Introduction to knowledge theory and (social) scientific method - what and how. or: Epistemology, quantitative & qualitative methods & learing

Transcription

1 Intrductin t knwledge thery and (scial) scientific methd - what and hw r: Epistemlgy, quantitative & qualitative methds & learing r: Hw d we knw that we knw what we knw? Lecture ntes Use these ntes as a starting pint fr literature and web search - there are lts f descriptin, discussin, uses, eg. f the varius techniques described here. Edgar Bstrøm

2 The lectures are divided int 2 main parts Things & knwlegde What des it mean t knw smething? a little abut epistemlgy Different views n research and a little abut hard and sft aspects f research Research methds Quantitative vs. qualitative methds vs. ther metds Quantitative Methds Qualitative methds and sme qualitative evaluatin methds Research vs. develpment Research used in plitical and cmmercial arguments Can we trust the results? a bit abut reliability and validity can we really trust what the results? Epistemlgy & research methds a shrt intrductin. Edgar Bstrøm,

3 What des it mean t knw smething?, I - A little epistemlgy Atmism Hlism Objectivism Subjectivism Psitivism Interpretism Cnstructivism Ratinalism Intuitin Determinism vs. free will Truth Valid fr me Opinins Perspectives Intersubjectivism Paradigms Epistemlgy & research methds a shrt intrductin. Edgar Bstrøm,

4 What des it mean t knw smething?, II Different ideas and visin has existed in parallel, and thus is a categrizatin difficult, yet few samples: Plat (ca. 300 BC): Plat s thery f ideas: What we bserve are "manifestatins" f "patterns" f things, e.g. a tree that we bserve is manifestatin f the "idea tree". The ideas have, in a sence, a self-will which recur in every instance. Ideas are in their wn wrld, which we cannt bserve. cf. the cncept f numbers class and bject cncept. dualistic wrldview: frms / wrld f ideas, ideal and unchanging the material wrld, perceptible and changeable hw can we knw that what we think we bserve is the "truth"? Cave parable: think f prisners chained in a cave can nly bserve the true reality thrugh the shadws in an pening in the cave. The real wrld, the idea wrld is hidden t us, the sensible wrld is nly a pale shade. Others: Scrate, Aristtle. : Enlightenment (1700s) science, mechanical wrldview, secularism science cause and effect, it's nt that things "have their wn will" we can place urselves utside the bservatinal material, make neutral bservatins tw directins ratinalists (knwledge based n ratinal deductin frm lgical principles), including René Descartes, Cgit, erg sum empirists (can nly get knwledge thrugh bservatin and generalizatin theref), fr example. Jhn Lcke. Immanuel Kant (pictured), the end f the Enlightenment, sught t unite directins. Knwledge can be Analytical apriri: Synthetic a priri: Saying nthing mre than the statement itself, Our assumptins that precede e.g.: The circle is rund, determined by the experience such as space, time meaning f wrds. Synthetic psterir: Learning frm experience The "categrical imperative" in ethics. The difference between "Ding an Sich Daβ" and "Daβ Ding für Mich" Epistemlgy & research methds a shrt intrductin. Edgar Bstrøm,

5 What des it mean t knw smething?, III Rmanticism (ca 's) want nt nly a mechanical wrldview, but als emphasis n emtin, beauty, nature in ur understanding f the wrld Example: What is the purpse f a garden? verall understanding f reality Jean-Jacques Russeau, "Emil", was in the Rmantics even if he timely belnged t Enlightenment. Friederich Schleiermacher, including "The hermeneutic circle" "Scientific era", scientific mdernism. technical innvatins (eg. electricity, telegraphy), evlutinary thery, scial analysis, etc. as the basis psivism: the nly thing we can knw (and the nly thing that exists?) is what we can psitively bserve and infer frm this sectrisatin, fr example. art, religin, plitics, science Mdernism in culture, marked by rebellin against the traditinal develpment ptimism, largely brken by 1st Wrld War. Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Max Weber and thers as imprtant persns Epistemlgy & research methds a shrt intrductin. Edgar Bstrøm,

