Observation and Experiment in the Natural and Social Sciences

Observation and Experiment in the Natural and Social Sciences

Author: Maria Carla Galavotti

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2006-04-18

Total Pages: 357

ISBN-13: 0306481235

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This volume is a contribution to the ongoing debate on the distinction between a ‘context of justification’ and a ‘context of discovery’. It is meant for researchers and advanced students in philosophy of science, and for natural and social scientists interested in foundational topics. Spanning a wide range of disciplines, it combines the viewpoint of philosophers and scientists and casts a new interdisciplinary perspective on the problem of observation and experimentation.


Book Synopsis Observation and Experiment in the Natural and Social Sciences by : Maria Carla Galavotti

Download or read book Observation and Experiment in the Natural and Social Sciences written by Maria Carla Galavotti and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-04-18 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is a contribution to the ongoing debate on the distinction between a ‘context of justification’ and a ‘context of discovery’. It is meant for researchers and advanced students in philosophy of science, and for natural and social scientists interested in foundational topics. Spanning a wide range of disciplines, it combines the viewpoint of philosophers and scientists and casts a new interdisciplinary perspective on the problem of observation and experimentation.


Social Science Research

Social Science Research

Author: Anol Bhattacherjee

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2012-04-01

Total Pages: 156

ISBN-13: 9781475146127

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This book is designed to introduce doctoral and graduate students to the process of conducting scientific research in the social sciences, business, education, public health, and related disciplines. It is a one-stop, comprehensive, and compact source for foundational concepts in behavioral research, and can serve as a stand-alone text or as a supplement to research readings in any doctoral seminar or research methods class. This book is currently used as a research text at universities on six continents and will shortly be available in nine different languages.


Book Synopsis Social Science Research by : Anol Bhattacherjee

Download or read book Social Science Research written by Anol Bhattacherjee and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2012-04-01 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is designed to introduce doctoral and graduate students to the process of conducting scientific research in the social sciences, business, education, public health, and related disciplines. It is a one-stop, comprehensive, and compact source for foundational concepts in behavioral research, and can serve as a stand-alone text or as a supplement to research readings in any doctoral seminar or research methods class. This book is currently used as a research text at universities on six continents and will shortly be available in nine different languages.


Natural Experiments in the Social Sciences

Natural Experiments in the Social Sciences

Author: Thad Dunning

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2012-09-06

Total Pages: 379

ISBN-13: 1107017661

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The first comprehensive guide to natural experiments, providing an ideal introduction for scholars and students.


Book Synopsis Natural Experiments in the Social Sciences by : Thad Dunning

Download or read book Natural Experiments in the Social Sciences written by Thad Dunning and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-09-06 with total page 379 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first comprehensive guide to natural experiments, providing an ideal introduction for scholars and students.


Histories of Scientific Observation

Histories of Scientific Observation

Author: Lorraine Daston

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2011-02

Total Pages: 473

ISBN-13: 0226136787

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Includes bibliographical referrences and index.


Book Synopsis Histories of Scientific Observation by : Lorraine Daston

Download or read book Histories of Scientific Observation written by Lorraine Daston and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2011-02 with total page 473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes bibliographical referrences and index.


Experiment and the Making of Meaning

Experiment and the Making of Meaning

Author: D.C. Gooding

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 9400907079

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. . . the topic of 'meaning' is the one topic discussed in philosophy in which there is literally nothing but 'theory' - literally nothing that can be labelled or even ridiculed as the 'common sense view'. Putnam, 'The Meaning of Meaning' This book explores some truths behind the truism that experimentation is a hallmark of scientific activity. Scientists' descriptions of nature result from two sorts of encounter: they interact with each other and with nature. Philosophy of science has, by and large, failed to give an account of either sort of interaction. Philosophers typically imagine that scientists observe, theorize and experiment in order to produce general knowledge of natural laws, knowledge which can be applied to generate new theories and technologies. This view bifurcates the scientist's world into an empirical world of pre-articulate experience and know how and another world of talk, thought and argument. Most received philosophies of science focus so exclusively on the literary world of representations that they cannot begin to address the philosophical problems arising from the interaction of these worlds: empirical access as a source of knowledge, meaning and reference, and of course, realism. This has placed the epistemological burden entirely on the predictive role of experiment because, it is argued, testing predictions is all that could show that scientists' theorizing is constrained by nature. Here a purely literary approach contributes to its own demise. The epistemological significance of experiment turns out to be a theoretical matter: cruciality depends on argument, not experiment.


