What are empirical methods of knowledge?

In the recent past, it was believed that knowledge has two stages:

1.sensual reflection of reality,

2. rational (reasonable) reflection of reality.

Then, when it became more and more clear that in a person the sensible in a number of moments is penetrated by the rational, they began to come to the conclusion that the levels of knowledge are empirical and theoretical, and the sensory and rational are abilities on the basis of which empirical and theoretical knowledge is formed.

Empirical cognition, or sensory, or living contemplation is the process of cognition itself, which includes three interrelated forms:

1. sensation - the reflection in the human mind of individual sides, properties of objects, their direct impact on the sense organs;

2. perception - a holistic image of an object, directly given in a living contemplation of the totality of all its sides, a synthesis of these sensations;

3. representation - a generalized sensory-visual image of an object that influenced the senses in the past, but is not perceived at the moment.

Distinguish between images of memory and imagination. Images of objects are usually indistinct, indistinct, averaged. But on the other hand, in the images, the most important properties of the object are usually highlighted and the insignificant ones are discarded.

According to the sense organ through which they are received, sensations are divided into visual (the most important) auditory, gustatory, etc. Usually, sensations are an integral part of perception.

As you can see, human cognitive abilities are associated with the senses. The human body has an exteroreceptive system aimed at the external environment (vision, hearing, taste, smell, etc.) and an interoreceptive system associated with signals about the internal physiological state of the body.

Theoretical knowledge is most fully and adequately expressed in thinking. Thinking is a process of generalized and indirect reflection of reality, which is carried out in the course of practical activities and ensuring the disclosure of its basic regular connections (based on sensory data) and their expression in the system of abstraction.

There are two levels of thinking

1.reason - the initial level of thinking, at which the operation of abstractions occurs within the framework of an unchanging scheme, a template; it is the ability to reason consistently and clearly, to construct one's thoughts correctly, to classify clearly, to strictly systematize facts.

2. Reason (dialectical thinking) - the highest level of theoretical knowledge, creative handling of abstractions and a conscious study of their own nature.

Reason is the usual everyday thinking, healthy statements and evidence, focusing on the form of knowledge, and not on its content. With the help of reason, a person comprehends the essence of things, their laws and contradictions. The main task of the mind is to unite the diverse, to identify the root causes and driving forces of the phenomena under study. The logic of reason is a dialectic presented as the doctrine of the formation and development of knowledge in the unity of their content and form. The development process includes the relationship between reason and reason and their mutual transitions from one to another and vice versa. Reason and understanding take place both in living contemplation, and in abstract thinking, that is, at the empirical and theoretical levels of scientific knowledge.

But the process of thinking is not always carried out in an expanded and logical form. Intuition (guess) occupies an important place in cognition. Intuition has long been divided into sensual and intellectual. Also, intuition can be technical, scientific, ordinary, medical, etc., depending on the specifics of the subject's activity. Intuition is direct knowledge that does not rely on logical evidence.

Cognition is associated with practice - the material assimilation by a social person of the surrounding world, the interaction of a person with material systems. In practice, people transform and create material things, i.e. there is an objectification, or materialization of people's intentions. Practice has two interrelated spheres: the production of consumer goods and the production of tools.

Practice and knowledge, practice and theory are interconnected and affect each other. There is a contradiction in their relationship. The parties can be in accordance, harmony, but there can be disharmony, reaching the point of conflict. Overcoming contradictions leads to the development of both theory and practice.

Scientific methods of empirical research are observations, descriptions, measurements, experiments.

Observation is the purposeful perception of the phenomena of objective reality.

Description - fixing information about an object by means of natural or artificial language.

Measurement - comparison of an object for any similar properties or sides.

Experiment - observation in specially created and controlled conditions, which allows you to restore the course of the phenomenon when conditions are repeated.

There are several types of experiment:

1) laboratory, 2) natural, 3) research, 4) test, 5) reproductive, 6) isolating, 7) quantitative, 8) physical, 9) chemical, etc.

Among the scientific methods of theoretical research, formalization, oxyomotic method and hypothetical-deductive method are distinguished.

Formalization is the display of meaningful knowledge in a sign form (formalized language).

Axiomatic method - construction method scientific theory, based on some initial positions - oxyomes (postulates), from which all the rest of the statements of this theory are deduced by a purely logical way, by means of proof. For the derivation of theorems from oxyomes (and, in general, some formulas from others), special inference rules are formulated.

The hypothetical-deductive method is the creation of a system of deductively interconnected hypotheses, from which statements about empirical (experimental) facts are ultimately derived. (Deduction is the derivation of conclusions from hypotheses (premises), the true conclusion of which is unknown). This means that the conclusion, the conclusion obtained on the basis of this method, will inevitably be only probabilistic.

A research hypothesis is a scientifically grounded assumption about the structure of the phenomenon under study or about the nature of the connections between its components.

Thus, the empirical and theoretical levels of research are different. This distinction is based on the dissimilarity:

1. ways (methods) of cognitive activity itself;

2. the nature of the achieved scientific results.

For empirical knowledge factor-fixing activity is characteristic: research programs are developed, observations, experiments, description of experimental data, their classification, primary generalization are organized.

In empirical knowledge, the sensory aspect prevails, in theoretical - the rational (reasonable). Their relationship is reflected in the methods used at each stage.

Observation. Observation is a descriptive psychological research method, which consists in the purposeful and organized perception and registration of the behavior of the object under study. Together with introspection, observation is considered the oldest psychological method. Scientific observation was widely used in those areas of scientific knowledge, where the fixation of the characteristics of human behavior in various conditions is of particular importance. Also, it is either impossible or impermissible to interfere with the natural course of the process.

Observation can be carried out both directly by the researcher and by means of observation devices and fixing his results. These include audio, photo and video equipment, including surveillance cards.

