What are empirical methods of cognition? Empirical methods of psychological research.
empirical methods
Perhaps the most common of these is the method of observation. This is the direct perception by the researcher of the studied pedagogical phenomena and processes. Along with direct tracing of the course of observed processes, an indirect one is also practiced, when the process itself is hidden, and its real picture can be fixed by some indicators. For example, the results of an experiment to stimulate the cognitive activity of students are being monitored. In this case, one of the indicators of shifts is the progress of schoolchildren, recorded in the forms of assessments, the pace of mastering educational information, the volume of mastered material, and the facts of students' personal initiative in obtaining knowledge. As we can see, the very cognitive activity of students lends itself to registration not directly, but indirectly.
There are several types of observations. First of all, this observation direct and indirect where the researcher himself or his assistants acts, or the facts are recorded according to several indirect indicators. Next stand out solid or discrete observations. The first covers processes in a holistic way, from their beginning to completion. The latter are dotted, selective fixation of certain phenomena and processes under study. For example, when studying the labor intensity of teacher and student work in a lesson, the entire learning cycle is observed from its start at the beginning of the lesson to the end.
Observation materials are recorded using such means as protocol, diary entries, video, film recordings, phonographic recordings, etc. In conclusion, it should be noted that the method of observation, with all its possibilities, is limited. It allows you to detect only the external manifestations of pedagogical facts. Internal processes remain inaccessible for observations.
The weak point of the organization of observation is sometimes the insufficient thoughtfulness of the system of signs by which it is possible to fix the manifestation of this or that fact, the lack of unity of requirements in the application of these signs by all participants in the observations.
Questioning methods. The methods of this group are relatively simple in organization and universal as a means of obtaining a wide range of data. They are used in sociology, demography, political science, and other sciences. The practice of public services for studying public opinion, population census, and collecting information for making managerial decisions is adjacent to the survey methods of science. Surveys of various groups of the population form the basis of state statistics.
In pedagogy, three well-known types of survey methods are used: conversation, questioning, interviewing.Conversation - dialogue between the researcher and the subjects according to a pre-designed program. The general rules for using the conversation include the selection of competent respondents (i.e. those who answer questions), the rationale and communication of research motives that correspond to the interests of the subjects, the formulation of variations of questions, including questions “head on”, questions with a hidden meaning, questions checking sincerity of answers, and others. Open and hidden phonograms of a research conversation are practiced.
Close to the research conversation method interview method. Here, the researcher, as it were, sets a topic for clarifying the point of view and assessments of the subject on the issue under study. The rules of interviewing include the creation of conditions that dispose the subjects to sincerity. Both a conversation and an interview are more productive in an atmosphere of informal contacts, sympathy caused by the researcher in the subjects. It is better if the respondent's answers are not recorded in front of his eyes, but will be played back later from the memory of the researcher. Interrogation should not be allowed to look like an interrogation.
Questioning as a written survey more productive, documentary, flexible in terms of the possibilities of obtaining and processing information. There are several types of surveys. Contact survey is carried out when the researcher distributes, fills out and collects completed questionnaires in direct communication with the subjects. Correspondence survey organized through correspondents. Questionnaires with instructions are sent by mail, returned in the same way to the address of the research organization. Press survey implemented through a questionnaire posted in the newspaper. After filling out such questionnaires by readers, the editors operate with the data obtained in accordance with the objectives of the scientific or practical design of the survey.
Pedagogical Council Method involves discussing the results of studying the upbringing of schoolchildren according to a specific program and on common grounds, joint assessment of certain aspects of the personality, identifying the causes of possible deviations in the formation of certain personality traits, as well as the joint development of means to overcome shortcomings.
Method of diagnosing control works. Such work can be written or laboratory-practical in nature. Their effectiveness is determined by a number of requirements:
- The check should: a) provide information about all the main elements of students' preparedness: factual knowledge, special skills, skills of educational work and cognitive activity; b) provide a sufficiently complete amount of information so that it is possible to draw objective conclusions about one or another side of the preparedness of students; c) to ensure the validity of the information given by each control method.
- The methods used should provide information as quickly as possible, with optimal frequency, and preferably at those moments when it is still possible to regulate the learning process.
- Tasks included in the content of examinations must meet the following requirements: a) they must contain questions that are the most complex and difficult to master, as well as relevant for further stages of learning; b) the performance of a set of tasks should provide materials for building a holistic view of the characteristics of the student's mental activity; c) their implementation should reflect the formation of the most universal and integrated methods of educational work, difficult to master and relevant for the main stages of education.
Diagnostic work can be classified:
- by purpose - complex, checking the entire path of the main parameters of learning opportunities, as well as local, checking individual parameters;
- by place in the educational process - thematic, quarterly and annual;
- according to the form of organization - control written, current written, experimental work; preschool exercises;
- in terms of volume and structure of content - works on one topic, on a number of topics, of a programmed type, of a non-programmed type;
- on the design of answers - work with a description of the course of reasoning, with concise answers, with solutions without describing the course of reasoning;
- according to the location of tasks - work with an increase in the complexity of the task and a decrease in their complexity, with a varied alternation of tasks according to their complexity.
Method of pedagogical experiment. This method is considered to be the main one for pedagogical science. It is defined in a generalized sense as experimental testing of the hypothesis. The scale of experiments is global, those. covering a significant number of subjects, local and micro-experiments, conducted with a minimum coverage of their participants.
There were certain rules for organizing pedagogical experiments. These include such as the inadmissibility of risks to the health and development of the subjects, guarantees against harm to their well-being from damage to life in the present and future. In the organization of the experiment, there are methodological prescriptions, among which are the search for an experimental base according to the rules of a representative sample, the pre-experimental development of indicators, criteria and meters to assess the effectiveness of the impact on the results of training, education, the management of hypothetical developments that are tested experimentally.
The pedagogical experiment is a complex method, as it involves the joint use of observation methods, conversations, interviews, questionnaires, diagnostic work, the creation of special situations, etc. This method serves to solve the following research problems
- establishing a relationship between a certain pedagogical influence (or their system) and the results achieved in the process of teaching, educating, and developing schoolchildren;
- identifying the relationship between a certain condition (system of conditions) and the achieved pedagogical results;
- determining the relationship between the system of pedagogical measures or conditions and the time and effort spent by teachers and students to achieve certain results;
- comparing the effectiveness of two or more options for pedagogical influences or conditions and choosing the best option for them in terms of some criterion (efficiency, time, effort, means, etc.);
- proof of the rationality of a certain system of measures according to a range of criteria simultaneously under appropriate conditions;
- discovering causal relationships.
The essence of the experiment is that it puts the studied phenomena in certain conditions, creates systematically organized situations, reveals the facts on the basis of which a non-random relationship is established between experimental influences and their objective results.
In contrast to the study of a pedagogical phenomenon in natural conditions through direct observation, the experiment allows:
- artificially separate the studied phenomenon from others;
- purposefully change the conditions of pedagogical influence on the subjects;
- to repeat individual studied pedagogical phenomena under approximately the same conditions.
The most important conditions for the effectiveness of the experiment:
- a preliminary thorough theoretical analysis of the phenomenon, its historical review, the study of mass practice in order to maximize the study of the field of experiment and its tasks;
- concretization of the hypothesis so that it requires experimental proof due to novelty, unusualness, inconsistency with existing opinions. In this sense, the hypothesis does not simply postulate that a given tool will improve the results of the process (sometimes this is obvious without proof), but suggests that this tool will be the best among the possible ones for certain conditions.
