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Fact vs Theory 

The terms fact and theory are words with different meanings.

 Although both are used in many different fields of studies, they stillmanage to have their own distinct definitions that separate one from

the other. One particular field, wherein both terms are commonly used

is in Science.

In the scientific world, facts (or scientific facts) are what one can

readily observe. It can pertain to any obective and real phenomenon

may it be the falling of the ball after being thrown upwards or othersimple observable occurrences. In this regard, the fact is that the ball

 will fall. !ore so, if this test is being done repeatedly under a

controlled environment that cancels all unnecessary variables the

phenomenon would have become a very obvious and undeniable fact.

It is considered a fact because it will remain as true even after several

centuries unless there is a more rigid and precise way of measuring a

certain phenomenon.

On the contrary, theories in science are li"ened to the e#planations to

 what has been observed. It is relatively greater in weight to what a

hypothesis is. If a hypothesis (an intelligent guess) is the first base of 

formulating a scientific law then theories are placed at the second

 base. These are the statements that are assumed to be true (because

they seem so) even if there are no hundred percent concrete evidences.

$evertheless, theories are always presented to be true even if the

claims in the said theories are mere speculations or a general

agreement between a significant numbers of e#perts. !oreover,

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theories are the statements that often undergo a series of tests to

nullify the claims maid by those who propose them.

To display the difference between fact and theory , a good e#ample is when a report will state that a certain hurricane "illed thousands in a

particular state in America yesterday because of the rec"less mass

evacuation spearheaded by the local officials. In this aspect, the fact is

that many were "illed by the hurricane while the theory is the reason

 behind the death of these people. %as it only because of the hapha&ard

evacuation plan or was it also because of the intensity of the hurricane

among many other reasons' ence, facts are really the real deal while

theories are still unclear although presumed to be true.

. *acts are observations whereas theories are the e#planations to

those observations.

+. Theories are vague truths or unclear facts whereas facts are really 

facts.

ead more- ifference /etween *act and Theory 0 ifference /etween

0 *act vs

Theory  http-11www.differencebetween.net1language1difference2

 between2fact2and2theory13i#&&456s7

Theories versus facts

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We distinguish between factual statements and theories. If the path from a statement to verifiable

 predictions is short and uncontroversial, we call it factual. A theory is a statement which can

generate a wide scope of predictions, but only through some intermediate steps, such asreasoning, computation, the use of other statements. Thus the path from a theory to predictions

may not be uniue and often becomes debatable. !etween the e"treme cases of statements that

are clearly facts and those which are clearly theories there is a whole spectrum of intermediatecases.

Top#level theories of science are not deduced from observable facts$ they are constructed by a

creative act, and their usefulness can be demonstrated only afterwards. %instein wrote& '(hysics

is a developing logical system of thin)ing whose foundations cannot be obtained by e"tractionfrom past e"perience according to some inductive methods, but come only by free fantasy'.

The statement of the truth of a theory has essentially the same meaning as that of a simple factual

 *udgment& we refer to some e"perience which *ustifies, or will *ustify, the decision#ma)ing on the

 basis of this statement. When this e"perience is in the past we say that the truth is established.

When it is e"pected in the future we say it is hypothetical. There is no difference of principle between factual statements and theories& both are varieties of models of reality which we use to

ma)e decisions. A fact may turn out to be an illusion, or hallucination, or a fraud, or amisconception. +n the other side, a well#established theory can be ta)en for a fact. And we

should accept critically both facts and theories, and re#e"amine them whenever necessary. The

differences between facts and theories are only uantitative& the length of the path from thestatement to the production of predictions.

What Is the Difference between a Primary andSecondary Source?The difference between primary and secondary sources is that primary source refers tothe original article created by an individual or a group of people whereas secondary

source refers to documentation derived from primary sources. Secondary sources

interpret, analye and discuss information obtained from the primary source.