Book Synopsis Experiment and the Making of Meaning by : D.C. Gooding

Download or read book Experiment and the Making of Meaning written by D.C. Gooding and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: . . . the topic of 'meaning' is the one topic discussed in philosophy in which there is literally nothing but 'theory' - literally nothing that can be labelled or even ridiculed as the 'common sense view'. Putnam, 'The Meaning of Meaning' This book explores some truths behind the truism that experimentation is a hallmark of scientific activity. Scientists' descriptions of nature result from two sorts of encounter: they interact with each other and with nature. Philosophy of science has, by and large, failed to give an account of either sort of interaction. Philosophers typically imagine that scientists observe, theorize and experiment in order to produce general knowledge of natural laws, knowledge which can be applied to generate new theories and technologies. This view bifurcates the scientist's world into an empirical world of pre-articulate experience and know how and another world of talk, thought and argument. Most received philosophies of science focus so exclusively on the literary world of representations that they cannot begin to address the philosophical problems arising from the interaction of these worlds: empirical access as a source of knowledge, meaning and reference, and of course, realism. This has placed the epistemological burden entirely on the predictive role of experiment because, it is argued, testing predictions is all that could show that scientists' theorizing is constrained by nature. Here a purely literary approach contributes to its own demise. The epistemological significance of experiment turns out to be a theoretical matter: cruciality depends on argument, not experiment.


The Uses of Experiment

The Uses of Experiment

Author: David Gooding

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1989-05-18

Total Pages: 504

ISBN-13: 9780521337687

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Renowned scholars in history, sociology, philosophy and anthropology consider seventeenth and twentieth century weapon testing, particle physics, biology and other topics in an account of important and often famous experiments.


Book Synopsis The Uses of Experiment by : David Gooding

Download or read book The Uses of Experiment written by David Gooding and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1989-05-18 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Renowned scholars in history, sociology, philosophy and anthropology consider seventeenth and twentieth century weapon testing, particle physics, biology and other topics in an account of important and often famous experiments.


Going Amiss in Experimental Research

Going Amiss in Experimental Research

Author: Giora Hon

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2008-12-04

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 1402088930

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Like any goal-oriented procedure, experiment is subject to many kinds of failures. These failures have a variety of features, depending on the particulars of their sources. For the experimenter these pitfalls should be avoided and their effects minimized. For the historian-philosopher of science and the science educator, on the other hand, they are instructive starting points for reflecting on science in general and scientific method and practice in particular. Often more is learned from failure than from confirmation and successful application. The identification of error, its source, its context, and its treatment shed light on both practices and epistemic claims. This book shows that it is fruitful to bring to light forgotten and lost failures, subject them to analysis and learn from their moral. The study of failures, errors, pitfalls and mistakes helps us understand the way knowledge is pursued and indeed generated. The book presents both historical accounts and philosophical analyses of failures in experimental practice. It covers topics such as "error as an object of study", "learning from error", "concepts and dead ends", "instrumental artifacts", and "surprise and puzzlement". This book will be of interest to historians, philosophers, and sociologists of science as well as to practicing scientists and science educators.