The effectiveness of an experiment depends on the ability to clearly formulate its tasks, develop signs and criteria by which phenomena, means will be studied, the result will be evaluated, etc.
- competence;
- creativity - the ability to solve creative problems;
- positive attitude towards expertise;
- lack of inclination to conformism, i.e. excessive adherence to authority in science, scientific objectivity;
- analyticity and breadth of thinking;
- constructive thinking;
- property of collectivism;
- self-criticism.
Self-esteem is carried out according to a program that implies an indication of the degree of difficulties experienced by teachers in a particular type of activity. This program should cover all the main links in the management of the process of education and upbringing - planning, organization, stimulation, control and accounting.
Method of "pedagogical consultation". This method is a variation of the rating method. It involves a collective discussion of the results of studying the upbringing of schoolchildren according to a specific program and on common grounds, a collective assessment of certain aspects of the personality, identifying the causes of possible deviations in the formation of certain personality traits, as well as the joint development of means to overcome the detected shortcomings.
At the stage of empirical description, it may be useful generalization of pedagogical experience, if the researcher clearly understands that this is only the first step in the study of the problem, and not a self-sufficient procedure (as already mentioned here). The generalization of experience begins with its description based on observation, conversations, surveys, and the study of documents. Further, the classification of the observed phenomena, their interpretation, summing up under known definitions and rules are carried out.
Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine
Donbass State Technical University
Faculty of Management
ESSAY
discipline: "Methodology and organization of scientific research"
on the topic: "Empirical methods of research"
INTRODUCTION
6. Methods involving work with the received empirical information
7. Methodological aspects
LITERATURE
INTRODUCTION
Modern science has reached its current level largely due to the development of its toolkit - the methods of scientific research. All currently existing scientific methods can be divided into empirical and theoretical. Their main similarity is the common goal - the establishment of the truth, the main difference - the approach to research.
Scientists who consider empirical knowledge to be the main thing are called "practitioners", and supporters of theoretical research, respectively, "theorists". The emergence of two opposite schools of science is due to the frequent discrepancy between the results of theoretical research and practical experience.
In the history of knowledge, two extreme positions have developed on the issue of the relationship between the empirical and theoretical levels of scientific knowledge: empiricism and scholastic theorizing. Supporters of empiricism reduce scientific knowledge as a whole to the empirical level, belittling or completely rejecting theoretical knowledge. Empiricism absolutizes the role of facts and underestimates the role of thinking, abstractions, principles in their generalization, which makes it impossible to identify objective laws. They come to the same result when they recognize the insufficiency of bare facts and the need for their theoretical understanding, but they do not know how to operate with concepts and principles, or do it not critically and unconsciously.
1. Methods for isolating and studying an empirical object
Empirical research methods include all those methods, techniques, methods of cognitive activity, as well as the formulation and consolidation of knowledge that are the content of practice or its direct result. They can be divided into two subgroups: methods for isolating and studying an empirical object; methods of processing and systematization of the received empirical knowledge, as well as on the forms of this knowledge corresponding to them. This can be represented with a list:
⁻ observation - a method of collecting information based on the registration and fixation of primary data;
⁻ study of primary documentation - based on the study of documented information directly recorded earlier;
⁻ comparison - allows you to compare the object under study with its analogue;
⁻ measurement - a method of determining the actual numerical values of the properties of the object under study by means of the appropriate measurement units, for example, watts, amperes, rubles, standard hours, etc.;
⁻ normative - involves the use of a set of certain established standards, a comparison with which the real indicators of the system allows you to establish the compliance of the system, for example, with the accepted conceptual model; standards can: determine the composition and content of functions, the complexity of their implementation, the number of personnel, type, etc. act as standards of defining norms (for example, the cost of material, financial and labor resources, manageability, the number of acceptable levels of management, the complexity of performing functions) and enlarged values determined as a ratio to some complex indicator (for example, the standard of turnover of working capital; all norms and standards must cover the entire system as a whole, be scientifically sound, have a progressive and promising character);
⁻ experiment - based on the study of the object under study in conditions artificially created for it.
When considering these methods, it should be borne in mind that in the list they are arranged according to the degree of increase in the activity of the researcher. Of course, observation and measurement are included in all types of experiments, but they should also be considered as independent methods widely represented in all sciences.
2. Observation of empirical scientific knowledge
Observation is a primary and elementary cognitive process at the empirical level of scientific knowledge. As a scientific observation, it consists in a purposeful, organized, systematic perception of objects and phenomena of the external world. Features of scientific observation:
Relies on a developed theory or individual theoretical provisions;
It serves to solve a certain theoretical problem, to formulate new problems, to put forward new or to test existing hypotheses;
Has a reasonable planned and organized character;
It is systematic, excluding errors of random origin;
It uses special means of observation - microscopes, telescopes, cameras, etc., thereby significantly expanding the scope and possibilities of observation.
One of the important conditions of scientific observation is that the data collected are not only personal, subjective, but under the same conditions can be obtained by another researcher. All this indicates the necessary accuracy and thoroughness of the application of this method, where the role of a particular scientist is especially significant. This is common knowledge and goes without saying.
However, in science there are cases when discoveries were made due to inaccuracies and even errors in the results of observation. T
A theory or an accepted hypothesis makes it possible to carry out purposeful observation and discover what goes unnoticed without theoretical guidelines. However, it should be remembered that the researcher, “armed” with a theory or hypothesis, will be quite biased, which, on the one hand, makes the search more effective, but on the other hand, it can eliminate all contradictory phenomena that do not fit into this hypothesis. In the history of methodology, this circumstance gave rise to an empirical approach in which the researcher sought to completely free himself from any hypothesis (theory) in order to guarantee the purity of observation and experience.
In observation, the activity of the subject is not yet aimed at transforming the subject of study. The object remains inaccessible to purposeful change and study, or is deliberately protected from possible influences in order to preserve its natural state, and this is the main advantage of the observation method. Observation, especially with the inclusion of measurement, can lead the researcher to the assumption of a necessary and regular connection, but in itself it is completely insufficient to assert and prove such a connection. The use of instruments and instruments indefinitely expands the possibilities of observation, but does not overcome some other shortcomings. In observation, the dependence of the observer on the process or phenomenon being studied is preserved. The observer cannot, while remaining within the boundaries of observation, change the object, manage it and exercise strict control over it, and in this sense, his activity in observation is relative. At the same time, in the process of preparing an observation and in the course of its implementation, a scientist, as a rule, resorts to organizational and practical operations with the object, which brings the observation closer to the experiment. It is also obvious that observation is a necessary component of any experiment, and then its tasks and functions are determined in this context.
3. Obtaining information by the empirical method
empirical object research information
Methods for obtaining quantitative information are represented by two types of operations - counting and measurement in accordance with the objective differences between discrete and continuous. As a method for obtaining accurate quantitative information in the counting operation, numerical parameters are determined, consisting of discrete elements, while a one-to-one correspondence is established between the elements of the set that makes up the group and the numerical signs with which the count is kept. The numbers themselves reflect objectively existing quantitative relationships.
