Scientific Method and Basic Concepts

This chapter opens with an example of relationships in everyday life. The idea is to promote skills for using experience to develop rules for reducing uncertainty in everyday life and in scientific research. The second section reviews basic concepts that are needed in the remainder of the chapter and in the social sciences generally. A prominent theme of this chapter is that “science learning” is an extension of what all of us do continually: look for predictability. Much, but not all, of science has to do with identifying cause-and-effect relationships. Generally, qualitative investigation is used when the subject matter is too complicated to be quantified. Qualitative research documents what happens and describes the structure of what is seen, such as human emotional reactions and the meanings people attach to events or circumstances. Qualitative research also provides many insights into cause-and-effect relationships that we would likely overlook otherwise. What can you learn from the ideal of scientific approach? In short, be flexible, learn from experience, and be skeptical. Be aware that a limited sample of cases might not be typical of the rest of the world. And always be on the lookout for possible alternative explanations for relationships that you do observe.