6 What des it mean t knw smething?, IV Pst-mdernism (many different divisins, including time-frames) Human understanding is nly pssible thrugh language; any understanding will be dependent n scial, histrical and cultural cntext. Pst Mdernists will ften be based n textual representatins, rather than in traditinal empirism (it is hwever imprtant t realize that a pstmdern definitin f "text" will be much brader than the traditinal). Pstmdernism rejects all essentialism and all ttalizatin. In practice, pstmdernism ften exceeding the 1900s established disciplinary bundaries. ( ) Frerunners: Heidegger (including existential philsphy) Wittgenstein (including philsphy f language, eg., "Die Grenze meiner Sprache ist die Grenze meiner Welt") Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (including n generalizatins are pssible, Nihilism, the individual must fight fr himself "Wille zur Macht". "Übermench mentality" etc.) Key peple: Jacques Derrida (including decnstructin - als applies t thers) Michel Fucault (e.g. d nt ask "des things" but "what has made terms with us") Richard Rrty (including nn-realist, nn-essentialists and nn-representatinalist, anti- fundatinalist. The questin t be asked is "Des it wrk?", nt "It is true?". Hans-Gerg vn Gadamer (eg reinterpretatin) Hwever: pstmdernism is nt as ht tday..... Epistemlgy & research methds a shrt intrductin. Edgar Bstrøm,

7 What des it mean t knw smething?, V S: where des ur knwledge cme frm? Often given answer: Lgic basis (but where we get it frm)? and Other axims (but where d we get it frm)? Mathematics (but it is based als n the assumptins)? Axims as a whle (but wh have decided them)? Empirical bservatins, via the senses (but are they safe)? Mrever, many findings build upn advanced instruments, we dn t actually see the bjects. Other s knwledge (but is it safe)? and: we knw that it is transmitted "unchanged"? We d nt bserve natural and ther laws, we nly use the laws t explain the bservatins. Laws bservatins. We dn t bserve cncepts. We can bserve a particular hrse, but nt the cncept hrse, nr the cncept f animals. Inherited knwledge, instincts, it is knwledge? Knwledge? Science? What is / hw ur cnsciusness? Are there ther surces t knwledge? t Science? Hwever: Are we "lcked in the irn cage f ratinality"?? (Max Weber) Epistemlgy & research methds a shrt intrductin. Edgar Bstrøm,

8 What des it mean t knw smething?, VI Sme elements in tday's science debate: Carl Ppper: Falsificatin: A scientific thery cannt be prven, but it must be falsifiable. It is strengthened by nt being able t falsify it. Thus in stark cntrast t the pst-mdernist thinking. NB! Parallel with sftware testing. The falsificatin criterin has been criticized, amng ther things, because f the lack f symmetry: Shuld be stricter criteria t accept a hypthesis than t reject it? We cannt demand abslutely certain knwledge, but rather what is the mst likely, the strngest explanatry pwer. Such thinking is ften called abductin. Thmas Kuhn: Our perceptins are influenced by a set f cncepts, thinking, understanding etc. that we take fr granted, ur paradigms. These understandings are smetimes challenged, e.g. based n new scientific discveries, hence there will, frm time t time be paradigm shift ( scientific revlutins ). Nte: Des this apply t ther fields as well, e.g. plitics? Many have given up n the idea f bjective truth, relativism is therefre philsphically mre viable. "Reality" is just a scial cnstruct (Peter Berger). The best we can hpe fr is an intersubjectivism, but that may, als, an illusin... Others, e.g. Ayn Rand's bjectivism claims the imprtance f distinguishing between individual and bjective reality. She thus believes that things must either be right r wrng, nthing in between may apply. Simultaneusly, is pure ratinalism, and becmes very black and white. A newer cncept is fundatinalism: is it that all must build n a fundatin, a fundatin and a reallity utside us in sme sense, r is it mre apprpriate t rely n a nn-fundatinalistic mindset? Epistemlgy & research methds a shrt intrductin. Edgar Bstrøm,

9 What des it mean t knw smething?, VI Ogden s triangle cncept (ntin, idea) - abstract term (wrd) phenmenn (reference) example: The figure is ver-simplifyed. What is missing in the triangle, include reference t ther cncepts, underlying backgrund, culture, blurring etc. The plea is: Our knwledge is nt directly, but thrugh that we create an idea and try t match that with, r create, language. Epistemlgy & research methds a shrt intrductin. Edgar Bstrøm,