Has several options.
External observation is a way of collecting data about the psychology and introduction of a person through direct observation of him from the outside.
Internal observation, or self-observation, is used when the psychologist-researcher sets himself the task of studying the phenomenon of interest in the form in which it is directly presented in his mind. Internally perceiving the corresponding phenomenon, the psychologist, as it were, observes it (for example, his images, feelings, thoughts, experiences) or uses similar data communicated to him by other people who themselves introspect according to his instructions.

Free observation does not have a predetermined framework, program, procedure for its implementation. It can change the object or object of observation, its character during the observation itself, depending on the wishes of the observer.

In contrast, standardized observation is predetermined and clearly limited in terms of what is observed. It is conducted according to a certain, preliminarily thought out program and strictly follows it, regardless of what happens in the process of observation with the object or the observer himself.

When observation is on, the researcher acts as a direct participant in the process, the course of which he is observing. Another version of the included observation: while exploring the relationships of people, the experimenter can engage himself in communication with the observed people, without stopping at the same time to observe the relationships developing between them and these people.

Outside observation, in contrast to the included one, does not imply the personal participation of the observer in the process that he is studying.

Each of these types of observation has its own characteristics and is used where it can give the most reliable results. External observation, for example, is less subjective than self-observation, and is usually applied where the features that need to be observed can easily be isolated and evaluated from the outside. Internal observation is irreplaceable and often acts as the only available method for collecting psychological data in cases where there are no reliable external signs of the phenomenon of interest to the researcher.

Free observation is advisable to carry out in cases where it is impossible to determine exactly what should be observed, when the signs of the phenomenon under study and its probable course are not known in advance by the researcher. Standardized observation, on the other hand, is best used when the researcher has an accurate and fairly complete list of features related to the phenomenon under study.

Participatory observation is useful when a psychologist can give a correct assessment of a phenomenon only by experiencing it in himself. However, if, under the influence of the researcher's personal participation, his perception and understanding of the event can be distorted, then it is better to turn to outside observation, the use of which allows one to more objectively judge the observed.

Systematic observation is divided into:
- Non-systematic observation, in which it is necessary to create a generalized picture of the behavior of an individual or a group of individuals in certain conditions and the goal is not to fix causal dependencies and give rigorous descriptions of phenomena.
- (Systematic observation, carried out according to a certain plan and in which the researcher registers the features of the appearance and classifies the conditions of the external environment.

Systematic observation is carried out during field research. Result: creation of a generalized picture of the behavior of an individual or a group in certain conditions. Systematic observation is carried out according to a specific plan. Result: registration of behavioral features (variables) and classification of environmental conditions.

For fixed objects, observation is:
- Continuous observation. The researcher tries to record all the features of the behavior.
- Selective observation. The researcher records only certain types of behavioral acts or parameters of behavior.

Surveillance has several advantages:
- Observation allows you to directly capture and record, acts of behavior.
- Observation allows you to simultaneously capture the behavior of a number of persons in relation to each other or to certain tasks, objects, etc.
- Observation allows research to be carried out regardless of the readiness of the observed subjects.
- Observation allows you to achieve multidimensional coverage, that is, fixation on several parameters at once - for example, verbal and non-verbal behavior.
- Efficiency of obtaining information.
- Relative cheapness of the method.

However, at the same time, disadvantages are also highlighted. Disadvantages of observation include:
- The number of irrelevant, interfering factors, the observation results can affect:
- the mood of the observer;
- the social position of the observer in relation to the observed;
- observer bias;
- the complexity of the observed situations;
- first impression effect;
- fatigue of the observer and the observed;
- errors in estimates ("halo effect", "condescension effect" "averaging error, modeling errors, contrast error).
- One-time observable circumstances, leading to the impossibility of making a generalizing conclusion based on single observed facts.
- The need to classify observation results.
- Low representativeness for large populations.
- Difficulty maintaining operational validity.

Questioning. Questioning, like observation, is one of the most common research methods in psychology. The survey is usually conducted using observational data, which (along with data obtained through other research methods) are used in the compilation of the questionnaires.

There are three main types of questionnaires used in psychology:
- composed of direct questions and aimed at identifying the perceived qualities of the subjects.
- questionnaires of a selective type, where the subjects are offered several ready-made answers to each question of the questionnaire; the subject's task is to choose the most appropriate answer.
- questionnaires-scales; When answering the questions of the questionnaire scales, the subject should not only choose the most correct of the ready-made answers, but analyze (evaluate in points) the correctness of the proposed answers.

Scale questionnaires are the most formalized type of questionnaires, since they allow for a more accurate quantitative analysis of the questionnaire data.

The indisputable advantage of the questionnaire method is the rapid acquisition of mass material.

The disadvantage of the questionnaire method is that it allows opening, as a rule, only the most upper layer factors: materials using questionnaires and questionnaires (composed of direct questions to the subjects) cannot give the researcher an idea of ​​many patterns and causal relationships related to psychology. Questioning is a means of first orientation, a means of preliminary reconnaissance. To compensate for the noted shortcomings of the questionnaire, the application of this method should be combined with the use of more meaningful research methods, as well as repeated questionnaires, masking the true goals of the surveys from the subjects, etc.

Conversation is a psychology-specific method for studying human behavior, since in other natural sciences, communication between the subject and the object of research is impossible.

The conversation method is a dialogue between two people, during which one person identifies the psychological characteristics of the other.

Conversation is included as an additional method in the structure of the experiment at the first stage, when the researcher collects primary information about the subject, gives him instructions, motivates, etc., and at the last stage - in the form of a post-experimental interview.