It should be realized that numerical forms and signs perform a wide variety of functions in both scientific and everyday knowledge, of which not all are related to measurement:
They are means of naming, a kind of labels or convenient identifying labels;
They are a counting tool;
They act as a sign to designate a certain place in an ordered system of degrees of a certain property;
They are a means of establishing the equality of intervals or differences;
They are signs expressing quantitative relations between qualities, i.e., means of expressing quantities.
Considering various scales based on the use of numbers, it is necessary to distinguish between these functions, which are alternately performed either by a special sign form of numbers, or by numbers acting as semantic values of the corresponding numerical forms. From this point of view, it is obvious that the naming scales, examples of which are the numbering of athletes in teams, cars in the State traffic inspectorate, bus and tram routes, etc., are neither a measurement nor even an inventory, since here numerical forms perform the function of naming, and not an account.
A serious problem remains the method of measurement in the social sciences and humanities. First of all, these are the difficulties of collecting quantitative information about many social, socio-psychological phenomena, for which in many cases there are no objective, instrumental means of measurement. It is also difficult to single out discrete elements and objective analysis itself, not only because of the characteristics of the object, but also because of the interference in non-scientific value factors - prejudices of everyday consciousness, religious worldview, ideological or corporate prohibitions, etc. It is known that many so-called assessments , for example, the knowledge of students, the performances of participants in competitions and competitions of even the highest level, often depend on the qualifications, honesty, corporatism and other subjective qualities of teachers, judges, jury members. Apparently, this kind of evaluation cannot be called measurement in the exact sense of the word, which implies, as the science of measurements - metrology defines, comparison by a physical (technical) procedure of a given quantity with one or another value of an accepted standard - units of measurement and obtaining an accurate quantitative result.
4. Experiment - the basic method of science
Both observation and measurement are included in such a complex basic method of science as experiment. In contrast to observation, an experiment is characterized by the intervention of the researcher in the position of the objects under study, by the active influence of various instruments and experimental means on the subject of research. An experiment is one of the forms of practice, which combines the interaction of objects according to natural laws and an action artificially organized by a person. As a method of empirical research, this method assumes and allows the following operations to be carried out in accordance with the problem being solved:
₋ constructivization of the object;
₋ isolation of the object or subject of research, its isolation from the influence of side effects and obscuring the essence of phenomena, the study in a relatively pure form;
₋ empirical interpretation of initial theoretical concepts and provisions, selection or creation of experimental means;
₋ targeted impact on the object: systematic change, variation, combination of various conditions in order to obtain the desired result;
₋ multiple reproduction of the course of the process, fixation of data in the protocols of observations, their processing and transfer to other objects of the class that have not been studied.
The experiment is not carried out spontaneously, not at random, but to solve certain scientific problems and cognitive tasks dictated by the state of the theory. It is necessary as the main means of accumulation in the study of facts that constitute the empirical basis of any theory; it is, like all practice as a whole, an objective criterion of the relative truth of theoretical propositions and hypotheses.
The subject structure of the experiment makes it possible to isolate the following three elements: the cognizing subject (the experimenter), the means of the experiment, and the object of the experimental study.
On this basis, a branched classification of experiments can be given. Depending on the qualitative difference between the objects of study, one can distinguish between physical, technical, biological, psychological, sociological, etc. The nature and variety of means and conditions of the experiment make it possible to single out direct (natural) and model, field and laboratory experiments. If we take into account the goals of the experimenter, then there are search, measurement and verification types of experiments. Finally, depending on the nature of the strategy, one can distinguish between experiments carried out by trial and error, experiments based on a closed algorithm (for example, Galileo’s study of the fall of bodies), an experiment using the “black box” method, “step strategy”, etc.
The classical experiment was built on such methodological prerequisites, which, to one degree or another, reflected Laplace's ideas about determinism as an unambiguous causal relationship. It was assumed that, knowing the initial state of the system under certain constant conditions, it is possible to predict the behavior of this system in the future; one can clearly single out the phenomenon under study, implement it in the desired direction, strictly order all interfering factors, or ignore them as insignificant (for example, exclude the subject from the results of cognition).
The growing importance of probabilistic-statistical concepts and principles in the real practice of modern science, as well as the recognition of not only objective certainty, but also objective uncertainty and understanding in this regard of determination as a relative uncertainty (or as a limitation of uncertainty) has led to a new understanding of the structure and principles experiment. The development of a new experimental strategy was directly caused by the transition from the study of well-organized systems, in which it was possible to distinguish phenomena that depend on a small number of variables, to the study of so-called diffuse or poorly organized systems. In these systems, it is impossible to clearly distinguish individual phenomena and distinguish between the action of variables of different physical nature. This required a wider application of statistical methods, in fact, introduced the "concept of the case" into the experiment. The program of the experiment began to be created in such a way as to diversify numerous factors to the maximum and take them into account statistically.
Thus, the experiment from a single-factor, rigidly determined, reproducing single-valued connections and relationships, has turned into a method that takes into account many factors of a complex (diffuse) system and reproduces single-valued and multi-valued relationships, i.e., the experiment has acquired a probabilistic-deterministic nature. In addition, the strategy of the experiment itself is also often not rigidly determined and may change depending on the results at each stage.
Material models reflect the corresponding objects in three forms of similarity: physical similarity, analogy and isomorphism as a one-to-one correspondence of structures. A model experiment deals with a material model, which is both an object of study and an experimental tool. With the introduction of the model, the structure of the experiment becomes much more complicated. Now the researcher and the device interact not with the object itself, but only with the model that replaces it, as a result of which the operational structure of the experiment becomes much more complicated. The role of the theoretical side of the study is increasing, since it is necessary to substantiate the similarity relationship between the model and the object and the possibility of extrapolating the obtained data to this object. Let's consider what is the essence of the extrapolation method and its features in modeling.
Extrapolation as a procedure for transferring knowledge from one subject area to another - unobserved and unexplored - based on some identified relationship between them, is one of the operations that have the function of optimizing the cognition process.
In scientific research, inductive extrapolations are used, in which the pattern established for one type of object is transferred with certain refinements to other objects. So, having established, for example, the property of compression for some gas and expressing it in the form of a quantitative law, one can extrapolate this to other, unexplored gases, taking into account their compression ratio. Exact natural science also uses extrapolation, for example, when extending an equation that describes a certain law to an unexplored area (mathematical hypothesis), while a possible change in the form of this equation is assumed. In general, in the experimental sciences, extrapolation refers to the distribution of:
Qualitative characteristics from one subject area to another, from the past and present to the future;
Quantitative characteristics of one area of objects to another, one aggregate to another on the basis of methods specially developed for this purpose;
Some equation for other subject areas within the same science or even for other areas of knowledge, which is associated with some modification and (or) with a reinterpretation of the meaning of their components.
The procedure of knowledge transfer, being only relatively independent, is organically included in such methods as induction, analogy, modeling, mathematical hypothesis, statistical methods, and many others. In the case of simulation, extrapolation is included in the operational structure of this type of experiment, which consists of the following operations and procedures:
Theoretical substantiation of the future model, its similarity with the object, i.e., the operation that ensures the transition from the object to the model;
Building a model based on similarity criteria and the purpose of the study;
Experimental study of the model;
The operation of transition from the model to the object, i.e. extrapolation of the results obtained in the study of the model to the object.
