quantitative chapter 2 Flashcards
the two main epistemological methods that are used for research are
humanism and scientific
what is the first step to scientific method?
theories
what are the four steps?
theories, predictions, observations, empirical generalizations
if a theory is really a theory, there must be some way to
test it empirically. We are trying to predict, explain, and control a phenomenon
empiricism is when
something can be idetified sicentifically and that something is sensed by the general public
the second step in the scientific method is this, which does this
predictions/hypotheses, which is the conclusion at the end of a proposition.
a hypothetical or conditional hypothesis consists of two main parts:
the antecedent (if this…) and the consequent (then, it is…)
a syllogism is
major premise, minor premise, conclusion: “All men are mortal. Socrates is man, therefore, Socrates is mortal
in order for a syllogism to work, these have to be true
the main premise
All mammals are living. All lizards are reptiles, therefore, all lizards are living is an example of a syllogism which
is based on true statements but is an ‘apples and oranges’ syllogism which does not work
syllogisms should have some indication that
the major premises are related
the next step in the scientifi method, after our hypothesis, is
observations, which is where the researcher tests the hypothesis
the researcher manipulates this ando does more test which do this
independent variable, test multiple cases to see if the results are consistent or not
the final stage in scientifi methid, after observations, is
empirical generalizations, which is an attempt to describle the pehnomenon based on what we know about it right now, so don’t go crazy when one study means something very vague or specific to a context
