PSYC2009 Study Guide - Quiz Guide: Observational Error, Empiricism, Rationality
Uncertainty
1. Dealing with ignorance and uncertainty
o Sometimes good sometimes bad
o What is good about uncertainty? - if there is no uncertainty then you have no future and
you have no choices, therefore nothing to test, therefore. Adventure, aspiration, etc are
all things that are unsure, and wound be possible without it
2. Disputation and conflict within a framework shared by other researchers
o Progress is made through conflict - new ideas cannot be introduced and things cannot
change without a little bit of arguing and collaborative thinking
3. Leaning and discovering through errors
• Empiricism is a doctrine that ascribes superior truth-status to things that have been directly
observed or manipulated over things that cannot be observed or manipulated.
• Rationality involves adherence to a system of reasoning (usually standard logic).
• Rationalism is an assumption or faith that rationality is the best guide to decision making.
• Statistics and probability are a combination of empiricist and rationalist ideas. They also are
used in the service of organised scepticism and impartiality.
Uncertainties in research
• Distortion: systematic error
o Confusion: mistaking one thing for another
o Inaccuracy: systematic miscalibration.
• Incompleteness: Missing or indeterminate information
o Absence: Missing information
o Uncertainty: Indeterminate information
• Probability and statistical uncertainty: Likelihood of an event.
• Ambiguity or vagueness: Multiple possible meanings or a range of values
Source of uncertainty: five stages
1. Topical uncertainty: comes with how a concept is defined
2. Investigative uncertainty: types of investigations undertaken
o Naturalistic
o Observational
o Interview
o Experiment
3. Methodological uncertainty: why would you use one method over another?
4. Statistical uncertainty
o If you have a u-shaped curve (high concentration at low and high extremes), the average
would lie somewhere in the middle, where no one actually lies, so this would not be a
valid way of representing the data
5. Interpretive uncertainty:
o What does the findings actually mean? Depends on the person you ask
Types of research and uncertainty
• Exploratory research: Topical and investigative uncertainty.
o Perhaps this is the first time this area has been researched, so there are a lot of
questions and not a lot of assumptions about what will be found
• Descriptive research: Investigative and methodological uncertainty (possibly interpretive also)
• Explanatory research: Statistical and interpretive uncertainty.
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Document Summary
If there is no uncertainty then you have no future and you have no choices, therefore nothing to test, therefore. Statistics and probability are a combination of empiricist and rationalist ideas. They also are used in the service of organised scepticism and impartiality. Uncertainties in research: distortion: systematic error, confusion: mistaking one thing for another. Incompleteness: missing or indeterminate information: absence: missing information, uncertainty: indeterminate information, probability and statistical uncertainty: likelihood of an event, ambiguity or vagueness: multiple possible meanings or a range of values. Source of uncertainty: five stages: topical uncertainty: comes with how a concept is defined. Investigative uncertainty: types of investigations undertaken: naturalistic, observational. Interview: experiment, methodological uncertainty: why would you use one method over another, statistical uncertainty. If you have a u-shaped curve (high concentration at low and high extremes), the average would lie somewhere in the middle, where no one actually lies, so this would not be a valid way of representing the data.
