ch 2 scientific thinking
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Scientific Thinking
Written by: Mariyan Ivanov
Students number:1023315
JMSc European Business and Finance
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Styles of thinking
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Empiricism-to donate observations and propositions based onsense experience and/or derived from such experience by methods
of inductive logic, including mathematics and statistics.
Rationalism-reason is a primary source of knowledge. Rationalism
differs from empiricism in that rationalists believe all knowledge
can be deduced from known laws or basic truths of nature. This is
claimed to be possible because underlying laws structure the
world logically.
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Untested opinion-form of knowing that people cling todespite contrary evidence.
Self-evident truth- is one that is known to be true by
understanding its meaning without proof.
Persons of authority- too often authority depends onstatus or position rather than on true expertise. Such
authorities are often wrong, so it is wise to accept their
views cautiously. Authorities serve as important sources
of knowledge but should be judged by their integrity,
the quality of the evidence they present and their
willingness to present an open and balanced case.
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The literary style of thinking- literary perspective is one
where a person, a movement, or a whole culture is
interpreted, but largely in terms of the specific purposes and
perspectives of the actors, rather than in terms of the abstractand general categories of the scientists own explanatory
scheme
Scientific method-the essential principals:1-direct observation
of phenomena,2-clearly defined variables, methods andprocedures,3-empiracally testable hypothesis,4-the ability to
rule out rival hypothesis,5-the statistical rather than linguistic
justification of conclusions and 6-self-correcting process.
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Postulational style-studies in operations research,
management science, mathematical modeling, and
simulation are postulational. One goal of the objective is to
reduce the object of study to mathematical, formal terms.
These terms (postulates), are used to devise theorems that
represent logical proofs. The objective is to deduce a
structure that may account for any phenomenon having
similar forms.
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Induction-to induce is to
draw a conclusion from
one or more particular facts or pieces of evidence.
The conclusion explains
the facts, and the facts
support the conclusion.
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Combining induction and
deduction-induction occurswhen we observe a fact and
ask Why is this?. In answer
to this question, we advance a
tentative explanation(hypothesis).
The hypothesis is plausible if it
explains the event or condition
(fact) that prompted thequestion. Deduction is the
process by which we test
whether the hypothesis is
capable of explaining the fact.
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Reflective thinking and the Scientific method
Encounters a curiosity, doubt, barrier, suspicion or obstacle
Struggles to state the problem
Proposes hypothesis to explain the facts that are believed tobe logically related to the problem
Deduces outcomes or consequences of the hypothesis
Formulates several rival hypothesis
Feeds information back into the original problem Draws a conclusion, an inductive inference, based on
acceptance or rejection
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Understanding theory: components and
connections
Concept- a bundle of meanings
or characteristics associated with
certain events, objects,
conditions, situations, and the
like.
Sources of concept-borrow from
other languages or other fields.Adopt new meaning for words or
develop new labels for concepts.
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Problems in concept use
People differ in the meanings
they include under the
particular label.
Challenging concepts that are
familiar, but not well
understood, such as leadership,
motivation, personality, social
class and fiscal policy.
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Constructs An image or idea specifically
invented for a given research
and/or theory-building purpose.
We build constructs by
combining the simpler
concepts, especially when the
idea or image we intend to
convey is not directly subject toobservation.
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Variables
A symbol to which numbers or values are assigned. Inpractice, the term variable is used as a synonym forconstruct or the property being studied.
Dichotomous Male/Female
Employed/Unemployed
DiscreteEthnic background
Educational level
Religious affiliation
Continuous
Income
Temperature
Age
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Independent and Dependent Variable
Independent Variable Dependent Variable
Presumed cause Presumed effect
Stimulus Response
Predicted from Predicted to
Antecedent Consequence
Manipulated Measured outcome
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Moderating variables-is a second independent variable that isincluded because it is believe to have a significant
contributory or contingent effect on the originally stated IV-
DV relationship.
Extraneous variables-are variables other than the independentvariable that may bear any effect on the behavior of the subject
being studied
Intervening variables-that factor which theoretically affects the
observed phenomenon, but cannot be seen, measured or
manipulated; its effect must be inferred from the effects of theindependent and moderator variables on the observed
phenomenon
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Propositions and Hypothesis
Preposition- a statement about
concepts that may be judged as true or
false if it refers to observe
phenomena. When proposition is
formulated for empirical testing, we
call it hypothesis.
Hypothesis have also been describedas statements in which we assign
variables of cases. A case is defined in
this sense as the entity or thing the
hypothesis talks about.
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Descriptive hypothesis-propositions that typically statethe existence, size, form, or distribution of some
variables
Relational hypothesis- statements that describe a
relationship between two variables with respect to somecase. Correlational and explanatory relationship.
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The role of the hypothesis
Several important functions:
it guides the direction of the study
it identifies facts that are relevant and those that are
not; in so doing, it suggest which form of research
design is likely to be most appropriate provide a framework for organizing the conclusions
that result
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What is a good hypothesis?
Should fulfill three conditions:
To be adequate for its purpose
Must be testable
Must be better than its rivals
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Theory A set of systematically interrelated concepts, definitions
and propositions that are advanced to explain and predict
phenomena (facts).
Roles:
Orientation; it narrows the range of facts we need to study
Suggest a system for the researcher to impose on data in
order to classify them in the most meaningful way Summarize what is known about the object of study
Predict further facts
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Models
Representation of system that is constructed to study
some aspect of that system or the system as a whole.
Major functions- description, explication and
simulation
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Thank you for yourattention !
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References Business Research Methods-Donald R. Cooper, Pamela S.
Schindler; McGraw Hill Higher Education; 9th edition;
A miniature guide to Scientific thinking : For Students and
Faculty By Dr . Richard Paul and Dr. Linda Elder
http://www.readyatfive.org/images/pdfs/scientific_thinking.pdf
http://www.ejmste.com/v4n3/EURASIA_v4n3_Coll.pdf
Scientists and Scientific Thinking: Understanding Scientific
Thinking Through an Investigation of Scientists Views AboutSuperstitions and Religious Beliefs; Richard K. Coll and Mark
C. Lay, Neil Taylor; April 2008