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How do we know things?
Today’s session
You are learning to...
• Distinguish between
scientific and other ways of
knowing
• Distinguish between
concepts central to the
scientific method
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You are learning about...
• Epistemology
• The scientific method
Ways of knowing…
• Knowledge can come from:
• None of these are infallible. Think of an
example to show how each may lead to
mistaken knowledge.
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– Authority – I am told that…
– Intuition – I feel that…
– Experience – I have seen that…
– Reason – I have worked out that…
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• To what extent does science employ each of
these different ways of knowing?
Science
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• A way of knowing based on experience and
reason (Kerlinger, 1973)
• Authority and intuition play a role in science
but ultimately must be shown to be logical
(reason) and supported by empirical evidence
(experience)
– What roles do authority and intuition play in this
statement?
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– Quantum mechanics is certainly imposing. But an
inner voice tells me that it is not yet the real thing.
The theory says a lot, but does not really bring us any
closer to the secret of the 'old one'. I, at any rate, am
convinced that He does not throw dice.
– Albert Einstein
Science
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• A sort of knowledge
• A method for obtaining knowledge
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• Arrange the cards into separate piles and give
each pile a name
Elements of scientific knowledge
• Science consists of…
Facts – verifiable data about the world
Concepts – rules that allow facts to be categorised
Principles – relationships among facts & concepts
Laws – principles accepted as true for all cases
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Scientific research
• Remember that research aims can be:
Facts and concepts
Principles
Laws
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– Descriptive
– Relational
– Causal
Elements of scientific knowledge
• Theories
– Sets of facts, concepts and principles that allow a
particular phenomenon to be described and
explained
– Predictions derived from theories about what will
be observed under particular circumstances
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• Hypotheses
Scientific research
Theory
Interpretation
Hypothesis
• Think of an example of this process from the
psychological topics we have studied
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Empirical data
Scientific research
Paradigm dictates
how theory is
constructed
Theory
Interpretation
Hypothesis
Generalisation of
findings
Use of accepted
research method
Empirical data
Others will attempt
to replicate findings
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Peer review – validity
of methods &
interpretation
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• Using the criteria we have established so far,
to what extent do you agree that psychology is
a scientific discipline?