Compliance with all necessary conditions conducting a conversation involves the collection of preliminary information about the subjects, makes this method very effective remedy psychological research. Therefore, it is desirable that the interview is conducted taking into account the data obtained using methods such as observation and questioning. In this case, its goals may include checking the preliminary conclusions arising from the results of psychological analysis and obtained using these methods of primary orientation in the studied psychological characteristics of the subjects.

A survey is a method by which a person answers a series of questions asked to him. There are several survey options and each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Oral questioning is used in cases where it is desirable to observe the behavior and reactions of the person answering the questions. This type of survey allows deeper than written, to penetrate into human psychology, but requires special training, education and, as a rule, a large investment of time to conduct research. The answers of the subjects received during oral questioning significantly depend on the personality of the person who is conducting the interview, and on the individual characteristics of the person who answers the questions, and on the behavior of both persons in the interview situation.

A written survey allows you to reach more people. Its most common form is a questionnaire. But its disadvantage is that, using the questionnaire, it is impossible to take into account in advance the reactions of the respondent to the content of its questions and, on this basis, change them.

Free survey is a kind of oral or written survey in which the list of questions asked and possible answers to them is not limited in advance to a certain framework. A survey of this type allows you to flexibly change the research tactics, the content of the questions asked, and receive non-standard answers to them.

Standardized survey - questions and the nature of possible answers to them are predetermined and usually limited to a rather narrow framework, which makes it more economical in time and material costs than a free survey.

Tests are specialized methods of psychodiagnostic examination, using which you can obtain an accurate quantitative or qualitative characteristic of the phenomenon under study. Tests differ from other research methods in that they imply a clear procedure for collecting and processing primary data, as well as the originality of their subsequent interpretation.Using tests, you can study and compare psychology with each other different people, give differentiated and comparable assessments.

The test questionnaire is based on a system of pre-thought out, carefully selected and tested in terms of their validity and reliability of questions, the answers to which can be used to judge the psychological qualities of the subjects.

The test assignment involves assessing the psychology and behavior of a person based on what he is doing. In tests of this type, the subject is offered a series of special tasks, based on the results of which they are judged on the presence or absence and the degree of development of the studied quality in him.

The test questionnaire and test task are applicable to people of different ages, belonging to different cultures, having different level education, different professions and different life experiences. This is their positive side.

The disadvantage of tests is that when using them, and. At will, the volunteer can consciously influence the results obtained, especially if he knows in advance how the test works and how psychology and behavior will be assessed based on its results. In addition, the test questionnaire and the test task are inapplicable in cases where psychological properties and characteristics are to be studied, in the existence of which the subject cannot be, completely sure, does not realize or consciously does not want to accept their presence in himself. Such characteristics are, for example, many negative personality traits and motives of behavior. In these cases, the third type of tests is usually used - projective.

Projective tests. At the heart of projective tests is the projection mechanism, according to which a person is inclined to ascribe unconscious own qualities, especially shortcomings, to other people. Projective tests are designed to study the psychological and behavioral characteristics of people who cause negative attitudes. Applying tests of this kind, the psychology of the subject is judged on the basis of how he perceives and evaluates situations, psychology and behavior of people, what personal properties, motives of a positive or negative nature he attributes to them.

Using the projective test, the psychologist, with its help, introduces the subject into an imaginary, plot-uncertain situation that is subject to arbitrary interpretation.

Projective tests place increased demands on the level of education and intellectual maturity of the subjects and this is the main practical limitation of their applicability. In addition, such tests require a lot of special training and high professional qualifications on the part of the psychologist himself.

Experiment. The specificity of the experiment as a method of psychological research lies in the fact that it purposefully and thoughtfully creates an artificial situation in which the studied property is distinguished, manifested and evaluated in the best way. The main advantage of the experiment is that it allows, more reliably than all other methods, to draw conclusions about the cause-and-effect relationships of the studied phenomenon with other phenomena, to scientifically explain the origin of the phenomenon and its development.

There are two main types of experiment: natural and laboratory.

A natural experiment is organized and carried out in ordinary life conditions, where the experimenter practically does not interfere with the course of the events taking place, fixing them in the form as they unfold by themselves.

A laboratory experiment involves the creation of some kind of artificial situation in which the property under study can best be studied.

The data obtained in a natural experiment best of all correspond to the typical life behavior of an individual, to the real psychology of people, but they are not always accurate due to the lack of the experimenter's ability to strictly control the influence of various factors on the studied property. The results of a laboratory experiment, on the contrary, win in accuracy, but they are inferior in the degree of naturalness - conformity to life.

Modeling as a method is used when the study of a phenomenon of interest to a scientist by simple observation, questioning, test or experiment is difficult or impossible due to complexity or inaccessibility. Then they resort to creating an artificial model of the studied phenomenon, repeating its main parameters and expected properties. This model is used to investigate this phenomenon in detail and draw conclusions about nature.

Models can be technical, logical, mathematical, cybernetic.

A mathematical model is an expression or formula that includes variables and relationships between them, reproducing elements and relationships in the phenomenon under study.

Technical modeling involves the creation of a device or device that resembles in its action what is to be studied.

Cybernetic modeling is based on the use of concepts from the field of informatics and cybernetics as elements of the model.

Logic modeling is based on ideas and symbols used in mathematical logic. The most famous examples of mathematical modeling in psychology are formulas expressing the laws of Bouguer - Weber, Weber - Fechner and Stevens. Logical modeling is widely used in the study of human thinking and its comparison with the solution of problems by a computing machine.

In addition to the above methods for collecting primary information, psychology is widely used different ways and methods of processing these data, their logical and mathematical analysis to obtain secondary results, i.e. facts and conclusions arising from the interpretation of the processed primary information. For this purpose, in particular, various methods of mathematical statistics are used, without which it is often impossible to obtain reliable information about the phenomena under study, as well as methods of qualitative analysis.

