow the rigors of the Scientific MethodPresent your output ~

Lecture #1. Sci-Sci Method

Documents

Transcript of Lecture #1. Sci-Sci Method