Human Inquiry and ScienceQuestions for DiscussionSearching for answersErrorsA Variable LanguageDependent and Independent VariablesIdiographic and NomotheticInductive versus DeductiveNumerical versus NonnumericalHuman Inquiry and ScienceHolographic OverviewQuestions for DiscussionWhat are the common errors of human inquiry?What are quantitative and qualitative data?What are independent and dependent variables?What is the relation of attributes?Searching for answersHuman Inquiry: aimed at answering ‘what and why’ through observations and experiencesTradition: accepting what everyone ‘knows’Authority: judgment of an expertErrorsInaccurate ObservationsMeasurement devicesOvergeneralizationLarge and representative samplesReplication: repeat and checkPossibly vary conditionsSelective ObservationIllogical ReasoningBe careful with contradictionsA Variable LanguageVariable: a logical set of attributesAttribute: characteristicExampleCommon Social ConceptsSee examples on page 15See examples on page 15Dependent and Independent VariablesUse common sense and everyday languageDependent variables are determined or caused by something; depends on something elseIndependent variables have no dependence; they are what they areIdiographic and NomotheticIdiographic: seeks to explain a particular situationLimited to the single caseNomothetic: seeks to explain a class of situationsGeneralizabilityInductive versus DeductiveInductive:Inductive: from a set of specific observations to the discovery of a pattern that represents some degree of order among all the given events – particular to generalDeductive:Deductive: from a pattern that might be logically or theoretically expected to observations that test whether the expected pattern actually occurs – general to specificNumerical versus NonnumericalQuantitative data are numericalQualitative data are nonnumericalBoth are useful for different purposesCan be used in conjunction with one
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