As a rule, in scientific modeling, the clarified analogy is used, specific cases of which are, for example, physical similarity and physical analogy. It should be noted that the conditions for the legitimacy of analogy were developed not so much in logic and methodology, but in a special engineering and mathematical theory of similarity, which underlies modern scientific modeling.
The similarity theory formulates the conditions under which the legitimacy of the transition from statements about the model to statements about the object is ensured both in the case when the model and the object belong to the same form of motion (physical similarity), and in the case when they belong to various forms of motion of matter (physical analogy). Such conditions are the similarity criteria that have been clarified and observed in the simulation. So, for example, in hydraulic modeling, which is based on mechanical laws of similarity, geometric, kinematic and dynamic similarities are necessarily observed. Geometric similarity implies a constant relationship between the corresponding linear dimensions of the object and model, their areas and volumes; kinematic similarity is based on a constant ratio of velocities, accelerations and time intervals during which similar particles describe geometrically similar trajectories; finally, the model and the object will be dynamically similar if the ratios of masses and forces are constant. It can be assumed that the observance of these relationships leads to obtaining reliable knowledge when extrapolating the model data to the object.
The considered empirical methods of cognition provide factual knowledge about the world or facts in which specific, direct manifestations of reality are fixed. The term fact is ambiguous. It can be used both in the meaning of some event, a fragment of reality, and in the meaning of a special kind of empirical statements - fact-fixing sentences, the content of which it is. Unlike the facts of reality, which exist independently of what people think about them and are therefore neither true nor false, facts in the form of sentences admit a truth value. They must be empirically true, i.e., their truth is established by empirical, practical means.
Not every empirical statement receives the status of a scientific fact, or rather, a sentence fixing a scientific fact. If statements describe only single observations, a random empirical situation, then they form a certain set of data that do not have the necessary degree of generality. In the natural sciences and in a number of social sciences, for example: economics, demography, sociology, as a rule, statistical processing of a certain set of data takes place, which makes it possible to remove the random elements contained in them and, instead of a set of statements about the data, obtain a summary statement about these data, which acquires the status of a scientific fact.
5. Scientific facts of empirical research
As knowledge, scientific facts are distinguished by a high degree (probability) of truth, since they fix the “immediately given”, describe (and not explain or interpret) the very fragment of reality itself. A fact is discrete, and therefore, to a certain extent, localized in time and space, which gives it a certain accuracy, and all the more so because it is a statistical summary of empirical data purified from accidents or knowledge that reflects the typical, essential in the object. But a scientific fact is at the same time relatively true knowledge; it is not absolute, but relative, i.e., capable of further refinement, change, since the “immediately given” includes elements of the subjective; the description can never be exhaustive; both the object itself, described in the fact-knowledge, and the language in which the description is carried out change. Being discrete, a scientific fact is at the same time included in a changing system of knowledge; the very idea of what a scientific fact is historically changes as well.
Since the structure of a scientific fact includes not only information that depends on sensory cognition, but also its rational foundations, the question arises about the role and forms of these rational components. Among them are logical structures, conceptual apparatus, including mathematical, as well as philosophical, methodological and theoretical principles and premises. A particularly important role is played by the theoretical prerequisites for obtaining, describing and explaining (interpreting) the fact. Without such prerequisites, it is often impossible even to discover certain facts, and even more so to understand them. The most famous examples from the history of science are the discovery by astronomer I. Galle of the planet Neptune according to preliminary calculations and predictions by W. Le Verrier; the discovery of chemical elements predicted by D. I. Mendeleev in connection with the creation of his periodic system; detection of the positron, theoretically calculated by P. Dirac, and the discovery of the neutrino, predicted by V. Pauli.
In natural science, facts, as a rule, already appear in theoretical aspects, since researchers use instruments in which theoretical schemes are objectified; accordingly, empirical results are subject to theoretical interpretation. However, for all the importance of these moments, they should not be absolutized. Studies show that at any stage in the development of a particular natural science, one can discover a vast layer of fundamental empirical facts and patterns that have not yet been comprehended within the framework of substantiated theories.
Thus, one of the most fundamental astrophysical facts of the expansion of the Metagalaxy was established as a statistical summary of numerous observations of the "redshift" phenomenon in the spectra of distant galaxies, carried out since 1914, as well as the interpretation of these observations as due to the Doppler effect. Certain theoretical knowledge from physics, of course, was involved in this, but the inclusion of this fact in the system of knowledge about the Universe occurred regardless of the development of the theory within which it was understood and explained, i.e., the theory of the expanding Universe, especially since it appeared many years after the first publications on the discovery of redshift in the spectra of spiral nebulae. The theory of A. A. Fridman helped to correctly assess this fact, which entered the empirical knowledge about the Universe before and independently of it. This speaks of the relative independence and value of the empirical basis of scientific and cognitive activity, "on an equal footing" interacting with the theoretical level of knowledge.
6. Methods involving work with the obtained empirical information
So far, we have been talking about empirical methods that are aimed at isolating and studying real objects. Let us consider the second group of methods of this level, which involve working with the received empirical information - scientific facts that need to be processed, systematized, carried out initial generalization, etc.
These methods are necessary when the researcher works in the layer of existing, received knowledge, no longer referring directly to the events of reality, ordering the data obtained, trying to discover regular relationships - empirical laws, to make assumptions about their existence. By their nature, these are largely “purely logical” methods, unfolding according to the laws adopted primarily in logic, but at the same time included in the context of the empirical level of scientific research with the task of streamlining current knowledge. At the level of ordinary simplified ideas, this stage of the initial predominantly inductive generalization of knowledge is often interpreted as the very mechanism for obtaining a theory, in which one can see the influence of the “all-inductivist” concept of knowledge that was widespread in past centuries.
The study of scientific facts begins with their analysis. By analysis we mean a research method consisting in the mental division (decomposition) of a whole or in general a complex phenomenon into its constituent, simpler elementary parts and the allocation of individual aspects, properties, connections. But analysis is not the ultimate goal of scientific research, which seeks to reproduce the whole, to understand its internal structure, the nature of its functioning, the laws of its development. This goal is achieved by subsequent theoretical and practical synthesis.
Synthesis is a research method that consists in connecting, reproducing the connections of the analyzed parts, elements, sides, components of a complex phenomenon and comprehending the whole in its unity. Analysis and synthesis have their objective foundations in the structure and laws of the material world itself. In objective reality, there is a whole and its parts, unity and differences, continuity and discreteness, constantly occurring processes of decay and connection, destruction and creation. In all sciences, analytical and synthetic activity is carried out, while in natural science it can be carried out not only mentally, but also practically.
The very transition from the analysis of facts to a theoretical synthesis is carried out with the help of methods that, complementing each other and combining, constitute the content of this complex process. One of these methods is induction, which in the narrow sense is traditionally understood as a method of transition from knowledge of individual facts to knowledge of the general, to empirical generalization and the establishment of a general position that turns into a law or other essential connection. The weakness of induction lies in the lack of justification for such a transition. The enumeration of facts can never be practically complete, and we are not sure that the following fact will not be contradictory. Therefore, knowledge obtained by induction is always probabilistic. In addition, the premises of the inductive conclusion do not contain knowledge about how generalized features, properties are essential. With the help of enumeration induction, it is possible to obtain knowledge that is not reliable, but only probable. There are also a number of other methods of generalization of empirical material, with the help of which, as in popular induction, the knowledge gained is probable. These methods include the method of analogies, statistical methods, the method of model extrapolation. They differ from each other in the degree of validity of the transition from facts to generalizations. All these methods are often combined under the general name of inductive, and then the term induction is used in a broad sense.