5 Additional Answers

 

The main difference between a primary source and a secondary source is that primary

source is the original obect, raw material or first2hand information, while the secondary 

source is something that is sourced from the primary source.

 

The main difference between primary and secondary sources is that while primary

sources are the original article or boo" written by a person, secondary sources are

sources that are written about primary sources. Sometimes a source can be a primary

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source in one ournal article and a secondary source in another ournal article

depending on the relationship the writer has in the ournal article

 

In writing a custom term paper, research paper, or essay, primary sources means that it

is original article or boo" created by an individual or sometimes a group of people.Secondary sources are sources that are written about primary sources. Secondary

sources analy&e, interpret, and discuss information about the primary source.

 

 A primary source is firsthand from the source or person therefore it is an original article

or boo" created by an individual. A secondary source writes or tal"s about the primary

source. 8rimary sources include paintings created by artists while secondary sources

include reviews and newspaper articles.

 8rimary source is one that is created during the historical event that it describes and it

comes firsthand from the person or source such as a dairy. A secondary source is one

that analy&es and interprets primary source such as a te#t boo".

Q&A Related to "What Is the Difference between a Primary and..."  What are  Primary and  Secondary Sources?

8rimary and secondary sources are sources that students will need to

implement within a paper or proect. 8rimary sources are considered to be the

main source of information. Thishttp!""answers.as#.com"$ducation"%ther"what&are&pr...

What is the  difference in  primary and  secondary sources?

8rimary is someone9s account of the event, if they were there, and secondary is

someone9s account if they weren9t there. Terietary is usually in a report, that

includes primary and

http!""wi#i.answers.com"'"What(is(the(difference(b...)ow to *ontrast a  Primary +  Secondary Source.

. 7ompile plenty of primary and secondary sources to give your research a well2balanced and thorough basis in past wor". Identify primary sources by

noting their date of publication

http!""www.ehow.com"how&--/&contrast0primary0s...What is the  difference of   primary and  secondary sources?

8rimary Source2 a document, recording or other source of information(paper,

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picture,....etc) that was created at the time being studied, by an authoritative

source, usually one with

The Difference Between Primary and Secondary Sources of Data

Primary data is data, which is collected by the researcher themselves.This kind of data is new, original research information.

Primary sources enable the researcher to get as close as possible to

what actually happened and is hands on. A primary source reflects the

individual viewpoint of a participant or observer.Primary sources are

first-hand information from a person who witnessed or participated in

an event. Examples of primarydata are:

* Interviews

* Questionnaires

*Observations

Secondary research is using information that has already been produced

by other people. A secondary source is used by a person usually not

present at the event and relying on primary source documents for

information.Secondary sources usually analyse and interpret. Finding

out about research that already exits will help form new research.

Examples of secondary data:

Internet

Books/ Magazines

Newspapers

Office statistics

The government statistics service

The office of national statistics

Centre for applied social surveys

The distinctions between primary and secondary sources can be

ambiguous. An individual document may be a primary source in one

context and a secondary source in another. Time is a defining element.

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For example, a recent newspaper article is not usually a primary

source; but a newspaper article from the 1860's may be a primary

source for civil war research.

Explain the concept of validity

Validity is how truthful something is and whether a piece of research

has the ability to test or research what it set out to measure. The

word validity mainly refers to the data collection and whether it is

true. If a questionnaire, which was aimed at young girls was carried

out the validity would look at the results and think how truthful they

were. The questionnaire might not have been answered by who it was

aimed at so would not be truthful. So maybe the researcher would need

to chose a method that you know who is answering it (e.g. interview)

The validity would also take into account that if the answers were not

reliable it could be because the respondents did not understand the

question, so the questions would need to be more clear. The validity

would also look at whether the research methods actually measured what

they claimed. If a piece of research is not reliable then it is

unlikely to be valid.

Explain the concept of reliability:

Reliability in research terms is whether the results in a research

method are trustworthy and dependable. If the same piece of research

were carried out again the same results would be reproduced again who

ever was doing the research. In doing a piece of research reliabledata collection methods need to be used to collect the information.

