Epistemological development
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Transcript of Epistemological development
11
Instructional Design
Epistemological Development
English Study Program
April 2013
22
Ways of knowing
• So, we have a set of research questions… how do we know the answers to the questions?
• Epistemology: the division of philosophy that investigates the nature and origin of knowledge.
• Six common forms of human knowledge acquisition and formation
33
Low level epistemological methods
•Tenacity
•Intuition
•Authority
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Ways of knowing: Tenacity
• Tenacity– “The way it has always been.”– We accept the answer (knowledge) because
it has survived over time.– Little rigor possible in analysis of the
knowledge– Examples of knowledge via tenacity:
• cultural customs, norms, traditions
• foods eaten on particular holidays
55
Way of knowing: Intuition
• Intuition– “It feels right.”– Extra-sensory source, gut feelings, so on– Again, less rigor in the analysis of the
knowledge, because it is not readily analyzable
66
Ways of knowing: Authority
• Authority– answers, knowledge gained from a trusted
source– burden of analysis is mostly on the credibility
of the source
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Ways of knowing: Science
• Science: the development of knowledge through a combination of rationalism and empiricism. – Mind (logic) + Senses (observation)– Rational empirical method: another name for science
• Rationalism– Development of knowledge through the application of
the rules of logic
• Empiricism– Development and confirmation of knowledge through
the observation of events using human senses
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Ways of knowing: Science (cont.)
• Rationalism: knowing through logic• deductive logic:
– apply general principles to a case to draw conclusions– syllogism
• inductive logic:– from specific case, generalize to principles– Basis for hypothesis testing
• analogical logic:– from a specific case, apply to another case– Based on similarities between the cases
• casual logic :– cause and effect link between events
• Three requirements for establishing a causal link (see later)
99
Advantage of science over the other methods of knowing?
• able to develop new knowledge, find new answers, beyond accepting existing answers, by applying logic
• able to verify newly established knowledge by objectively relying on one’s own senses
– What is the key difference between “Low level epistemological methods” and “high level epistemological method”?
• Develop vs. Accept
1010
Characteristics of science
– Logical• Adherence to the rules of logic
– Empirical• Objects/phenomena being investigated should be observable.
– Problem oriented• Begins with a problem statement then ends with other problems
– Procedure driven• To keep objectivity
– Community-Based• Exchange of ideas and procedures
– Replicable• This is what a method section is for
– Self critiquing• What you do at the end of a study (discussion section)
– Evolutionary• Grows day by day
– Creative• Revolutionary findings!; beyond the normal application of logic!
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Fundamental Scientific Activities
• Theory development– What is theory?
• A set of interrelated constructs, definitions, and propositions that presents a systematic view of phenomena by specifying relations among variables, with the purpose of explaining the phenomena.
• Causal statement with boundary conditions
• Observation– Observation follows research methods
(survey, experiment, content analysis, naturalistic observation, etc.)
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Evaluation of Theory
• Clarity• Parsimony• Validity
– Is it empirically true?
• Testability• Scope
– How big is it?
• Flexibility– Can it adopt to explain new related observations?
• Predictability– What can we predict based on this?
• Utility– for explanation, generation of new knowledge, prediction, etc.
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Procedures of the scientific method
– Problem development– Methodological design– Data collection– Data analysis– Interpretation of findings, generalizing of
principle, developing theories
1414
A note on causality
• Tendency to “prove” causal relationships is very strong in science and in life
• Need to consider the criteria for causality– Temporal ordering: cause precedes effect in
time– Meaningful correlation: must have a
theoretical foundations for observed correlations
– No competing hypotheses: correlation cannot be explained by other factors
1515
A note on causality (cont.)
• Exercises in alternative hypotheses
1616
End of Slides
ANY QUESTION?