In the general process of scientific knowledge, inductive and deductive methods are closely intertwined. Both methods are based on the objective dialectic of the individual and the general, phenomenon and essence, accidental and necessary. Inductive methods are of greater importance in sciences that are directly based on experience, while deductive methods are of paramount importance in theoretical sciences as a tool for their logical ordering and construction, as methods of explanation and prediction. To process and generalize facts in scientific research, systematization as a reduction into a single system and classification as a division into classes, groups, types, etc. are widely used.
7. Methodological aspects
Developing the methodological aspects of the theory of classification, methodologists propose to distinguish between the following concepts:
Classification is the division of any set into subsets according to any criteria;
Systematics - the ordering of objects, which has the status of a privileged classification system, allocated by nature itself (natural classification);
Taxonomy is the doctrine of any classifications in terms of the structure of taxa (subordinate groups of objects) and features.
Classification methods make it possible to solve a number of cognitive problems: to reduce the diversity of material to a relatively small number of formations (classes, types, forms, types, groups, etc.); identify the initial units of analysis and develop a system of relevant concepts and terms; discover regularities, stable features and relationships, and ultimately empirical patterns; sum up the results of previous research and predict the existence of previously unknown objects or their properties, reveal new connections and dependencies between already known objects. The compilation of classifications should be subject to the following logical requirements: in the same classification, the same basis must be used; the volume of the members of the classification must be equal to the volume of the classified class (proportionality of division); members of the classification must mutually exclude each other, etc.
In the natural sciences, both descriptive classifications are presented, which make it possible to simply bring the accumulated results to a convenient form, and structural classifications, which make it possible to identify and fix the relationships of objects. So, in physics, descriptive classifications are the division of fundamental particles according to charge, spin, mass, strangeness, according to participation in different types of interactions. Some groups of particles can be classified according to the types of symmetries (quark structures of particles), which reflects a deeper, essential level of relations.
The studies of the last decades have revealed the methodological problems of classifications, the knowledge of which is necessary for a modern researcher and systematizer. This is primarily a discrepancy between the formal conditions and rules for constructing classifications and real scientific practice. The requirement for feature discreteness gives rise in a number of cases to artificial methods of splitting the whole into discrete feature values; it is not always possible to make a categorical judgment about the attribute belonging to the object; with the multi-structural features, they are limited to indicating the frequency of occurrence, etc. A widespread methodological problem is the difficulty of combining two different goals in one classification: the location of material that is convenient for accounting and searching; identifying internal systemic relationships in the material - functional, genetic and others (research grouping).
An empirical law is the most developed form of probabilistic empirical knowledge, using inductive methods to fix quantitative and other dependences obtained empirically, when comparing the facts of observation and experiment. This is its difference as a form of knowledge from a theoretical law - reliable knowledge, which is formulated with the help of mathematical abstractions, as well as as a result of theoretical reasoning, mainly as a result of a thought experiment on idealized objects.
Studies of recent decades have shown that a theory cannot be obtained as a result of inductive generalization and systematization of facts, it does not arise as a logical consequence from facts, the mechanisms for its creation and construction are of a different nature, suggest a leap, a transition to a qualitatively different level of knowledge that requires creativity and talent of a researcher. . This is confirmed, in particular, by A. Einstein's numerous statements that there is no logically necessary path from experimental data to theory; concepts that arise in the process of our thinking.
The empirical set of information provides primary information about new knowledge and many properties of the objects under study and thus serves as the initial basis for scientific research.
Empirical methods are based, as a rule, on the use of experimental research methods and techniques that allow obtaining factual information about an object. A special place among them is occupied by basic methods, which are relatively often used in practical research activities.
LITERATURE
1. Korotkov E.M. Study of control systems. – M.: DEKA, 2000.
2. Lomonosov B.P., Mishin V.M. Systems research. - M .: CJSC "Inform-Knowledge", 1998.
3. Malin A.S., Mukhin V.I. Systems research. – M.: GU HSE, 2002.
4. Mishin V.M. Systems research. – M.: UNITI-DANA, 2003.
5. Mishin V.M. Systems research. - M .: CJSC "Finstatinform", 1998.
6. Kovalchuk V. V., Moiseev A. N. Fundamentals of scientific research. K.: Knowledge, 2005.
7. Filipenko A. S. Fundamentals of scientific research. K.: Akademvidav, 2004.
8. Grishenko I. M. Fundamentals of scientific research. K.: KNEU, 2001.
9. Ludchenko A. A. Fundamentals of scientific research. K.: Knowledge, 2001
10. Stechenko D. I., Chmir O. S. Methodology of scientific research. K .: VD "Professional", 2005.
Scientific knowledge can be divided into two levels: theoretical and empirical. The first is based on inferences, the second - on experiments and interaction with the object under study. Despite their different nature, these methods are equally important for the development of science.
Empirical Research
Empirical knowledge is based on direct practical interaction between the researcher and the object he is studying. It consists of experiments and observations. Empirical and theoretical knowledge are opposite - in the case of theoretical research, a person manages only his own ideas about the subject. As a rule, this method is the lot of the humanities.
Empirical research cannot do without instruments and instrumental installations. These are means related to the organization of observations and experiments, but in addition to them there are also conceptual means. They are used as a special scientific language. It has a complex organization. Empirical and theoretical knowledge is focused on the study of phenomena and the dependencies that arise between them. By experimenting, man can discover an objective law. This is also facilitated by the study of phenomena and their correlation.
Empirical methods of knowledge
According to the scientific view, empirical and theoretical knowledge consists of several methods. This is a set of steps necessary to solve a specific problem (in this case, we are talking about identifying previously unknown patterns). The first empirical method is observation. It is a purposeful study of objects, which primarily relies on various senses (perceptions, sensations, ideas).
At its initial stage, observation gives an idea of the external characteristics of the object of knowledge. However, the ultimate goal of this is to determine the deeper and inner properties of the subject. A common misconception is that the idea that scientific observation is passive is far from true.
Observation
Empirical observation is distinguished by a detailed character. It can be both direct and indirect by various technical devices and instruments (for example, a camera, telescope, microscope, etc.). As science advances, observation becomes more complex and complex. This method has several exceptional qualities: objectivity, certainty and unambiguous design. When using devices, an additional role is played by the decoding of their readings.
In the social and human sciences, empirical and theoretical knowledge takes root in a heterogeneous manner. Observation in these disciplines is particularly difficult. It becomes dependent on the personality of the researcher, his principles and attitudes, as well as the degree of interest in the subject.
Observation cannot be carried out without a certain concept or idea. It must be based on a certain hypothesis and record certain facts (in this case, only interconnected and representative facts will be indicative).
Theoretical and empirical studies differ from each other in details. For example, observation has its own specific functions that are not characteristic of other methods of cognition. First of all, this is providing a person with information, without which further research and hypotheses are impossible. Observation is the fuel on which thinking runs. Without new facts and impressions, there will be no new knowledge. In addition, it is with the help of observation that one can compare and verify the validity of the results of preliminary theoretical studies.