There is a movement from ignorance to knowledge. Thus, the first step cognitive process- the definition of what we do not know. It is important to clearly and rigorously define the problem, separating what we already know from what we do not yet know. The problem(from the Greek Problema - task) is a complex and controversial issue that needs to be resolved.

The second step in is the development of a hypothesis (from the Greek. Hypothesis - an assumption). Hypothesis - this is a scientifically sound assumption that needs to be tested.

If a hypothesis is proved by a large number of facts, it becomes a theory (from the Greek theoria - observation, research). Theory Is a system of knowledge that describes and explains certain phenomena; such are, for example, evolutionary theory, theory of relativity, quantum theory, etc.

When choosing the best theory, the degree of testability plays an important role. A theory is reliable if it is confirmed by objective facts (including newly discovered ones) and if it is distinguished by clarity, distinctness, and logical rigor.

Scientific facts

A distinction should be made between objective and scientific facts. Objective fact Is a real-life object, process or event that has taken place. For example, the death of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov (1814-1841) in a duel is a fact. Scientific fact is knowledge that is confirmed and interpreted within the framework of the generally accepted system of knowledge.

Assessments oppose facts and reflect the significance of objects or phenomena for a person, his approving or disapproving attitude towards them. In scientific facts, the objective myrtaka is usually fixed as it is, and the assessments reflect the subjective position of a person, his interests, the level of his moral and aesthetic consciousness.

Most of the difficulties for science arise during the transition from hypothesis to theory. There are methods and procedures that allow you to test a hypothesis and prove it or discard it as incorrect.

Method(from the Greek. methodos - the path to the goal) is called a rule, a method, a way of knowing. In general, a method is a system of rules and regulations that allow one to investigate an object. F. Bacon called the method "a lamp in the hands of a traveler walking in the dark."

Methodology Is a broader concept and can be defined as:

• a set of methods used in any science;
• general teaching about the method.

Since the criteria of truth in its classical scientific understanding are, on the one hand, sensory experience and practice, and on the other, clarity and logical distinctness, all known methods can be divided into empirical (experimental, practical ways of knowing) and theoretical (logical procedures).

Empirical methods of cognition

The basis empirical methods are sensory cognition (sensation, perception, representation) and the data of devices. These methods include:

• observation- purposeful perception of phenomena without interfering with them;
• experiment- the study of phenomena in a controlled and controlled environment;
• measurement - determination of the ratio of the measured quantity to
• standard (for example, meter);
• comparison- identification of similarities or differences between objects or their features.

There are no pure empirical methods in scientific knowledge, since even a simple observation requires preliminary theoretical foundations - the choice of an object for observation, the formulation of a hypothesis, etc.

Theoretical methods of cognition

Actually theoretical methods rely on rational knowledge (concept, judgment, inference) and logical inference procedures. These methods include:

• analysis- the process of mental or real dismemberment of an object, phenomenon into parts (signs, properties, relationships);
• synthesis - the connection of the sides of the subject identified during the analysis into a single whole;
• - combining various objects into groups based on common characteristics (classification of animals, plants, etc.);
• abstraction - distraction in the process of cognition from some properties of an object in order to in-depth study of one specific side of it (the result of abstraction is abstract concepts such as color, curvature, beauty, etc.);
• formalization - display of knowledge in a sign, symbolic form (in mathematical formulas, chemical symbols, etc.);
• analogy - inference about the similarity of objects in a certain relationship based on their similarity in a number of other relationships;
• modeling- creation and study of a substitute (model) of an object (for example, computer modeling of the human genome);
• idealization- creation of concepts for objects that do not exist in reality, but have a prototype in it (geometric point, sphere, ideal gas);
• deduction - movement from general to specific;
• induction- movement from the particular (facts) to the general statement.

Theoretical methods require empirical evidence. So, although induction itself is a theoretical logical operation, it still requires an experimental verification of each particular fact, therefore it is based on empirical knowledge, and not on theoretical knowledge. Thus, theoretical and empirical methods exist in unity, complementing each other. All of the above methods are techniques (specific rules, algorithms of action).

Wider methods-approaches indicate only the direction and general way of solving problems. Methods-approaches can include many different techniques... Such are the structural-functional method, hermeneutic, etc. The most general methods-approaches are philosophical methods:

• metaphysical- consideration of an object in mowing, statics, out of connection with other objects;
• dialectical- disclosure of the laws of development and change of things in their interconnection, internal contradiction and unity.

The absolutization of one method as the only true one is called dogma(for example, dialectical materialism in Soviet philosophy). An uncritical jumble of various unrelated methods is called eclecticism.

Various methods are used. Empirical research is a separate group of methods that includes indirect or direct collection of data obtained in the course of studying a phenomenon. Other methods include organizational, interpretive and data processing methods. It should also be noted that scientific empirical research important to distinguish from theoretical.

Differences between empirical and theoretical research

Literally "empirical" means "obtained empirically", that is, empirical research - obtained in the course of studying the object of specific data. Thus, in empirical research there is a direct contact between the researcher and the object under study. Theoretical research occurs, roughly speaking, on a mental level. As the main empirical knowledge uses mainly experiment and observation of real objects (direct impact or observation of the studied phenomena). Empirical research is, first of all, the maximum exclusion of the impact of subjective components on the result of cognition. In this regard, theoretical knowledge is characterized by greater subjectivity, the operation of ideal images and objects.

The structure of the empirical method of cognition

Empirical scientific research includes research methods (observation and experimentation); results obtained by means of these methods (actual data); various procedures for translating the results obtained ("raw data") into patterns, dependencies, facts. empirical research is not just an experiment; it is a difficult one during which scientific hypotheses are confirmed or refuted, new patterns are revealed, etc.

