ESS104H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Multiple Working, Breccia
Document Summary
The method of multiple working hypotheses (t. c chamberlin) 1. attempt to follow by close imitation the processes of previous thinkers and to acquire the results of their investigations by memory=secondary/imitative study. The other mode the effort is to think independently=primary/creative study-->discover new truths. These three phases are called: 1) the method of the ruling theory,2) the method of the working hypothesis, and 3) the method of multiple working hypotheses. The first two are the most popular but they can, and often do, lead to ineffective research that overlooks relevant data. Instead, the method of multiple working hypotheses offers a more effective way of organizing one"s research. The result is a blindness to evidence that disproves the ruling theory or supports an alternate explanation. The working hypothesis, we are told, is a hypothesis to be tested, not in order to prove the hypothesis, but as a stimulus for study and fact-finding.