Some methods of data collection are seen as more reliable than others.

For example on a questionnaire people will often lie or not tell the

truth (e.g. ticking the box to say how much you earn). Whereas in an

interview face-to-face people will tell the truth a lot more and say

exactly how they feel, so the results will be more valid. Often when

carrying out research, working with others will often help your work

to become more valid and reliable. Using unreliable data collection

can lead to validity problems with the data; this means that the data

would be inaccurate.

Method: Questionnaire Survey

Describe this method

Questionnaires are simply lists of pre-written questions and sometimes

also include scales. Which can either sent to the respondents home

which often has a low response rate as people see no reason to fill

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them in, or can be given to the person directly to be filled in there

or then e.g. on the streets.

A researcher would often uses a variety of questions so that they can

try and get the best response from people in the questions used. When

writing questionnaires using more open questions (say how you reallyfeel answers) produces qualitative data. Using closed questions (fixed

response answers) produce quantitative data.

Questionnaires maybe postal which has a low response rate self

administered where the person fills them in themselves or in the form

of a interview where the researcher reads out the questions

Questionnaires are used to reaching a large number of people because

the forms can just be handed out and are not as time consuming or

expensive as interviews would be. Although cannot be as accurate

because people do not have the chance to express themselves like they

would in a interview so may just end up ticking a box that they don't

agree with because there are no other options. Here is a selection of

questions that could be used in a questionnaire.

List: Where there is a list of answers to a question and the

respondent can just tick the boxes that apply to them the most.

E.g. Which sorts of houses have you live in the past? (Tick as many as

needed)

Detached Semi-detached Terrace Bungalow Flat Apartment Other

Category: Where the respondent can only choose one of the set listed

answers.

E.g. How long have you lived in your current house for?

Under 1 year 1-5 years 6-10 years 11-20 years 21-30 years 31 years or

more

Ranking: The respondent can rank things or order of what they like thebest or least.

E.g. Indicate your preference for what you look for in as good home.

(1very important and 4 least important)

Good neighbours Big garden Close to the shops Four or more bedrooms

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Attitude scales: this is where the respondent is allowed to indicate

to what they agree with and what they disagree with or how much they

like or dislike something.

E.g. "All houses must have a garage". How much do you agree or

disagree with this statement.

Agree Strongly Agree Neither Agree or Disagree Disagree Strongly

Disagree

Advantages of questionnaires

Disadvantages of questionnaire

Cheap and quick to conduct compared to other methods. Does not take so

long because

Fixed response questions mean that answers can be quickly and

accurately analysed on the computer.

Every question is the same so it is easy to see patters and make

comparisons between different groups of people such as their age or

between what jobs they have.

If the sampling is successful you can sometimes make general

statements about the whole population rather than about the group of

people who took part in the questionnaire.

No interviewer bias is involved because there is no interviewer

present. The only person there could be there would be the person

handing out the questionnaire.

Analysing the results on a large scale might be very time consuming

and could be out of date when the results are ready.

Statistics giveno indication of how the person feels and could not be

accurate because it could not be how the person truly feels.

The statistics give no individual meaning or interpretation.

People may not understand the question or think it has I different

meaning and interpret it in totally different ways. This makes

comparison of answers difficult if groups have common interpretation.

Lying is also a danger. The only way to check is to put in is

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difficult to check weather they are or not.

If the response rate is low or the sampling is less random, the

overall findings will be less reliable.

Method : In-depth interviews

Describe this method:

Interviews are very similar to questionnaires as they are organised

around a series of questions that the interviewee can respond.

Although interviews are longer winded than questionnaires. They are

also a lot more personal than questionnaires and are able to collect

more detailed information. Interviews are usually take place

face-to-face and one-to-one which enables the interviewer to gain

information on a more sensitive subject.

Interviews need to be carried out really carefully by the interviewer

and require good communication skills. They are much harder work than

questionnaires, as they can be very time consuming.

