Is there any such thing as a social or behavioural science? : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Philosophy at Massey University

The type of explanation characteristic of science is causal, and it is natural to think that this type of explanation is appropriate for all events, no matter what their nature. It is this global assumption that is questioned in this thesis. Chapter One presents a historical exposition of the development of causal explanation since the time of David Hume. The perennial theme has been the conceptual separability of causally related events and the need to insert an empirical law to deduce one from the other. Karl Popper (the subject of Chapter Two) has also used this deductive feature of causal explanation, and even argues for the unity of science, social and natural, on the strength of it. Throughout this tradition social behaviour is supposedly caused and requires the same kind of explanatory apparatus as any other behaviour. The Wittgensteinian tradition (Chapter Three) opposes any such tradition by emphasizing the importance of normative rules governing human action, as opposed to any causal relations. In particular, the conceptual notion of a 'criterion of identity' is investigated in relation to both the natural and social sciences, and it is concluded that the logic of explanation works very differently in these two disciplines. This is so for two reasons. First, because the criteria of identity for any concept are logically, not contingently, related to that concept; and as the criteria for any action are the surrounding contexts, then those surrounding contexts cannot be the causes of the behaviour concerned in any Humean sense. Second, the criteria of identity are not imposed upon social phenomena from 'without', as is the case in the natural sciences; they are constituted from within, and thus a social science must base the rules it uses upon the criteria belonging to the group being studied rather than the group of researchers studying it. Social scientists cannot then give a causal explanation of human behaviour. But they can explain it by giving reasons; that is, by showing how the behaviour is conceptually related to the context by classifying it under the appropriate logical category. This point is emphasized in an investigation of the so-called 'Rationality Principle' in Chapter Four. Popper asserts that 'rational' behaviour is an 'appropriate' (causal) response to a particular problem situation; 'appropriate' being in accordance with the objective or brute facts. But the Wittgensteinian point remains however, i.e. that the problem which any agent is responding to is conceptually linked to that action and cannot therefore the cause of it. Furthermore, rationality cannot be measured against any Popperian 'objective' or 'brute' facts; rather, rational behaviour is so according to certain human conventions, and these conventions are normative rather than objective in the Popperian sense. Rational behaviour is not then behaviour in accordance with the 'facts', but behaviour in accordance with relative normative criteria of rationality. In conclusion, it is wholly inappropriate to explain human behaviour in terms of 'causes' and 'objective facts'

Routes and Roots

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Crossing over

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A period of calm in Scottish seas: a comprehensive study of ΔR values for the northern British Isles coast and the consequent implications for archaeology and oceanography

The Marine Radiocarbon Reservoir Effect (MRE) is a 14C age offset between contemporaneous marine- and terrestrially-derived carbon. In Northern Hemisphere surface waters it is of the order of 400 years but temporal and spatial deviations, known as ΔR, occur. This study provides a comprehensive dataset of 21 ΔR and MRE values for the east coast of Scotland and 21 recalculated values for the west coast of Scotland and Ireland, for the period c. 3500 BC to 1450 AD. They are presented as mean, site-specific ΔR and MRE values, together with their associated uncertainties, calculated as standard errors for predicted values. The ΔR values range from -320 ± 35 to +150 ± 28 14C years and show no spatial or temporal trends. The MRE values range from 59 ± 40 to 531 ± 26, show an almost identical distribution pattern to the ΔR values and again show no spatial or temporal trends. Results show that ΔR values calculated for a single site using statistically indistinguishable groups of terrestrial and marine radiocarbon age measurements can produce variability of up to 225 14C years. ΔR is an important factor in the accurate calibration of samples containing marine-derived carbon for archaeological interpretation but is often also used as an indicator of changes in 14C specific activity of the oceans, and therefore a proxy for changes in ocean circulation and/or climate. Using the methods outlined in this paper, it is apparent that ΔR values for the northern part of the British Isles have been relatively stable, within our ability to quantify non-random variation in the data. The fact that significant climatic shifts have been recorded during this time, yet these are not visible in the ΔR data, presents a cautionary tale regarding the use of ΔR to infer large-scale oceanographic or climatic changes. Upon the exclusion of 5 outliers from the 42 values, the remaining ΔR values are statistically indistinguishable from one another and range from -142 ± 61 to +40 ± 47 14C years. 34 of these values are from Scottish archaeological sites and can be combined to produce a mean value for Scotland of -47 ± 52 14C years for the period 3500 BC to 1450 AD, to be used only in the absence of site- and period-specific data

Forensic Considerations for the High Efficiency Image File Format (HEIF)

The High Efficiency File Format (HEIF) was adopted by Apple in 2017 as their favoured means of capturing images from their camera application, with Android devices such as the Galaxy S10 providing support more recently. The format is positioned to replace JPEG as the de facto image compression file type, touting many modern features and better compression ratios over the aging standard. However, while millions of devices across the world are already able to produce HEIF files, digital forensics research has not given the format much attention. As HEIF is a complex container format, much different from traditional still picture formats, this leaves forensics practitioners exposed to risks of potentially mishandling evidence. This paper describes the forensically relevant features of the HEIF format, including those which could be used to hide data, or cause issues in an investigation, while also providing commentary on the state of software support for the format. Finally, suggestions for current best-practice are provided, before discussing the requirements of a forensically robust HEIF analysis tool.Comment: 8 pages, conference paper pre-prin

Management of a clostridial diarrhoea outbreak in neonatal foals on a Thoroughbred stud farm in New Zealand

In the 2019 breeding season, an outbreak of neonatal diarrhoea in 1–4 day old foals was observed on a Thoroughbred stud farm in the lower North Island. This was primarily attributed to Clostridium perfringens Type C, with some affected foals also returning positive results for Clostridium difficile. The author was engaged to aid in immediate management during the outbreak and to put plans in place for future seasons. The first case was recorded on 7 October, and the last on 25 October.fals

Innovation and safety in critical care: should we collaborate with the industry? Yes

As clinicians we all want to improve care for our patients. We can do that in two ways. We can do what we currently do better, or we can do new things (better). The development of large clinical academic trials groups and networks has enabled clinicians to understand what particular clinical care leads to better patient-centred outcomes. Ironically, we have learnt that many of our “usual” interventions either provided no benefit or were even harmful. Thus, clinicians, can improve the safety and effectiveness of critical care practice. But when it comes to innovation - new therapeutics and novel diagnostics - then it is hard to imagine that we could achieve this without input from or partnership with industry. Furthermore, a brief walk around an ICU illustrates cogently the vast number of devices used and drugs being infused, all of which originated in industry, some with much and some with little clinician scientist input. We argue herein that such collaboration is not only acceptable, it is necessary and can be done ethically, using established guidelines and conflict of interest disclosure

The Physical Anthropology of Pottery Mound: A Pueblo IV Site in West Central New Mexico

The thesis presents the anthropometric data on 110 skeletons obtained by the University of New Mexico from Pueblo IV site of Pottery Mound. The measurements include 27 dimensions and 11 indices of the skull, face, and long bones of all or part of the 49 individuals. Observations on pathologist of the bones and teeth are also discussed. These data are compared with similar material from the Pueblo IV sites of Paako, Pecos, and Hawikuh. The Pottery Mound materials, although of a general Southwestern physical type, are somewhat divergent from other Pueblo IV groups