According to Lowe, knowledge requires a form of action to be accurate and precise. In other words, knowledge is created on the basis of a rationally conceived design such as an experiment. Experiments are a great example of how action is required to produce or replicate knowledge. Moreover, one necessitates research and a rational design to attain certainty in his or her knowledge claim. Generally, this certainty may be achieved with an experiment. Natural sciences may be referred to as a science of the physical world, whereas a social science may be defined as a branch of science dealing with human society and relationships. Furthermore, social sciences and natural science may be distinguished by the method of their creation. In general, natural sciences usually require a form of action (i.e. experiment) to provide justification for their knowledge claims whereas social sciences don’t require action to justify their knowledge claims. An example of a method that doesn’t require action may be a case study. One may wonder which method is more reliable and accurate. A knowledge questions that arises from this situation is: To what extent is action required to justify knowledge. In this essay, I am going to examine the extent at which action is required to justify a knowledge claim. By taking both natural and social sciences into consideration. By taking personal experiences and relevant knowledge issues into account, this essay will discuss several aspects regarding the knowledge question.
In natural sciences, one usually requires action in the form of experiments to justify knowledge. Experiments generally include a purpose procedure and quantitative results. Moreover they always have maximum control and show a cause and effect...
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...y, I advocate methods such as experiments that require action to obtain results. Experiments achieve maximum control and show a clear relationship between two variables. Although they lack ecological validity, experiments are generally more accurate and precise. For myself, max control is more significant to ecological validity. Experiments use rationally conceived designs or theories to justify knowledge claims or create knowledge. Precision and accuracy are necessary to justify knowledge claims
In conclusion, by evaluating the two methods for data collection, it is evident that experiments are more reliable and accurate to obtain or justify knowledge. Experiments use a form of action whereas case studies don’t. Although case studies are more ecologically valid, maximum control and cause-effect relationship is more significant for accurate and precise knowledge.
How we approach the question of knowledge is pivotal. If the definition of knowledge is a necessary truth, then we should aim for a real definition for theoretical and practical knowledge. Methodology examines the purpose for the definition and how we arrived to it. The reader is now aware of the various ways to dissect what knowledge is. This entails the possibility of knowledge being a set of truths; from which it follows that one cannot possibly give a single definition. The definition given must therefore satisfy certain desiderata , while being strong enough to demonstrate clarity without losing the reader. If we base our definition on every counter-example that disproves our original definition then it becomes ad hoc. This is the case for our current defini...
Going into details of the article, I realized that the necessary information needed to evaluate the experimental procedures were not included. However, when conducting an experiment, the independent and dependent variable are to be studied before giving a final conclusion.
Experimental research is the one type of research that allows psychologists to make causal statements. It is where the researcher changes one or more variables that may have an effect on some other variables (King, 2016). The hypothesis is a specific expectation about what is going to happen in the experiment (King, 2016). In the research, the hypothesis was that women would perceive fat talk to be more socially acceptable than men (Katrevich et al., 2014). The other elements of experimental method are dependent and independent variables. The independent variable (IV) is the cause of the results, and it is changed by the experimenter to find the effects, but the dependent vari...
This essay will be explaining the definition of sociology, the sociological factors of obesity using Symbolic Interactionism Theory and the Functionalism Theory and a description of the medical condition obesity and how it may affect individuals suffering from it.
Earlier Science was treated as an institution but now, it includes many things like "scientific experiments, "theories" etc. The authors argue that this knowledge should viewed in terms of "socially constructed" and not the one known as "scientific truth". This article points that in the social constructivist view, the 'science' it is just another system of knowledge which contains empirical researches and studies. It is basically concerned with what is "truth", how it has emerged, accepted and explained in social domain. ...
The Natural Sciences explore the knowledge we gain through the physical world such as ch...
At first I didn’t know what to really expect from taking an online sociology class for class. To be completely honest, I thought I would be reading a lot of boring articles and then writing about them. It turned out that I was wrong. I was able to see what sociology pertains to and how it relates to our lives. It’s funny to think that almost everything in your life is controlled by someone else. Your interests, hobbies, and even clothes aren’t really solely your decision. You may be thinking “no way I am being influenced and I make all of my decisions consciously” but in fact that is not the case.
Science has played a significant role in the development of society. Other world views, such as Hum...
The first method to be discussed and analysed are experimental methods. There is a variety of experimental methods including; laboratory, field and natural experiments. These methods are the most scientific method due to them being highly objective and systematic. In addition, this method is regarded as the most powerful research method used in psychology because of the potential to investigate the causes of events and therefore, identifying the cause and effect relationship. When carrying out an experiment the researcher intervenes directly in the situation being investigated. The researcher manipulates an independent variable (IV) in order to investigate whether there is a change in the dependent variable (DV). Any other variables that could have an
problem, formation of hypothesis, data collections by observing and experimenting. At all stages of the
Although the power source of social development is the advancement of technology, technology discovery is just a part of the system and it is an integral part, but only "essential" conditions, rather than "full" conditions. Anyway, the article has made the readers to think that the scientific process is not inevitable, but if without technology, people cannot live in this highly developed world. “Scientific knowledge is not inevitable” (Andrew Irvine). There is no guarantee that scientific progress will keep increasing. As long as people have the belief to live better, the scientific progress is not essential or necessary to exist.
Sociology and psychology is the study of the mind and the environment around us which makes us who we are. These theories assist us to understand behaviour from individual and societal levels.
...ieves that the knowledge is contributing to society. The scientist’s own drive to obtain knowledge versus the society’s need to obtain knowledge differ in the degree of limitations since the society’s moral judgments have more limiting factors on the methods to create the knowledge society demands rather than the artistic or scientific drive to obtain that knowledge.
To most, it’s very easy to imagine how it would feel to grow up without much of anything in life. Hell...I can tell you first hand what it feels like to not have a decent pair of shoes or pants without holes in them, or old “hand-me-down” toys while most of the kids you know have “state-of-the-art” toys. To many children in this kind of situation, it seems like a very bleak world to live in. No child should ever have to experience this kind of life. However, due to ignorant parents and an even more jacked-up government, there are many children that will always be in this predicament.
The social sciences have and will continue to be in the future will play an important role in studying and solving problems for both society and its individuals. The disciplines that it encompass vary widely but often need to come together to solve issues and study certain facets of humanity. For my personal use social science is a tool to better understand others, be more sensitive to issues that people may face and to anticipate the way people and society may act in certain situations. A social science lens can be productive in that it helps people be more indiscriminate though understanding people and their behavior. I hope to use the socials sciences to impact other people’s lives in a positive manner. The social sciences to me when used in a well-intended manner are able to not only explain phenomena but also be a solution and or make a situation better. The intent of this essay is to better understand and define the social sciences, touch on the many disciplines of the science in addition to its relationships with other scientific areas.