CHAPTER 1
THE SCIENTIFIC APPROACH
What is Science?
Unfortunately, science cannot be easily defined laypersons (?), Journalists (صحافیوں), policymakers (پالیسی سازوں), Scholars (علماء کرام, سکالرز) and Scientists (سائنسدانوں) themselves define the term science in different ways and apply it in different context.
Science denotes a body of true knowledge; to still others its means an objective investigation of empirical (عملی تجربہ) phenomena (واقعہ,مسلہ).
- Science has no special subject matter of its own, we do not view every study of phenomena (واقعہ,مسلہ) as science.
- Science is constantly changing; knowledge (شمار,سمجھا) regarded as scientific at present may become unscientific in the future.
- Science is united not by its subject matter; but by its methodology (طریقہ کار).
For these reasons we shall use the term science throughout this book to mean all knowledge collected by the means of the scientific methodology (طریقہ کار).
Approaches to Knowledge
The scientific approach (نقطہ نظر) is by no means the only mode by which people have attempted to understand their environment and themselves. There are three other general modes that have served the purpose of acquiring (حاصل کرنے, حصول) knowledge
- The Authoritarian (آمرانہ) mode
- The mystical (صوفیانہ) mode
- The Rationalistic mode
Authoritarian Mode: In the authoritarian (آمرانہ) mode, knowledge is looked for by referring to those who are socially or politically defined.
- Qualified Producers of knowledge
- Oracles in tribal societies
- Kings in monarchical societies
- Individuals occupying scientific roles in technocratic societies
Mystical Mode: In the mystical mode, knowledge is solicited form prophets, divines, Gods, Mediums and other Supernaturally knowledgeable authorities.
However, it differs from the latter in its dependence on manifestations (توضیحات,اظہار) of supernatural signs and on the psychophysical (نفسی طبیعیات ۔ مہیجوں اور حسیت کے درمیانی رابطے کا تجرباتی مطالعہ ۔) state of the knowledge-consumer.
Under conditions of depression, helplessness and intoxication, the knowledge-consumer is most willing to accept items of knowledge produced by the mystical mode.
Rationalistic Mode: The concern of the rationalistic mode is with must be true in principle and what is logically possible and permissible.
The Assumption of Science
The Scientific approach is grounded on a set of fundamental assumption (مفروضہ) that are unproved and unprovable. They are necessary prerequisites for the conduct of scientific discourse and represent those issues in the area the conduct of scientific discourse (گفتگو) and represent those issues in the area of the philosophy of science that is termed epistemology.
Nature is orderly and Regular: Events do not occur haphazardly (اتفاقیہ طور پر). Even within a rapidly changing environment, it is assumed that there is a degree of order and regularity and that change itself displays patterns that can be understood.
The laws of nature do not prescribe, but rather desirable, what actually is happening.
For example, there is no logically compelling reason why spring should follow winter, winter follow autumn, autumn follow summer and summer follow spring. But they do and regularly so and this regularity underlies observable conditions and phenomena, such as growing seasons.
We Can Know Nature: The assumptions (مفروضات) that we can know nature is no more provable than is the assumption that nature is orderly and that there are laws of nature.
Knowledge is Superior to Ignorance: The contention that knowledge us superior to ignorance dose not mean that everything in nature can or will be known. Rather it is assumed that scientific knowledge is tentative and changing.
All Natural Phenomena Have Natural Causes: The assumption that all natural phenomena have natural causes epitomizes the scientific revelation.
Nothing is Self-evident: Tradition, subjective belief and common sense could not be exclusively relied upon in the verification of scientific knowledge. Possibilities for error are always present and even the simplest notions call for objective verification, that scientific thinking is skeptical and critical.
Aims Of Social Science
The ultimate goal of the social sciences is to produce an accumulating (جمع) body of reliable knowledge (قابل اعتماد علم). Such knowledge would enable us to explain, predict and understand empirical phenomena (عملی مظاہر).
The Role of Methodology
Science is not united by its subject matter but rather by its methodology.
The scientific methodology is a system of explicit rules and procedures upon which research is based and against which claims for knowledge are evaluated. Rather, the rules and procedures are constantly improved; scientists look for new methods and techniques of observation, inference, generalization, analysis.
THE RESEARCH PROCESS
Scientific knowledge is knowledge provable by both reason and experience (observation). Logically validity and empirical (علمی) verification are the criteria employed by scientists to evaluate claims for knowledge. These two criteria are translated into the research activities of scientists through the research process. The research process can be viewed as the overall scheme of scientific activities in which scientists engage in order to produce knowledge, it is the paradigm of scientific inquiry.
The generalization ending one cycle is the beginning of the next cycle.
The research process is also self-correcting, tentative generalizations to research problems are tested logically and empirically.
THE PRINCIPAL STAGES OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS
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