Empirical research stages

Empirical research, like any other method, consists of several steps, each of which is important for obtaining objective data. Let's list the main stages of empirical research. After the goal has been set, the research tasks are formulated, a hypothesis is put forward, the researcher goes directly to the process of obtaining facts. This is the first stage of empirical research, when the data of observation or experiment are recorded in the process of work. At this stage, the results obtained are rigorously evaluated; the experimenter tries to make the data as objective as possible, cleaning them from side effects.

At the second stage of empirical research, the results obtained during the first stage are processed. At this stage, the results undergo primary processing in order to find various patterns and connections. Here the data is classified, referred to different types, describe the results obtained using special scientific terminology. Thus, the empirical study of any phenomenon or object is extremely informative. In the course of such cognition of reality, it is possible to deduce important patterns, draw up a certain classification, and identify obvious connections between objects.

The group of empirical methods in psychology is traditionally considered the main one.

Observation is the oldest method of cognition. Its primitive form - everyday observations - is used by every person in his daily practice. Observation appears in psychology in two main forms - as self-observation, or introspection, and as external, or the so-called objective observation.

The general observation procedure consists of the following processes: definition of the task and purpose; choice of an object, subject and situation; the choice of the observation method, the least affecting the object under study and the most ensuring the collection of the necessary information; choice of methods for registering the observed phenomena; processing and interpretation of the information received.

The observation method consists in fixing and reflecting the behavioral reactions of another person. At the same time, the observer takes a passive position, he only observes. Scientific observation has its own criteria. The observer should be a professional psychologist who is well aware of the possibilities of this method. Only a professional psychologist can correctly interpret this or that fact. The observer psychologist can remove the subjectivity of judgments in relation to the observed facts. Observing other people, we correlate the internal content with the external reactions of a person, but only a professional psychologist can solve the problem of the measure of correspondence between external reactions and the internal content of a person.

As a rule, the phenomenon to be studied is observed in its usual conditions, without making any changes. One of the main requirements for this method is the presence of a clear target setting. In accordance with the goal, the observation plan must be determined, recorded in the scheme. Planned and systematic observation is the most essential feature of it as scientific method... They must exclude the element of chance inherent in everyday observation. If observation proceeds from a clearly recognized goal, then it must acquire a selective character. It is absolutely impossible to observe everything in general due to the limitless diversity of what exists. Any observation, therefore, is selective, or selective, partial.

Observation becomes a method of scientific knowledge only insofar as it is not limited to a simple registration of facts, but proceeds to formulate hypotheses in order to test them on new observations. The separation of the subjective interpretation from the objective and the exclusion of the subjective is carried out in the very process of observation, combined with the formulation and testing of hypotheses. The psychological interpretation of external data itself is not directly given, it must be found on the basis of hypotheses that must be verified in observation, i.e. the description should turn into an explanation - the fate of scientific research depends on this.

The main advantage of the objective observation method is that it allows you to study mental processes in natural conditions. However, objective observation, while retaining its value, for the most part should be complemented by other research methods.

Observation is carried out not once, but systematically in relation to the same person and in relation to the same phenomenon in many persons and in various, most typical situations. Observation is used primarily when minimal interference with natural behavior, human relationships is required, when they seek to get a holistic picture of what is happening.

There are the following types of observation (see Fig. 1): cut (short-term observation), longitudinal (long-term, sometimes for a number of years). Observation can be laboratory and natural. Laboratory observation is observation under artificial conditions, most often in laboratories. Natural observation is observation in the conditions and surroundings that are familiar to humans.

Rice. №1

Surveillance can be enabled or disabled. When observation is on, the observer is included in the activity in which the observed are involved. Observables in this case do not know anything about the observation being carried out. When observation is not included, the roles of people are distributed: some of them are observed, and others are observers. Observables know about observation.

The observation method can be structured or unstructured. In the first case, the structure of the observed facts is strictly subdivided. In the second case, the observation is carried out over the entire set of facts.

Observation can be continuous and selective. With continuous observation, all behavioral reactions are recorded. Selective observation involves limiting the area of ​​observation.

Observation can be direct and indirect. With direct observation, the study is carried out by the person himself, who draws conclusions from the results of this observation. Indirect observation occurs in cases where information about the observation carried out by another person is received.

The observation method is not without its drawbacks. Attitudes, interests, psychological states, personality traits of the observer can greatly influence the results of observation. The more intensely the observer is focused on confirming his hypothesis, the greater the distortion of the perception of events. He selectively perceives only part of what is happening. Long-term observation leads to fatigue, adaptation to the situation, creates a feeling of monotony, which increases the danger of inaccurate recordings. The interpretation of the data presents a certain difficulty. Moreover, observation is time consuming.

One of the types of observation is self-observation, direct or delayed (in memories, notes, diaries, a person analyzes his feelings, thoughts and experiences). The method of introspection (self-observation) consists in observing one's externally expressed activity, psychologically significant facts from life, and in observing your inner life, your mental state. The scientific value of self-observation data depends on how objective they are, correspond to real facts. Experimental studies show that people tend to overestimate their strengths and belittle their weaknesses. However, when combined with other methods, self-observation can be beneficial. What is an experiment?

The experiment is also associated with obtaining sensory visual images of objects and processes of the world around us. But unlike passive observation, when a person does not change, does not transform the objects under study, the experiment just presupposes such changes and transformations. In the course of the experiment, we put various objects in artificial conditions, which often do not exist in nature, we strive to eliminate unwanted accidents, make the factors that we create in accordance with predetermined goals act on them. Experimenting, a scientist modifies, transforms, and often creates certain objects from the "raw" materials at his disposal. Such observation can be called active or, to use the words of V. I. Lenin, "living contemplation."