Book Synopsis Going Amiss in Experimental Research by : Giora Hon

Download or read book Going Amiss in Experimental Research written by Giora Hon and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-12-04 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like any goal-oriented procedure, experiment is subject to many kinds of failures. These failures have a variety of features, depending on the particulars of their sources. For the experimenter these pitfalls should be avoided and their effects minimized. For the historian-philosopher of science and the science educator, on the other hand, they are instructive starting points for reflecting on science in general and scientific method and practice in particular. Often more is learned from failure than from confirmation and successful application. The identification of error, its source, its context, and its treatment shed light on both practices and epistemic claims. This book shows that it is fruitful to bring to light forgotten and lost failures, subject them to analysis and learn from their moral. The study of failures, errors, pitfalls and mistakes helps us understand the way knowledge is pursued and indeed generated. The book presents both historical accounts and philosophical analyses of failures in experimental practice. It covers topics such as "error as an object of study", "learning from error", "concepts and dead ends", "instrumental artifacts", and "surprise and puzzlement". This book will be of interest to historians, philosophers, and sociologists of science as well as to practicing scientists and science educators.


Laboratory Experiments in the Social Sciences

Laboratory Experiments in the Social Sciences

Author: Murray Webster

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2007-07-03

Total Pages: 576

ISBN-13: 9780080546148

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Laboratory Experiments in the Social Sciences is the only book providing core information for researchers about the ways and means to conduct experiments. Its comprehensive regard for laboratory experiments encompasses “how-to explanations, investigations of philosophies and ethics, explorations of experiments in specific social science disciplines, and summaries of both the history and future of social science laboratories. No other book offers such a direct avenue to enlarging our knowledge in the social sciences. This collection of original chapters combines instructions and advice about the design of laboratory experiments in the social sciences with the array of other issues. While there are books on experimental design and chapters in more general methods books on design, theory, and ethical issues, no other book attempts to discuss the fundamental ideas of the philosophy of science or lays out the methods comprehensively or in such detail. Experimentation has recently prospered because of increasing interest in cross-disciplinary syntheses, and this book of advice, guidelines, and observations underline its potential and increasing importance. · Provides a comprehensive summary of issues in social science experimentation, from ethics to design, management, and financing · Offers "how-to" explanations of the problems and challenges faced by everyone involved in social science experiments · Pays attention to both practical problems and to theoretical and philosophical arguments · Defines commonalities and distinctions within and among experimental situations across the social sciences


Book Synopsis Laboratory Experiments in the Social Sciences by : Murray Webster

Download or read book Laboratory Experiments in the Social Sciences written by Murray Webster and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2007-07-03 with total page 576 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Laboratory Experiments in the Social Sciences is the only book providing core information for researchers about the ways and means to conduct experiments. Its comprehensive regard for laboratory experiments encompasses “how-to explanations, investigations of philosophies and ethics, explorations of experiments in specific social science disciplines, and summaries of both the history and future of social science laboratories. No other book offers such a direct avenue to enlarging our knowledge in the social sciences. This collection of original chapters combines instructions and advice about the design of laboratory experiments in the social sciences with the array of other issues. While there are books on experimental design and chapters in more general methods books on design, theory, and ethical issues, no other book attempts to discuss the fundamental ideas of the philosophy of science or lays out the methods comprehensively or in such detail. Experimentation has recently prospered because of increasing interest in cross-disciplinary syntheses, and this book of advice, guidelines, and observations underline its potential and increasing importance. · Provides a comprehensive summary of issues in social science experimentation, from ethics to design, management, and financing · Offers "how-to" explanations of the problems and challenges faced by everyone involved in social science experiments · Pays attention to both practical problems and to theoretical and philosophical arguments · Defines commonalities and distinctions within and among experimental situations across the social sciences


Expeditions as Experiments

Expeditions as Experiments

Author: Marianne Klemun

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-10-18

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 1137581069

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This collection focuses on different expeditions and their role in the process of knowledge acquisition from the eighteenth century onwards. It investigates various forms of scientific practice conducted during, after and before expeditions, and it places this discussion into the scientific context of experiments. In treating expeditions as experiments in a heuristic sense, we also propose that the expedition is a variation on the laboratory in which different practices can be conducted and where the transformation of uncertain into certain knowledge is tested. The experimental positioning of the expedition brings together an ensemble of techniques, strategies, material agents and social actors, and illuminates the steps leading from observation to facts and documentation. The chapters show the variety of scientific interests that motivated expeditions with their focus on natural history, geology, ichthyology, botany, zoology, helminthology, speleology, physical anthropology, oceanography, meteorology and magnetism.


