153,290 research outputs found
The Hubble Hypothesis and the Developmentalist's Dilemma
Developmental psychopathology stands poised at the close of the 20th century on the horns of a major scientific dilemma. The essence of this dilemma lies in the contrast between its heuristically rich open system concepts on the
one hand, and the closed system paradigm it adopted from mainstream psychology for investigating those models on
the other. Many of the research methods, assessment strategies, and data analytic models of psychologys paradigm are predicated on closed system assumptions and explanatory models. Thus, they are fundamentally inadequate forstudying humans, who are unparalleled among open systems in their wide ranging capacities for equifinal and
multifinal functioning. Developmental psychopathology faces two challenges in successfully negotiating the developmentalists dilemma. The first lies in recognizing how the current paradigm encourages research practices
that are antithetical to developmental principles, yet continue to flourish. I argue that the developmentalists
dilemma is sustained by long standing, mutually enabling weaknesses in the paradigms discovery methods and
scientific standards. These interdependent weaknesses function like a distorted lens on the research process by
variously sustaining the illusion of theoretical progress, obscuring the need for fundamental reforms, and both
constraining and misguiding reform efforts. An understanding of how these influences arise and take their toll provides a foundation and rationale for engaging the second challenge. The essence of this challenge will be finding ways to resolve the developmentalists dilemma outside the constraints of the existing paradigm by developing indigenous research strategies, methods, and standards with fidelity to the complexity of developmental phenomena
Fundamental concepts in management research and ensuring research quality : focusing on case study method
This paper discusses fundamental concepts in management research and ensuring research quality. It was presented at the European Academy of Management annual conference in 2008
An Analysis of the Demarcation Problem in Philosophy of Science and Its Application to Homeopathy
This paper presents a preliminary analysis of homeopathy from the perspective of the demarcation problem in the philosophy of science. In this context, Popper, Kuhn and Feyerabend’s solution to the problem will be given respectively and their criteria will be applied to homeopathy, aiming to shed some light on the controversy over its scientific status. It then examines homeopathy under the lens of demarcation criteria to conclude that homeopathy is regarded as science by Feyerabend and is considered as pseudoscience by Popper and Kuhn. By offering adequate tools for the analysis of the foundations, structure and implications of homeopathy, demarcation issue can help to clarify this medical controversy. The main argument of this article is that a final decision on homeopathy, whose scientific status changes depending on the criteria of the philosophers mentioned, cannot be given
Methods in Psychological Research
Psychologists collect empirical data with various methods for different reasons. These diverse methods have their strengths as well as weaknesses. Nonetheless, it is possible to rank them in terms of different critieria. For example, the experimental method is used to obtain the least ambiguous conclusion. Hence, it is the best suited to corroborate conceptual, explanatory hypotheses. The interview method, on the other hand, gives the research participants a kind of emphatic experience that may be important to them. It is for the reason the best method to use in a clinical setting. All non-experimental methods owe their origin to the interview method. Quasi-experiments are suited for answering practical questions when ecological validity is importa
An Epistemological Inquiry of Scientific Practice
Abstract: This study explores some theoretical issues in scientific research such as, the nature
of experimentation and problems of methodology in scientific practice as well as the question
of truth, rationality, objectivity and utility of scientific discoveries. The paper discusses a
number of theorizing that have emerged in response to the challenge raised by the above
concerns. Epistemological models of science from critical rationalists, like Popper, Kuhn,
Feyerabend and the neo-pragmatic methodological orientation of Arthur Fine’s Natural
Ontological Attitude (NOA) to Science, have been adopted as points of discussion on what
science as an empirical discipline entail. The paper concludes that a rigorous epistemological
discussion on the methodology of scientific inquiry is a desideratum for the progress of science
Quantum mechanics is about quantum information
I argue that quantum mechanics is fundamentally a theory about the
representation and manipulation of information, not a theory about the
mechanics of nonclassical waves or particles. The notion of quantum information
is to be understood as a new physical primitive -- just as, following
Einstein's special theory of relativity, a field is no longer regarded as the
physical manifestation of vibrations in a mechanical medium, but recognized as
a new physical primitive in its own right.Comment: 17 pages, forthcoming in Foundations of Physics Festschrift issue for
James Cushing. Revised version: some paragraphs have been added to the final
section clarifying the argument, and various minor clarifying remarks have
been added throughout the tex
One Hundred Years of the Cosmological Constant: from 'Superfluous Stunt' to Dark Energy
We present a centennial review of the history of the term known as the
cosmological constant. First introduced to the general theory of relativity by
Einstein in 1917 in order to describe a universe that was assumed to be static,
the term fell from favour in the wake of the discovery of the expanding
universe, only to make a dramatic return in recent times. We consider
historical and philosophical aspects of the cosmological constant over four
main epochs: (i) the use of the term in static cosmologies (both Newtonian and
relativistic); (ii) the marginalization of the term following the discovery of
cosmic expansion; (iii) the use of the term to address specific cosmic puzzles
such as the timespan of expansion, the formation of galaxies and the redshifts
of the quasars; (iv) the re-emergence of the term in today's Lamda-CDM
cosmology. We find that the cosmological constant was never truly banished from
theoretical models of the universe, but was sidelined by astronomers for
reasons of convenience. We also find that the return of the term to the
forefront of modern cosmology did not occur as an abrupt paradigm shift due to
one particular set of observations, but as the result of a number of empirical
advances such as the measurement of present cosmic expansion using the Hubble
Space Telescope, the measurement of past expansion using type SN 1a supernovae
as standard candles, and the measurement of perturbations in the cosmic
microwave background by balloon and satellite. We give a brief overview of
contemporary interpretations of the physics underlying the cosmic constant and
conclude with a synopsis of the famous cosmological constant problem.Comment: 60 pages, 6 figures. Some corrections, additions and extra
references. Accepted for publication the European Physical Journal (H
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