Experiment
Different theoretical and empirical methods of cognition also differ in the degree of their intervention in the process under study. A person can observe it strictly from the outside, or can analyze its properties on their own experience. This function is carried out by one of the empirical methods of cognition - experiment. In terms of importance and contribution to the final result of research, it is in no way inferior to observation.
An experiment is not only a purposeful and active human intervention in the course of the process under study, but also its change, as well as reproduction in specially prepared conditions. This method of cognition requires much more effort than observation. During the experiment, the object of study is isolated from any extraneous influence. A clean and uncluttered environment is created. The experimental conditions are completely set and controlled. Therefore, this method, on the one hand, corresponds to the natural laws of nature, and on the other hand, it is distinguished by an artificial, human-defined essence.
Experiment structure
All theoretical and empirical methods have a certain ideological load. The experiment, which is carried out in several stages, is no exception. First of all, planning and step-by-step construction take place (the goal, means, type, etc. are determined). Then comes the experimentation stage. However, it takes place under the perfect control of a person. At the end of the active phase, it is the turn to interpret the results.
Both empirical and theoretical knowledge differ in a certain structure. In order for an experiment to take place, the experimenters themselves, the object of the experiment, instruments and other necessary equipment, a methodology and a hypothesis are required, which is confirmed or refuted.
Instruments and installations
Every year scientific research becomes more and more difficult. They need more and more modern technology that allows them to study what is inaccessible to simple human senses. If earlier scientists were limited to their own sight and hearing, now they have at their disposal unprecedented experimental facilities.
During the use of the device, it can have a negative impact on the object under study. For this reason, the result of an experiment sometimes diverges from its original goals. Some researchers try to achieve such results on purpose. In science, this process is called randomization. If the experiment takes on a random character, then its consequences become an additional object of analysis. The possibility of randomization is another feature that distinguishes empirical and theoretical knowledge.
Comparison, description and measurement
Comparison is the third empirical method of cognition. This operation allows you to identify differences and similarities of objects. Empirical, theoretical analysis cannot be carried out without deep knowledge of the subject. In turn, many facts begin to play with new colors after the researcher compares them with another texture known to him. Comparison of objects is carried out within the framework of features that are essential for a particular experiment. At the same time, objects that are compared according to one feature may be incomparable in their other characteristics. This empirical technique is based on analogy. It underlies the important science
Methods of empirical and theoretical knowledge can be combined with each other. But research is almost never complete without description. This cognitive operation fixes the results of the previous experience. For the description, scientific notation systems are used: graphs, diagrams, drawings, diagrams, tables, etc.
The last empirical method of knowledge is measurement. It is carried out through special means. Measurement is necessary to determine the numerical value of the desired measured value. Such an operation must be carried out in accordance with strict algorithms and rules accepted in science.
Theoretical knowledge
In science, theoretical and empirical knowledge has different fundamental supports. In the first case, this is a detached use of rational methods and logical procedures, and in the second, direct interaction with the object. Theoretical knowledge uses intellectual abstractions. One of its most important methods is formalization - the display of knowledge in a symbolic and sign form.
At the first stage of expressing thinking, the usual human language is used. It is characterized by complexity and constant variability, which is why it cannot be a universal scientific tool. The next stage of formalization is connected with the creation of formalized (artificial) languages. They have a specific purpose - a strict and precise expression of knowledge that cannot be achieved using natural speech. Such a symbol system can take the format of formulas. It is very popular in mathematics and other areas where numbers cannot be dispensed with.
With the help of symbolism, a person eliminates the ambiguous understanding of the record, makes it shorter and clearer for further use. Not a single research, and therefore all scientific knowledge, can do without speed and simplicity in the application of its tools. Empirical and theoretical study equally needs formalization, but it is at the theoretical level that it takes on an exceptionally important and fundamental significance.
An artificial language, created within a narrow scientific framework, is becoming a universal means of exchanging thoughts and communicating specialists. This is the fundamental task of methodology and logic. These sciences are necessary for the transmission of information in an understandable, systematized form, free from the shortcomings of natural language.
The meaning of formalization
Formalization allows you to clarify, analyze, clarify and define concepts. The empirical and theoretical levels of knowledge cannot do without them, so the system of artificial symbols has always played and will continue to play a big role in science. Common and colloquial concepts seem obvious and clear. However, due to their ambiguity and uncertainty, they are not suitable for scientific research.
Formalization is especially important in the analysis of alleged evidence. The sequence of formulas based on specialized rules is distinguished by the precision and rigor necessary for science. In addition, formalization is necessary for programming, algorithmization and computerization of knowledge.
Axiomatic Method
Another method of theoretical research is the axiomatic method. It is a convenient way of deductively expressing scientific hypotheses. Theoretical and empirical sciences cannot be imagined without terms. Very often they arise due to the construction of axioms. For example, in Euclidean geometry at one time the fundamental terms of angle, line, point, plane, etc. were formulated.
Within the framework of theoretical knowledge, scientists formulate axioms - postulates that do not require proof and are the initial statements for further construction of theories. An example of this is the idea that the whole is always greater than the part. With the help of axioms, a system for deriving new terms is built. Following the rules of theoretical knowledge, a scientist can obtain unique theorems from a limited number of postulates. At the same time, it is much more effectively used for teaching and classification than for discovering new patterns.
Hypothetical-deductive method
Although theoretical, empirical scientific methods differ from each other, they are often used together. An example of such an application is that it builds new systems of closely intertwined hypotheses. On their basis, new statements concerning empirical, experimentally proven facts are derived. The method of deriving a conclusion from archaic hypotheses is called deduction. This term is familiar to many thanks to the novels about Sherlock Holmes. Indeed, a popular literary character in his investigations often uses the deductive method, with the help of which he builds a coherent picture of the crime from a multitude of disparate facts.
The same system operates in science. This method of theoretical knowledge has its own clear structure. First of all, there is an acquaintance with the invoice. Then assumptions are made about the patterns and causes of the phenomenon under study. To do this, various logical techniques are used. Guesses are evaluated according to their probability (the most probable one is selected from this heap). All hypotheses are checked for consistency with logic and compatibility with basic scientific principles (for example, the laws of physics). Consequences are derived from the assumption, which are then verified by experiment. The hypothetical-deductive method is not so much a method of a new discovery as a method of substantiating scientific knowledge. This theoretical tool was used by such great minds as Newton and Galileo.
25. Methods of empirical research.
At the empirical level, methods such as observation, description, comparison, measurement, experiment.
Observation- this is a systematic and purposeful perception of phenomena, during which we gain knowledge about the external aspects, properties and relationships of the objects under study.
Observation is always not contemplative, but active, active. It is subordinated to the solution of a specific scientific problem and therefore is distinguished by purposefulness, selectivity and systematic character. The observer does not simply register empirical data, but shows a research initiative: he searches for those facts that really interest him in connection with theoretical premises, selects them, and gives them a primary interpretation.
One of the most important features of modern scientific observation is technical equipment. The purpose of technical means of observation is not only to improve the accuracy of the data obtained, but also to ensure the very possibility to observe a cognizable object, because many subject areas of modern science owe their existence primarily to the availability of appropriate technical support.
The results of scientific observation are represented in some specific scientific way, i.e. in a special language using the terms descriptions, comparisons or measurements. In other words, observational data are immediately structured in one way or another (as the results of a special descriptions or scale values comparisons, or the results measurements). In this case, the data are recorded in the form of graphs, tables, diagrams, etc., so the primary systematization of the material is carried out, suitable for further theorization.