Book Synopsis Expeditions as Experiments by : Marianne Klemun

Download or read book Expeditions as Experiments written by Marianne Klemun and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-10-18 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection focuses on different expeditions and their role in the process of knowledge acquisition from the eighteenth century onwards. It investigates various forms of scientific practice conducted during, after and before expeditions, and it places this discussion into the scientific context of experiments. In treating expeditions as experiments in a heuristic sense, we also propose that the expedition is a variation on the laboratory in which different practices can be conducted and where the transformation of uncertain into certain knowledge is tested. The experimental positioning of the expedition brings together an ensemble of techniques, strategies, material agents and social actors, and illuminates the steps leading from observation to facts and documentation. The chapters show the variety of scientific interests that motivated expeditions with their focus on natural history, geology, ichthyology, botany, zoology, helminthology, speleology, physical anthropology, oceanography, meteorology and magnetism.


Springer Handbook of Model-Based Science

Springer Handbook of Model-Based Science

Author: Lorenzo Magnani

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-05-22

Total Pages: 1180

ISBN-13: 3319305263

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This handbook offers the first comprehensive reference guide to the interdisciplinary field of model-based reasoning. It highlights the role of models as mediators between theory and experimentation, and as educational devices, as well as their relevance in testing hypotheses and explanatory functions. The Springer Handbook merges philosophical, cognitive and epistemological perspectives on models with the more practical needs related to the application of this tool across various disciplines and practices. The result is a unique, reliable source of information that guides readers toward an understanding of different aspects of model-based science, such as the theoretical and cognitive nature of models, as well as their practical and logical aspects. The inferential role of models in hypothetical reasoning, abduction and creativity once they are constructed, adopted, and manipulated for different scientific and technological purposes is also discussed. Written by a group of internationally renowned experts in philosophy, the history of science, general epistemology, mathematics, cognitive and computer science, physics and life sciences, as well as engineering, architecture, and economics, this Handbook uses numerous diagrams, schemes and other visual representations to promote a better understanding of the concepts. This also makes it highly accessible to an audience of scholars and students with different scientific backgrounds. All in all, the Springer Handbook of Model-Based Science represents the definitive application-oriented reference guide to the interdisciplinary field of model-based reasoning.


Book Synopsis Springer Handbook of Model-Based Science by : Lorenzo Magnani

Download or read book Springer Handbook of Model-Based Science written by Lorenzo Magnani and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-05-22 with total page 1180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This handbook offers the first comprehensive reference guide to the interdisciplinary field of model-based reasoning. It highlights the role of models as mediators between theory and experimentation, and as educational devices, as well as their relevance in testing hypotheses and explanatory functions. The Springer Handbook merges philosophical, cognitive and epistemological perspectives on models with the more practical needs related to the application of this tool across various disciplines and practices. The result is a unique, reliable source of information that guides readers toward an understanding of different aspects of model-based science, such as the theoretical and cognitive nature of models, as well as their practical and logical aspects. The inferential role of models in hypothetical reasoning, abduction and creativity once they are constructed, adopted, and manipulated for different scientific and technological purposes is also discussed. Written by a group of internationally renowned experts in philosophy, the history of science, general epistemology, mathematics, cognitive and computer science, physics and life sciences, as well as engineering, architecture, and economics, this Handbook uses numerous diagrams, schemes and other visual representations to promote a better understanding of the concepts. This also makes it highly accessible to an audience of scholars and students with different scientific backgrounds. All in all, the Springer Handbook of Model-Based Science represents the definitive application-oriented reference guide to the interdisciplinary field of model-based reasoning.