CPO2002 Test 1 Study Guide Chapter 2 What is Science Is science a body of knowledge or a collection of facts o No if this were the case then we could not make appeals to science in order to determine the veracity of that knowledge We would be engaging in circular reasoning The body of knowledge we call scientific may well be a product of science but is not science itself Science is a method for provisionally understanding the world o It is a quest for knowledge that relies on criticism o It allows for the possibility that our theories or claims might be wrong Falsifiability The thing that distinguishes science from non science is that scientific statements must be falsifiable o Some imaginable observation that could refute our theory o All scientific statements must be potentially testable o Non falsifiable statements Definitions true statements tautologies statements about unobservable phenomena Tautologies o A tautology is a statement that is true by definition which is why they are not falsifiable A major disaster Dying from a fatal dose Scientific Method The scientific method describes the process by which scientists learn about the world Scientific Method 1 Question 2 Theory 3 4 Observe World Test Hypotheses 5 Evaluation Implications Hypotheses A theory is a set of logically consistent statements that tell us why the things we observe occur o Why something happens and identifies for us a cause or causal process o Often referred to as a model Can be informal or formal necessarily simplified o Ex The success of the FSU Seminoles football team is due to the talent of the coaching leadership Offers a causal explanation for a particular outcome of interest Allows for alternative explanations Can be empirically observed and falsified with evidence Hypotheses deduce implications from the model other than those we set out to explain in the first place o Good models generate many different hypotheses Empirical Observation o Examine whether the implications of the model are consistent with observation o A critical test may enable us to use observation to distinguish between two or more competing explanations of the same phenomenon A critical test allows the analyst to use observation to distinguish between two or more competing explanations of the same phenomenon Evaluation o If we observe the implications deduced from our theory then we say that our theory is supported We do not say that our theory is proven We then continue to look for evidence that would contradict our theory o If we fail to observe the expected implications then our theory is probably wrong and so we return to theory construction Example o Theory the earth is flat o Implications Hypotheses Theorized that there was an edge of the earth If you sailed too far you might fall off Observed that in the distance the earth appeared to meet the sky and that many sailors who left home never returned Created and retold social histories of creationism which relied on a logic of a finite plane earth o Empirical Observation Philosopher astronomers came up with an alternative theory Observed constellations from different places and at different Observed some sailors returning home after extremely long Observed objects at a distance appeared lower than they times of the year voyages actually were o Evaluation and re theorizing This refuting evidence lead to the creation of a new theory the earth is a sphere The Scientific Process Science is tentative objective and public It invites criticism and improvement Incorrect ideas cannot be based on the authority of the person articulating the idea Anyone can challenge and evaluate claims Political science employs the tools of the scientific method to study the Comparative politics is a subfield of political science o It is the study of political phenomena that occur predominantly within political world countries The Comparative Method The comparative method AKA Mill s Methods o Method of agreement o Method of difference o John Stuart Mill A system of logic 1843 Mill developed the comparative method to collect observations of the world which could then be used to generate general laws or theories about the political and social world His goal was to identify the causes of political events Causes can be described as necessary or sufficient conditions for a particular event or outcome to occur Necessary Condition A circumstance in whose absence the event in question cannot occur o Y never happens unless X happens o If Y then X or if no X then no Y Suffiecient Condition A circumstance in whose presence the event in question must occur o Y always happens if X happens o If X then Y or if no Y then no X A Necessary and Sufficient Condition A circumstance in whose absence the event will not occur and in whose presence the event must occur o Y only happens if and only if X occurs o Lightening and Thunder Comparitive Method Mill s Methods the systematic search for necessary sufficient and necessary and sufficient conditions Two main methods o Method of agreement when cases agree on the phenomenon to be o Method of differnce when the cases differ on the phenomenon to be explained explained The method of agreement is supported by the argument that whatever can be eliminated is not the cause of the phenomenon If you can eliminate all but one variable then that is your cause o Select cases that have the same outcome ex Democracy o Can critically evaluate only necessary causes o You would need to find a case of a different outcome non democracy to find evaluate sufficient conditions The method of difference requires that the penomenon to be explained is present in one case but not the other o Requires you to elimatinate conditions that do not vary in exactly the same way as the outcome Whatever cannot be eliminated is the sufficient cause of the phenomenon o This method is more powerful then the method of agreement because it allows us to determine whether certain conditions are suffcient and necessary to cause an outcome o Wealth is not sufficient for democracy in light of the mexican case It may however be a necessary condition o Ethnic homogenity is neither ncessary for democracy in light of the belgian case or sufficient for democracy in light of the mexican case o A parliamentary sustem is not necessary for democracy in light of the US case but might be sufficient based on the belgium and UK case o Multiparty sstem is not necessary in light of UK and US case but might be sufficient in light of
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