research methods: features of science

Question 1

.how many features of science are there?

Answer 1

.7

Question 1

.what are the features of science?

Answer 1

.objectivity
.empiricism
.replicability
.falsifiability
.theory construction
.hypothesis testing
.paradigm shifts

Question 2

.what is meant by objectivity?

Answer 2

.researcher remains impartial
.personal bias is minimised so as not to influence the research process or findings

Question 3

.what is meant by empiricism?

Answer 3

.the belief that theories should be based on gathering evidence from direct observation and experimentation

Question 4

.what is meant by replicability?

Answer 4

.extent to which scientific procedures and findings can be repeated by other researchers

Question 5

.what is meant by falsifiability?

Answer 5

.for a theory to be credible, it must clearly state what would count as contradictory evidence, there should be a way it could be proved untrue

Question 6

.what is meant by theory construction?

Answer 6

.a general set of laws and principles that can be used to make predictions is developed from evidence gathered

Question 7

.what is meant by hypothesis testing?

Answer 7

.a theory should produce testable statements, which allow the validity of the theory to be checked

Question 8

.what is meant by paradigm shift?

Answer 8

.a paradigm is a shared set of assumptions and agreed methods within a scientific discipline, occasionally this can cause a shift when there is enough evidence to provide a new assumption