The advantage of an experiment over passive observation is that we intervene during events, and this allows us to see and discover such aspects of the studied phenomena that, with passive observation, either can be discovered with a great expenditure of time and effort purely by chance, or are generally inaccessible to the sensory perception. By its very essence, an experiment is akin to the process of producing material values. And here and there we can distinguish three main elements, three most important components: a person, an instrument of influence on the surrounding world (tools, scientific instruments, apparatus, etc.), objects being studied or transformed.

In the process of the production of material goods and in experimental activity, people with the help of certain tools and means transform, modify or create new objects. However, the goals

these two activities are quite different. In the first case, the goal is the creation of some material objects from others, in the second - the acquisition of knowledge arising as a result of active observation of the course of the experiment. It is not difficult to notice that the experiment is also related to productive activity, as cognitive tasks to the subject-practical. Experimental living contemplation overcomes many of the disadvantages of passive observation. However, one should not think that any experiment will immediately achieve this goal. It is often said that modern modern natural science is entirely experimental, and this is precisely its main difference from ordinary, everyday knowledge. Like all too simple and short definitions, this statement unnecessarily coarsens reality. In the story of Andrey Platonov "City of Gradov" there is a scene in which two urban inhabitants take part. Standing opposite each other, they fiercely argue about what constitutes a lump of soil that one of them holds in his hand. "This is sand," says one of the disputants and adds in confirmation: "Dun - and it will crumble." - "No, it's clay," objects another, "spit - and it will stick together."

Essentially, these comic debaters are not limited to passive observation. They offer a kind of experiment, namely: a modification of the conditions and state of the observed substance. Of course, such an experiment is very far from the experiments carried out in modern science, using huge accelerators, space laboratories, electron microscopes, barometers with gigantic pressure, etc. represents the simplest experiment. It was with such simple experiments that many famous experimenters often began their journey into science.

In this case, it is easy to say that it is unlikely to blow or spit enough to resolve the dispute, but it is this remark that brings us to a stronger conclusion: not every experiment can give us reliable scientific knowledge. Needless to say, our disputants have taken some step forward by proposing two experiments that exclude each other - "blow" and "spit". For even these simple actions, which acquire such a funny coloring in Platonov's story, are still better than passive gazing at a lump of soil. But, of course, such a solution to the question, as is clear even to the most inexperienced reader, is far from scientific. For the sake of fairness, it should be said that in ordinary, everyday practice, the method of resolving a dispute would not be very far from the recipe of the Gradov "experimenters". To find out whether a given type of soil is clay or sand, one would add water to it, knead the dough and, after giving it a certain shape, then subject it to firing. If at the same time he acquired all the properties of a ceramic product, then the dispute would be settled in favor of clay. If, on the contrary, our products crumbled during firing, then we could say with confidence that we are dealing with sand. But for a geologist seeking to accurately determine the type of natural resources, for example, deposits of clay or sand for industrial production, such verification methods are not enough.

We see that a lot of important, vital knowledge is based on observation and experiment. But to notice this circumstance does not mean to indicate how the main observations and experiments differ from those that we encounter in everyday life and in ordinary industrial practice. The point here is not only that scientific experiments and observations are more complex and more accurate than observations and simple experiments that people carry out for the purposes of everyday cognition, but in the special role that these types of cognitive activity play in the process of "making" scientific knowledge ...

The experimental method is the active intervention of the researcher in the activity of the subject in order to create conditions in which a psychological fact is revealed. The main advantages of all types of experiments are that it is possible to specifically cause some kind of mental process, to trace the dependence of a mental phenomenon on changing external conditions. The history of science has proved the leading role of the experimental method in the development of scientific knowledge... Suffice it to recall the fact that psychology, one of the most ancient sciences, separated from philosophy into an independent branch of knowledge only in the middle of the 19th century, when systematic experimentation in psychology began (W. Fechner, E. Weber, W. Wundt, etc.).

The experimental method is aimed at studying mental phenomena in specially created conditions and presupposes an active position of the experimenter in relation to the subject. During the experiment, the very psyche of a person changes, he can change externally and internally. An experiment is a research activity in order to study cause-and-effect relationships, which assumes that the experimenter himself causes the phenomenon he is studying and actively affects it, changing the conditions under which the phenomenon occurs. The experiment allows you to repeatedly reproduce the results, to establish quantitative patterns. The main task of the psychological experiment is to make the essential features of the internal mental process admissible for objective external observation.

Experiment as a method of psychology originated in the field of psychophysics and psychophysiology and became widespread.

Expansion of the use of experiment progressed from elementary sensory processes to higher mental processes. The very nature of the experiment also changed: from studying the relationship between an individual physical stimulus and the corresponding mental process, he moved on to studying the laws governing the course of the mental processes themselves under certain objective conditions.

Analysis of the experiment as a scientific activity allows us to single out a system of necessary research stages (see figure 2):

Rice. №2

I theoretical stage of the study (problem statement). At this stage, the following tasks are solved:

• a) the formulation of the problem and the research topic,
• b) determination of the object and subject of research,
• c) determination of experimental problems and research hypotheses. At the same time, it is important that the title of the topic includes the basic concepts of the research subject.

The boundaries of the research subject should be established taking into account the purpose and objectives of the research; object of study; material and time opportunities for experimentation; the results of the scientific development of the issue.

II methodological stage of the study. At this stage, a methodology for an experiment and an experimental plan is developed. The experimental technique should reproduce the subject of research in the form of a variable of the experimental situation.

In the experiment, two series of variables are distinguished: independent and dependent. The factor changed by the experimenter is called the independent variable; the factor that is caused by the independent variable is called the dependent variable.

The development of an experimental plan involves drawing up an experiment program as a working plan and a sequence of experimental procedures and mathematical planning for the processing of experimental data, i.e. mathematical model for processing the results of the experiment;

III experimental stage. At this stage, experiments are carried out directly, associated with the creation of an experimental situation, observation, control of the course of the experiment and measurement of the reactions of the subjects.