Scientific observation is always mediated by theoretical knowledge, since it is the latter that determines the object and subject of observation, the purpose of observation and the method of its implementation. In the course of observation, the researcher is always guided by a certain idea, concept or hypothesis. The interpretation of an observation is also always carried out with the help of certain theoretical propositions.
Basic requirements for scientific observation: unambiguous design, availability of strictly defined means (in technical sciences - instruments), objectivity of results. Objectivity is ensured by the possibility of control through either repeated observation or the use of other research methods, in particular, experiment.
Observation as a method of empirical research performs many functions in scientific knowledge. First of all, observation gives the scientist an increase in the information necessary to formulate problems, put forward hypotheses, and test theories. Observation is combined with other research methods: it can be the initial stage of research, precede the setting up of an experiment, which is required for a more detailed analysis of any aspects of the object under study; it can, on the contrary, be carried out after experimental intervention, acquiring an important meaning dynamic observation, as, for example, in medicine, an important role is assigned to postoperative observation following the experimental operation. Finally, observation enters other research situations as an essential component: observation is carried out directly in the course of the experiment. .
Observation as an exploratory situation includes:
1) the subject carrying out the observation, or the observer ;
2) observed object ;
3) conditions and circumstances of observation, which include specific conditions of time and place, technical means of observation and theoretical knowledge necessary to create a given research situation.
Classification of observations:
1) according to the perceived object - observation direct (in which the researcher studies the properties of a directly observed object) and indirect (in which it is not the object itself that is perceived, but the effects that it causes in the environment or another object. Analyzing these effects, we obtain information about the original object, although, strictly speaking, the object itself remains unobservable. For example, in the physics of the microworld, elementary particles are judged according to the traces that the particles leave during their movement, these traces are fixed and theoretically interpreted);
2) for research facilities - observation direct (not instrumentally equipped, carried out directly by the senses) and indirect, or instrumental (carried out with the help of technical means, i.e. special instruments, often very complex, requiring special knowledge and auxiliary material and technical equipment), this type of observation is now the main one in the natural sciences;
3) according to the impact on the object - neutral (not affecting the structure and behavior of the object) and transformative(in which there is some change in the object under study and the conditions for its functioning; this type of observation is often intermediate between the observation itself and the experiment);
4) in relation to the totality of the studied phenomena - continuous (when all units of the studied population are studied) and selective (when only a certain part is examined, a sample from the population); this division is important in statistics;
5) according to time parameters - continuous And discontinuous; at continuous research is conducted without interruption for a sufficiently long period of time, it is mainly used to study hard-to-predict processes, for example, in social psychology, ethnography; discontinuous has various subspecies: periodic and non-periodic.
Description- fixation by means of a natural or artificial language of the results of an experiment (observation or experiment data). As a rule, the description is based on narrative schemes using natural language. At the same time, the description is possible with the help of certain notation systems adopted in science (diagrams, graphs, drawings, tables, diagrams, etc.).
In the past, descriptive procedures played a very important role in science. Many disciplines used to be purely descriptive. For example, in modern European science up to the 18th century. natural scientists compiled voluminous descriptions of all kinds of properties of plants, minerals, substances, etc. (and from a modern point of view, often somewhat haphazardly), lining up long series of qualities, similarities and differences between objects. Today, descriptive science as a whole is pushed aside in its positions by areas oriented towards mathematical methods. However, even now the description as a means of representing empirical data has not lost its significance. In the biological sciences, where it was direct observation and descriptive presentation of material that were their beginning, and today they continue to make significant use of descriptive procedures in such disciplines as botany And zoology. Description plays an important role in humanitarian sciences: history, ethnography, sociology, etc.; and also in geographical And geological sciences. Of course, the description in modern science has taken on a somewhat different character compared to its former forms. In modern descriptive procedures, the standards of accuracy and unambiguity of descriptions are of great importance. After all, a truly scientific description of experimental data should have the same meaning for any scientists, i.e. should be universal, constant in its content. This means that it is necessary to strive for such concepts, the meaning of which is clarified and fixed in one or another recognized way.
Of course, descriptive procedures initially allow for some possibility of ambiguity and inaccuracy of presentation. For example, depending on the individual style of a particular geologist, descriptions of the same geological objects sometimes turn out to be significantly different from each other. The same thing happens in medicine during the initial examination of the patient. However, in general, these discrepancies in real scientific practice are corrected, acquiring a greater degree of reliability. For this, special procedures are used: comparison of data from independent sources of information, standardization of descriptions, clarification of criteria for the use of a particular assessment, control by more objective, instrumental research methods, harmonization of terminology, etc.
Comparison- a method that reveals the similarity or difference of objects (or stages of development of the same object), i.e. their identity and differences.
When compared, empirical data are represented, respectively, in terms of comparison. This means that the feature denoted by the comparative term can have different degrees of severity, i.e. be attributed to some object to a greater or lesser extent compared to another object from the same studied population. For example, one object may be warmer, darker than another; one color may seem more pleasant to the subject in a psychological test than another, and so on.
Characteristically, the comparison operation is feasible even when we do not have a clear definition of any term, there are no exact standards for comparative procedures. For example, we may not know what a “perfect” red color looks like, and we may not be able to characterize it, but at the same time we can easily compare colors according to the degree of “remoteness” from the supposed standard, saying that one of the red-like families is clearly lighter than red , the other is darker, the third is even darker than the second, etc.
Comparison plays an important role when trying to reach a consensus on issues that cause difficulties. For example, when evaluating a certain theory, the question of its unambiguous characterization as true can cause serious difficulties, while it is much easier to come to unity in comparative particular questions that this theory agrees better with the data than a competing theory, or that it is simpler than the other, more intuitively plausible, etc. These successful qualities of comparative judgments have contributed to the fact that comparative procedures and comparative concepts have taken an important place in scientific methodology.
The significance of comparison terms also lies in the fact that with their help it is possible to achieve a very noticeable increase in accuracy in concepts where the methods of direct introduction of units of measurement, i.e. translation into the language of mathematics, do not work due to the specifics of this scientific field. This applies primarily to the humanities. In such areas, thanks to the use of comparison terms, it is possible to construct certain scales with an ordered structure similar to a number series. And precisely because it turns out to be easier to formulate a judgment of a relation than to give a qualitative description in an absolute degree, the terms of comparison make it possible to streamline the subject area without introducing a clear unit of measurement. A typical example of this approach is the Mohs scale in mineralogy. It is used to determine the relative hardness of minerals. According to this method, proposed in 1811 by F. Moos, one mineral is considered harder than another if it leaves a scratch on it; on this basis, a conditional 10-point hardness scale is introduced, in which the hardness of talc is taken as 1, the hardness of diamond is taken as 10.
To perform a comparison operation, certain conditions and logical rules are required. First of all, there must be a certain qualitative homogeneity of the compared objects; these objects must belong to the same naturally formed class), as, for example, in biology we compare the structure of organisms belonging to the same taxonomic unit. Further, the compared material must obey a certain logical structure, which can be adequately described by the so-called. order relations .