Interviews can be open-ended, structured or semi-structured.

Structured: Questions asked require as certain answer.

Open-ended: Don't have a format, so the interviewee can express their

feelings.

Semi-structured: Are half way in-between both structured and open

ended. During an interview it is best to use a bit of both to get a

variety.

Advantages of in-depth interviews

Disadvantages of in-depth interviews

Good interaction can often develop between the interviewer and

interviewee; this means that honest and trustworthy answers areproduced. This is really important when the subject is considered

sensitive or personal.

In interviews you are able to understand how they really feel and can

speak for themselves. Also interviews are able to get closer to their

experiences.

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The information is not already known by the questions set, this means

the interviewer can focus on specific information.

The reason people feel how they do can be explored rather than just

collecting specific information.

A tape recorder can because, which means that the information can be

referred back to when analysing the data.

The results depend on how skilful the interviewer is.

The interviewer can be very bias the three main problems are that the

interviewer can often give clues like frowning that could influence

them. The interviewer could follow up information they believe is more

relevant. Or if there was more than one interviewer than it could mean

that there was more than one bias.

Interviews are very time consuming and expensive so not as many can

take place.

Each interview is different so it means producing statistics or

general results can be difficult.

The sample can be bias if someone refused to be interviewed.

People can often change their mind on a topic once the interview has

started and they may change their behaviour.

Sometimes people ask questions back. the interviewer must not answer

the questions as it can change peoples minds or opinions on a subject.

Method : Direct observation

Describe this method

Direct observation is when you study what people do and how they

behave by watching them in their everyday life. The observer would

observe from a distance and will not become involved in what the groupis doing. As with other techniques the data collected has to be

recorded in a certain way so that the relevant information is

collected, the main way of collecting information is to take notes.

In direct observation the subjects (e.g. children) would go about

their normal life (e.g. in a playgroup) whilst being observed.

Observing how people live and behave in their natural settings can

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give the researcher a lot of information about the subject's life and

why they are who they are. Direct observation is the best way to look

at the interactions people have especially with children as interviews

or questionnaires would not work.

There are two main types of observation direct and participant. Directobservation is also known as overt which means that it is obvious and

the observation is not hidden as every one knows that they are there

watching, and identifies the reason why they are watching. The other

observational method is covert linked to participant observation it is

where the researchers identity and purpose remain a secret.

Both quantitative and qualitative data can be collected from

observation:

. Qualitative data covers the type of research, which aims to get

personal views and opinions across. It looks into things in-depth and

the quality ism more important than the quaintly. Interviews and

observations are considered as qualitative this is because the

information collected is not statistical.

Quantitative data however looks at how many people think the same

about something. Quantitative data is all to do with numbers and

statistics. This type of data is designed to collect al lot of it and

then analyse so that conclusions can be drawn. Research methods, which

are classed as quantitative, include questionnaires.

Advantages of Direct observation

Disadvantages of Direct observation

The observers can see what the people actually do rather than being

told in a questionnaire or an interview.

The subjects are studied in their natural environment so should act

themselves more.

The observer is able to detect behaviour that the subjects are unawareof doing, so would not mention it as they believed it as normal.

In direct observation you are able to look at group behaviour and hoe

they interact with each other.

This could be the only method of finding out information about young

children as they could not fill in questionnaires or take part in an

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interview.

The observer may miss important information while they are note taking

about other information.

Negative observations about what is happening can lead to ethnicalproblems.

If the observer cannot control himself or herself over the sample

being observed this can limit broader application of research in the

future.

Inferences drawn from observed behaviour can lead to misunderstandings

and there fore is a poor way to look at values and believes.

The reliability of observational data collection methods is relatively

low because observations are often personal and non-repeatable.

Method: Participant observation

Describe this method

In participant observation the researcher would enter a group or

situation who they were going to study, and try to get to know the

group of people or the situation from their point of view and join in

with what they do.