The main problem of this stage is to create in the subjects an identical understanding of the problem of their activity in the experiment. This problem is solved through the reproduction of constant conditions for all subjects and the instruction, which plays the role of a single attitude towards activity. At this stage, the role of the experimenter and his behavior are very important, since the subjects include his personality in the context of the experimental situation. The instruction aims to lead all subjects to common understanding tasks, playing the role of a kind of psychological attitude;

IV analytical stage. At this stage, a quantitative analysis of the results (mathematical processing), scientific interpretation of the obtained facts, and the formulation of new scientific hypotheses and practical recommendations are carried out.

It should be borne in mind that the mathematical coefficients of variation statistics by themselves do not reveal the essence of the studied mental properties of a person, since they are external in relation to their essence, describing only the probabilistic outcome of their manifestation and the relationship between the frequencies of the compared events, and not between their essences. The essence of the phenomena is revealed through the subsequent scientific interpretation as a comparison of empirical facts according to the logic of cause-and-effect relations, modeled in an experimental situation.

An experiment can be laboratory, natural, mental, legislative, formative (teaching), associative. See fig. # 1

Rice. №1

The laboratory experiment takes place under special conditions using special equipment. In this case, the subject's actions are determined by the instruction. As a rule, the subject knows that an experiment is being carried out, although true meaning experiment may not know. The experiment is carried out repeatedly with big amount subjects, which allows you to establish general mathematically - statistically reliable patterns of development of mental phenomena.

The disadvantage of this method is the difficulty of using laboratory technology in practical conditions, as well as the difference between the course of mental processes in laboratory conditions and their course under normal conditions (artificiality, abstractness of the experiment). In a natural experiment, its participants perceive everything that happens as a genuine event, although the phenomenon being studied is is put by the experimenter in the conditions he needs and is subjected to objective fixation. Natural experiment is, as it were, an intermediate form between observation and experiment. It was proposed by the Russian scientist A.F. Lazursky (1910). This method combines experimental research with natural conditions. The logic of this method is as follows: the conditions in which the studied activity takes place are subjected to experimental influence, while the activity itself is observed in its natural course. Instead of translating the phenomena under study into laboratory conditions, researchers try to take into account the influence and select natural conditions that suit their goals.

In a thought experiment, it is assumed that all changes occur in the imagination of a person who is experimenting with imaginary images.

Formative (teaching) experiment acts as a means of influence, changes in the psychology of people. Its originality lies in the fact that it simultaneously serves as both a means of research and a means of forming the phenomenon under study. The formative experiment is characterized by the active intervention of the researcher in the mental processes studied by him. A formative experiment involves the design and modeling of the content of formed mental neoplasms, psychological and pedagogical tools and ways of their formation. One of the founders of the formative experiment in our country, V.V. Davydov, calls this type of experiment genetic modeling, since it embodies the unity of research mental development with education and training.

This method is based on the design and redesign of new education and training programs and methods of their implementation, aimed at studying mental phenomena in the process of education and training by introducing the most active teaching methods, with the help of which professionally important qualities of a future specialist are formed.

The associative experiment was first proposed by the English psychologist F. Galton and developed by the Austrian scientist C. Jung. Its essence is that the subject is asked to respond to each word with the first word that comes into his head. In all cases, the reaction time is taken into account, i.e. the interval between the word and the answer.

Psychodiagnostic methods are designed to fix and describe in an orderly way the psychological differences both between people and between groups of people united by some (not always psychologically related) characteristics. Depending on the objectives of the study, the number of diagnosed signs may include psychological differences in age, sex, education and culture in the broadest sense of these terms, in mental states, psychophysiological characteristics, etc.

Psychological tests are a system of special tasks that measure the level of development or state, certain mental qualities or properties of an individual. English word test means "trial" or "test" .. A test is a short, standardized test that does not require, as a rule, complex technical devices, amenable to standardization and mathematical data processing, the results of which determine the presence and level of development of certain mental qualities of a person.

The main advantage of the test is that it allows you to quantitatively assess mental qualities that are difficult to measure - intelligence, personality traits, anxiety threshold, etc. Tests differ from other research methods in that they imply a clear procedure for collecting and processing primary data, as well as the originality of their subsequent interpretation.

Currently, the test method is used in psychology along with other methods. With its help, they strive to identify certain abilities, skills, abilities (or their lack), most accurately characterize some personality traits, identify the degree of suitability for work in a particular field, etc. The diagnostic value of the test largely depends on the level of scientific experiment and the reliability of the psychological fact that was the basis of the test, i.e. on how the test was designed: whether it was the result of a lot of preliminary experimental work or was the result of approximate, random and superficial observations. Insufficiently substantiated and proven psychological tests can cause serious errors that can cause significant damage in the field of professional selection, in teaching practice, in the diagnosis of defects and temporary delays in mental development.

Tests must be scientifically based and identify resistant psychological characteristics... The development and use of any tests must meet certain requirements:

• 1. The reliability of tests is manifested in the elimination of a number of random or systematic errors in data collection and measurement.
• 2. The validity (adequacy) of the test depends on the extent to which the test measures the mental quality for the assessment of which it is intended.
• 3. Standardization of tests provides for a linear or non-linear transformation of test scores, the meaning of which is to replace the original scores with new derivatives that make it easier to understand the test result.
• 4. Comparability of individual data with normative ones.
• 5. Practicality - in the form of sufficient simplicity, economy, efficiency of use for most different situations and activities.

A systematic approach to testing involves: considering the phenomenon under study as a system, that is, as a delimited set of interacting elements; determination of the composition, structure, organization of elements and parts of the system, detection of the leading interactions between them; identification of the external connections of the system, the selection of the main ones; defining the function of the system and its role among other systems; detection on this basis of patterns and trends in the development of the system.