10 What des it mean t knw smething?, VII Basic questin - which man always had: I Nt-I Am I? Is nt-i? Rene Descartes claims, "I think, therefre I am" If yes: Can I knw smehing abut nn-i, if s, hw? Can I knw smething abut I/me, if s, hw? Can nt-i knw smething abut me, if s, hw? Can nt-i knw smething abut nn-i (is it pssible fr me t knw??) Am I different frm nt-i? I & nt-i alternatively: I and nt I Can anything be exist, althugh I cannt bserve it? Are bservatins credible? What is truth (at different levels r fields) r is there n truth? Is the truth imprtant? Epistemlgy & research methds a shrt intrductin. Edgar Bstrøm,

11 Different views n research "Real" research: Exists nly in natural Science Only if quantify - tative r natural - Science methds The use f qualitative methds is als research Interpretatin, fr example.hermeneutric methds can be used "Everything" is research Crrespnds t a large extent: "Hard" / "Sft" / quantitatively qualitatively cntinuus scale.. Science in English means the natural sciences, thers are smething else, fr example. scial science, educatinal science. Sme scientists claim that everything ther than research based n mathematical-scientific methds are quasi-research. D all scial sciences tend t be "mathematising"? (Jhan Galtung, 1967: "Thse wh currently teach scilgy withut being able t d mathematics, will 20 years frm nw be unable t read ssilgical jurnals") But: he was wrng! Claim: Epistemlgy & research methds a shrt intrductin. Edgar Bstrøm,

12 Many disciplines have bth hard and sft sides Gegraphy: Gephysics mineralgy Human/Scial Gegraphy Philsphy: lgic histry f philsphy, epistemlgy, metaphysics Medicine: mlecular bilgy, Surgery Scial Medicine, Psychiatry (in part) Infrmatics: numerical analysis, digital technique scial sides f cmputing systems develpment (t sme extent) infrmatin science I Research methds, then, vary within each subject, nt nly between the different subjects At the same time: the mre "hard" parts have ften had status in prfessinal circles, t sme extent because it is based n lgic / mathematics and / r repeatable experiments - thus be prvable (r lack falsificatin). Discussin: Other examples f subjects with hard and a sft sides? Epistemlgy & research methds a shrt intrductin. Edgar Bstrøm,

13 Even mathematics has sfter sides! Als in mathematical research and educatin, qualitative elements, intuitin, cnceptualizatin, discussin f categrizatin is central. The fllwing is taken frm a textbk f mathematics didactics (Ragnar Slvang: Mathematikkdidaktikk). Experimenting, bserving Inductive phase Organizing the material «Qualified guess» Frmualatin f preliminary result Naming Deductive phase Prf, discussin etc. Gerge Pólya, in his classics "Hw t slve it: a new aspect f mathematical methd", distinguishes between t find - the creative / explrative, "presumably it s" t prve - the frmal prf t check that intuitin was nt wrng. "That smetimes clear..... and smetimes vague stuff... which is... mathematics " (Imre Lakats, 1922 t 1974, after Davis / Hersh: The Mathematical Experience). Epistemlgy & research methds a shrt intrductin. Edgar Bstrøm,

14 Different fcus Current sitatin Lngitudinal Time independent Wide Narrw Hlistic Discuss: Can yu put ther names n the first 3 nes? Is time independent and/r hlistic achievable? TE?? Epistemlgy & research methds a shrt intrductin. Edgar Bstrøm,

15 Develpment / design / engineering vs. research What abut develpment f new ideas, prducts (a bridge, a ty, an electrnic device ), sftware etc. - shuld that be called research? Stp / think! Sme thughts: Develpment: Research: cnstructing things that d nt yet exist. finding ut mre abut things that already exists. May sme parts f r sme aspects f develpment / design / engineering shuld be called research, thers shuld nt? Develpment / design / engineering is, mre ften than nt, based upn research in sme way r anther. In many s mind: the wrd research means it must be clever, advanced and s n having status i.e. that s why we like t call everything research. On the ther side: bth develpment (and research in the traditinal meaning) ften try t give us new insight shuld nt that be enugh t call is research? C-perate: Research Develpment Epistemlgy & research methds a shrt intrductin. Edgar Bstrøm,

16 data/assets/pdf_file/0011/ /engineering-educatin-research.pdf Epistemlgy & research methds a shrt intrductin. Edgar Bstrøm,