In the case when the comparison operation comes to the fore, becoming, as it were, the semantic core of the entire scientific search, i.e. acts as the leading procedure in the organization of empirical material, they speak of comparative method in one area of research or another. The biological sciences are a prime example of this. The comparative method played an important role in the formation of such disciplines as comparative anatomy, comparative physiology, embryology, evolutionary biology, etc. Comparison procedures are used to study the form and function, genesis and evolution of organisms qualitatively and quantitatively. With the help of the comparative method, knowledge about diverse biological phenomena is streamlined, the possibility of putting forward hypotheses and creating generalizing concepts is created. So, on the basis of the commonality of the morphological structure of certain organisms, a hypothesis is naturally put forward about the commonality and their origin or life activity, etc.
Measurement- a research method in which the ratio of one value to another, which serves as a standard, is established. Measurement is a method of attribution carried out according to certain rules. quantitative characteristics objects under study, their properties or relationships. The measurement structure includes:
1) the object of measurement, considered as value, to be measured;
2) a measurement method, including a metric scale with a fixed unit of measurement, measurement rules, measuring instruments;
3) the subject, or the observer, who carries out the measurement;
4) the measurement result, which is subject to further interpretation.
In scientific practice, measurement is not always a relatively simple procedure; much more often, complex, specially prepared conditions are required for its implementation. In modern physics, the measurement process itself is served by rather serious theoretical constructions; they contain, for example, a set of assumptions and theories about the design and operation of the measuring and experimental setup itself, about the interaction of the measuring device and the object under study, about the physical meaning of certain quantities obtained as a result of the measurement.
To illustrate the range of problems related to the theoretical support of measurement, one can point out the difference in measurement procedures for the quantities extensive And intensive. Extensive quantities are measured using simple operations that fix the properties of single objects. Such quantities include, for example, length, mass, time. A completely different approach is required to measure intense quantities. Such quantities include, for example, temperature, gas pressure. They characterize not the properties of single objects, but mass, statistically fixed parameters of collective objects. To measure such quantities, special rules are required, with the help of which it is possible to arrange the range of values of an intensive quantity, build a scale, highlight fixed values on it, and set the unit of measurement. Thus, the creation of a thermometer is preceded by a set of special actions to create a scale suitable for measuring the quantitative value of temperature.
The measurements are divided by straight And indirect. With direct measurement, the result is obtained directly from the measurement process itself. With indirect measurement, they get the value
some other quantities, and the desired result is achieved using calculations based on a certain mathematical relationship between these quantities. Many phenomena that are inaccessible to direct measurement, such as objects of the microcosm, distant cosmic bodies, can only be measured indirectly.
Experiment- a method of research, with the help of which there is an active and purposeful perception of a certain object in controlled and controlled conditions.
The main features of the experiment:
1) an active relationship to the object up to its change and transformation;
2) multiple reproducibility of the object under study at the request of the researcher;
3) the possibility of detecting such properties of phenomena that are not observed in natural conditions;
4) the possibility of considering the phenomenon "in its pure form" by isolating it from external influences, or by changing the conditions of the experiment;
5) the ability to control the "behavior" of the object and check the results.
We can say that the experiment is an idealized experience. It makes it possible to follow the course of a change in a phenomenon, to actively influence it, to recreate it, if necessary, before comparing the results obtained. Therefore, experiment is a stronger and more effective method than observation or measurement, where the phenomenon under study remains unchanged. This is the highest form of empirical research.
An experiment is used either to create a situation that allows one to study an object in its pure form, or to test existing hypotheses and theories, or to formulate new hypotheses and theoretical ideas. Any experiment is always guided by some theoretical idea, concept, hypothesis. Experimental data, as well as observations, are always theoretically loaded - from its formulation to the interpretation of the results.
Stages of the experiment:
1) planning and construction (its purpose, type, means, etc.);
2) control;
3) interpretation of the results.
Experiment structure:
1) the object of study;
2) creation of the necessary conditions (material factors of influence on the object of study, elimination of undesirable effects - interference);
3) methodology for conducting the experiment;
4) the hypothesis or theory to be tested.
As a rule, experimentation is associated with the use of simpler practical methods - observations, comparisons and measurements. Since the experiment is not carried out, as a rule, without observations and measurements, it must meet their methodological requirements. In particular, as with observations and measurements, an experiment can be considered conclusive if it can be reproduced by any other person in another place in space and at another time and gives the same result.
Types of experiment:
Depending on the objectives of the experiment, research experiments are distinguished (the task is the formation of new scientific theories), testing experiments (testing existing hypotheses and theories), decisive experiments (confirmation of one and refutation of another of the competing theories).
Depending on the nature of the objects, physical, chemical, biological, social, and other experiments are distinguished.
There are also qualitative experiments aimed at establishing the presence or absence of the alleged phenomenon, and measurement experiments that reveal the quantitative certainty of some property.
At the heart of any scientific knowledge are certain methods of cognition of reality, thanks to which the branches of science receive the necessary information for processing, interpreting, and building theories. Each individual industry has its own specific set of research methods. But in general, they are the same for everyone and, in fact, their application distinguishes science from pseudoscience.
Empirical research methods, their features and types
One of the most ancient and widely used are empirical methods. In the ancient world, there were empiricist philosophers who cognized the world around them through sensual, sensory perception. Here, research methods were born, which in direct translation means "perception by the senses."
Empirical methods in psychology are considered basic and most accurate. In general, in the study of the characteristics of a person’s mental development, two main methods can be used: a cross section, which includes empirical research, and a longitudinal, so-called longitude, when one person is the object of research over a long period of time, and when the features of his personal personality are thus revealed. development.
Empirical methods of cognition involve the observation of phenomena, their fixation and classification, as well as the establishment of relationships and patterns. They consist of various experimental laboratory studies, psychodiagnostic procedures, biographical descriptions and have existed in psychology since the 19th century, ever since it began to stand out as a separate branch of knowledge from other social sciences.
Observation
Observation as a method of empirical research in psychology exists in the form of self-observation (introspection) - subjective knowledge of one's own psyche, and in objective external observation. Moreover, both of them occur indirectly, through the external manifestations of mental processes in various forms of activity and behavior.
Unlike everyday observation, scientific observation must meet certain requirements, a well-established methodology. First of all, its tasks and goals are determined, then the object, subject and situations are selected, as well as methods that will provide the most complete information. In addition, the results of the observation are recorded and then interpreted by the researcher.
Various forms of observation are, of course, interesting and indispensable, especially when it is required to make the most general picture of people's behavior in natural conditions and situations where the intervention of a psychologist is not required. However, there are also certain difficulties in interpreting the phenomena associated with the personal characteristics of the observer.
Experiment
In addition, empirical methods such as laboratory experiments are often used. They differ in that they study causal relationships in an artificially created environment. In this case, the experimental psychologist not only models a specific situation, but actively influences it, changes it, and varies the conditions. Moreover, the created model can be repeated several times, respectively, and the results obtained during the experiment can be re-reproduced. Experimental empirical methods make it possible to study internal mental processes with the help of external manifestations in an artificially created situational model. There is also such a type of experiment in science as a natural experiment. It is carried out in natural conditions or in the closest to them. Another form of the method is a formative experiment, which is used to shape and change the psychology of a person, while studying it.
Psychodiagnostics
Empirical methods of psychodiagnostics aim to describe and fix personalities, similarities and differences between people using standardized questionnaires, tests and questionnaires.
The listed main methods of empirical research in psychology, as a rule, are used in a complex manner. Complementing each other, they help to better understand the characteristics of the psyche, to discover new sides of the personality.