During participant observation the researcher would try to understand

the motives and meanings of the person they were studying, they are

trying to gain a deeper understanding of the persons life, their

beliefs, activities of the group and where and how they live. It is a

good way to find new information which may not have been found doing

questionnaires or interviews.

During participant observation the researcher may become to attached

to the people that they are studying and the data could become invalid

as the researcher could be seeing things in a different point of view,

so using interviews or questionnaires along side this research methodis advised. This research method is very time consuming as to collect

valid information, as the group would need to be studied for a long

time.

This research method is often used to find out hidden information on a

hostile group like the police to find out hidden data. There is a risk

of doing this because the group would not appreciate someone who they

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think was there friend and who they trusted going and getting into

trouble for a piece of research.

Advantages of Participant observation

Disadvantages of Participant observation

Observations in the group's natural settings can produce very high

valid data, because they are being themselves.

The data collected can be very useful and may give access to data that

could have been hidden away otherwise.

The data can be observed over a long period of time so can be more

accurate and reliable.

Participant observation may be the only way of accessing information

on more hostile groups that would not normally let you observe them.

During the research the researchers can decide what is important and

what is not as it unfolds, and so do not have to decide what they are

looking for at the beginning of the study

Researchers may not help but start to get involved in the group, and

could influence them in what they do.

Participant observers may never really understand the group or theirsetting so may not be able to appreciate the meanings they have.

Studying groups on a small scale doesn't mean it can be a

representation of any other social groups because everyone is

different.

Observations can sometimes have ethical problems if say there was no

consent obtained when the observation was being carried out.

The reliability of observational data collection methods is low

because observations are often too personal and non-repeatable.Sources in the Humanities 1for sources in the Sciences, click  here2

 3 primary source is a document or physical ob4ect which was written or created during the time under

study. Primary sources enable researchers to get as close as possible to what actually happened during

an historical event and or time period. $5amples include!

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• %6I7I839 D%*:;$8TS 1e5cerpts or translations acceptable2! Diaries, speeches, manuscripts,

letters, interviews, news film footage, autobiographies, official records

• *6$3TI<$ W%6=S! Poetry, drama, novels, music, art

•

6$9I*S %6 36TI>3*TS! Pottery, furniture, clothing, buildings

 3 secondary source interprets and analyes primary sources. These sources are one or more steps

removed from the event. Secondary sources may have pictures, uotes or graphics of primary sources in

them. $5amples include te5tboo#s, magaine articles, histories, criticisms, commentaries, and

encyclopedias.

 

Sources in the Sciences

Primary research 1also called field research2 involves the collection of data that does not already e5ist,

meaning research activity to collect original data. Primary research is often underta#en after the

researcher has gained some insight into the issue by collecting secondary data. $5amples of primary

research include

• 'ualitative research

o interviews

o focus groups

o ethnographies

o participant observations

• 'uantitative research

o controlled laboratory e5periments

o field wor#

o uestionnaires

o surveys

Secondary research involves the summary, collection and"or synthesis of e5isting research. Secondary

research includes meta0analyses and literature reviews.

Explain the diference between primary and secondary sources o data, with examples:

Primary data is data, which is collected by the researcher themselves. This kind o data is

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new, original research inormation.

Primary sources enable the researcher to get as close as possible to what actually happened

and is hands on. primary source re!ects the individual viewpoint o a participant or

observer. Primary sources are "rst#hand inormation rom a person who witnessed or

participated in an event. Examples o primary data are:

$ %nterviews

$ &uestionnaires

$'bservations

(econdary research is using inormation that has already been produced by other people.

secondary source is used by a person usually not present at the event and relying on

primary source documents or inormation. (econdary sources usually analyse and interpret.

)inding out about research that already exits will help orm new research.

Examples o secondary data:

%nternet

*ooks+ aga-ines

ewspapers

'/ce statistics

 The government statistics service

 The o/ce o national statistics

0entre or applied social surveys

 The distinctions