Analyzing psychological phenomena, it is necessary to consider them as complexly organized objects, consisting of subsystems and entering, in turn, as subsystems in systems of a higher level. It is important to identify all the variety of elements that make up the structure of a socio-psychological phenomenon, all the connections between them, as well as the relationship of the studied psychological phenomenon with external phenomena in relation to it.

The systematic approach guides the psychologist in the methodology of searching for the causes of positive or negative trends in the development of a particular psychological phenomenon. If similar positive or negative moments have appeared not in one, but in several elements of the system, then the reasons for this should, first of all, be sought not in these elements, but in the system itself.

The application of the test method should be carried out taking into account all specific conditions (place, time, specific situation). The survey method is to find out the opinion of a person on any issue or problem, to obtain information about objective and subjective facts from the words of the respondents. This method assumes that we turn to the subjective experience of a person, to his individual opinion.

All the variety of survey methods used in psychological research can be reduced to two main types: 1) a "face to face" survey - an interview conducted by a researcher on a certain pian; 2) correspondence survey - questionnaires intended for self-completion.

Oral interrogation is a traditional method for psychological research, and has long been used by psychologists from various scientific schools and fields. During the survey, various questions can be asked: direct (suggest a correspondence between the wording and what the interviewer wants to know), indirect (the wording and the goal do not correspond to each other), projective (for example, a person is asked about people from his environment, while receiving information about himself), open (suggest certain answer options), closed (suggest the presence of many answer options), suggestive, prompting, etc.

There are certain limitations inherent in polls as methods of collecting primary information. Their data is largely based on the self-observation of the respondents and often testifies, even if the respondents are completely sincere, not so much about their sincere opinions as about how they portray them.

The field of application of surveys in psychological research is extensive and includes: early stages of research, work on an intelligence plan, when using the interview data, variables related to the problem under study are established and working hypotheses are put forward; obtaining data that allows you to measure the relationship of the studied variables; clarification, expansion and control of data obtained both by other methods and by means of one form or another of the survey.

There are two types of interviews - standardized and non-standardized. In a standardized interview, the wording of the questions and their sequence are predefined, they are the same for all interviewees. The researcher is not allowed to reformulate any questions or introduce new ones, or change their order.

On the other hand, the non-standardized interview technique is characterized by complete flexibility and varies widely. The researcher, who is guided only by the general plan of the interview, has the right to formulate questions and change the order of the points of the plan in accordance with the specific situation. The advantage of a non-standardized interview is getting more in-depth information, flexibility of the interview; the disadvantage is the comparative narrowness of the coverage of the respondents. Usually, a combination of questionnaires and interviews is recommended, since this technique, along with covering a large number of respondents, in a relatively short time allows you to obtain material for in-depth analysis.

Questioning (correspondence survey) also has its own specifics. It is believed that it is more expedient to resort to an absentee survey in cases when it is necessary either to find out the attitude of people to acute discussion or intimate issues, or to interview a large number of people in a relatively short period of time. The main advantage of the survey is the possibility of mass coverage a large number persons. The questionnaire guarantees anonymity to a greater extent than interviews, and therefore the respondents can give more sincere answers. However, a survey cannot be conducted without certain working hypotheses.

Conversation how psychological method is an aid for additional lighting the problem under study. The conversation should always be organized in a planned way in accordance with the objectives of the research. The questions asked in the conversation can be, as it were, tasks aimed at identifying the qualitative uniqueness of the processes being studied. But at the same time, such tasks should be as natural and non-standard as possible. Being planned, the conversation should not be of a stereotyped and standard nature, it should always be as idealized as possible and be combined with other objective methods.

The conversation must meet certain conditions. The best result is brought by a conversation in the case of establishing a relaxed personal contact between the researcher and the subject. In this case, the conversation should be thought out in advance with the preparation of a specific plan, highlighting the main problems to be clarified.

The interview method also involves asking questions by the subjects themselves. Such a two-way conversation provides more information on the problem under study than just the subjects' answers to the questions posed.

The study of the products of activity - as a research method, is widely used in historical (allows you to study the psychology of a person in previous historical eras), children's (the study of the products of children's creativity for the psychological study of a child), legal (the study of the characteristics of the psychological manifestations of a subject in his absence) psychology.

This method is used when it is impossible, inaccessible to direct observation or experimentation. A variation of the method for studying the products of activity is the biographical method. The material here is letters, diaries, biographies, products of children's creativity, handwriting, etc. In many cases, for the purpose of psychological research, not one, but several methods are used, each of which complements the others, revealing new aspects of mental activity.

Let's summarize and answer the questions posed:

At the empirical level, living contemplation (sensory cognition) prevails.Collection of facts, their primary generalization, description of observed and experimental data, their systematization, classification and other fact-fixing activity - characteristic signs empirical knowledge. Sensual cognition. Plays a very important role in the development of science and philosophy, as he creates theories and hypotheses, without which no research begins.

Let's move on to the next question. Observation is divided into objective and self-observation. At the same time, the observer takes a passive position, he only observes. Observing other people, we correlate the internal content with the external reactions of a person, but only a professional psychologist can solve the problem of the measure of correspondence between external reactions and internal content.

In contrast to passive observation, when a person does not change, does not transform the objects under study, the experiment just presupposes such changes and transformations.

Experimenting, a scientist modifies, transforms, and often creates certain objects from the "raw" materials at his disposal. The advantage of experimenting over passive observation is that we intervene during events, and this allows us to see and discover new discoveries and knowledge. We also learned that there are 6 types of experiment: laboratory, natural, mental, legislative, formative (teaching), associative. Each and them are individual. The latter type is more interesting, since it plays a huge role in the development of psychology.

In conclusion, I want to note that this topic causes a lot of controversy among scientists, but most importantly, it occupies an irreplaceable place in modern philosophy.