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Models of Scientific Inquiry and Statistical Practice: Implications for the Structure of Scientific Knowledge

Brian A. Maurer

in The Nature of Scientific Evidence: Statistical, Philosophical, and Empirical Considerations

Practitioners of science often go about their craft in a manner that is unique to each discipline. Statistics must serve different purposes defined by the nature of the subject matter and maturity of ... More

Practitioners of science often go about their craft in a manner that is unique to each discipline. Statistics must serve different purposes defined by the nature of the subject matter and maturity of a given discipline. Ecology operates under a mixture of techniques, philosophies, and goals. This chapter examines two complementary models of scientific inquiry within ecology, each of which serves unique functions in the discovery of scientific knowledge. The first is inductive science, which begins with the accumulation of observations with the intent of discovering patterns. For this kind of science, parameter estimation is more useful than formal hypothesis testing. The second is deductive science, which begins with proposed explanations deduced from formal theories. Hypothetico-deductive experimental designs are used to maximize the chance of detecting theoretical flaws by falsification of predictions. The statistical evaluation of scientific evidence plays different roles in each of these two models of the scientific process. As an example of the roles played by inductive and deductive science in the development of a field of inquiry, this chapter considers the development of modern community ecology.Less

“Tidology”

in Tides of History: Ocean Science and Her Majesty's Navy

In the early 1830s John William Lubbock, while contributing to the tide tables published for the London docks, also introduced William Whewell, his former tutor at Trinity College, Cambridge, to the ... More

In the early 1830s John William Lubbock, while contributing to the tide tables published for the London docks, also introduced William Whewell, his former tutor at Trinity College, Cambridge, to the study of the tides. This chapter follows Whewell's entry into tidal studies, from his coining of the term “tidology” in 1830 to his overt shaping of the field based on his own studies in the history and philosophy of science. Master of Trinity College for twenty-five years, Whewell published on a wide range of sciences, on architecture, poetry, and religion, and on a large number of other topics in more popular reviews and sermons. He is best known for his History of the Inductive Sciences (1837) and Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences (1840), significant texts in the history and philosophy of science. The practice of tidology helped Whewell formulate what it meant to do science and placed him at the forefront of the discussion on the proper social and intellectual role of the scientist.Less

Step-by-Step: Geography’s Myth

Paul Carter

in Dark Writing: Geography, Performance, Design

This chapter suggests that modern geography's foundations are poetic, and it is geography's myth to suppose otherwise. The inductive sciences, of which geography is one, make use of spatial figures ... More

This chapter suggests that modern geography's foundations are poetic, and it is geography's myth to suppose otherwise. The inductive sciences, of which geography is one, make use of spatial figures of speech in order to describe the nature of reality. But for geography—which, after all, is the science of describing physical space—these figures of speech are indispensable. The maps people inhabit represent mental geographies—ways of thinking and drawing that idealize the appearances of the world in the interest of saving the appearance of reason. However, the ironic result of this determination to reduce the world to an algebra of points and lines is that it opens up abysses both in thought and nature. Only the creative imagination can bridge these gaps in reason.Less

The Problem of Passive Observation

Marcel Boumans

in Science Outside the Laboratory: Measurement in Field Science and Economics

This chapter discusses the epistemological scope of field science by exploring the econometric methodology of Trygve Haavelmo. The theories of social field phenomena are inexact; they do not provide ... More

This chapter discusses the epistemological scope of field science by exploring the econometric methodology of Trygve Haavelmo. The theories of social field phenomena are inexact; they do not provide the complete set of causes that affects the phenomenon. Haavelmo’s epistemology shows that a social field science explanation can never be made complete by statistics and statistical analysis only. In other words, a social field science cannot be a purely inductive science. Data observed “passively” might not display enough variations to reveal the relevant causal influences. Variation shows statistical significance, not potential influence. We also need theory. But because theory if fundamentally incomplete—inexact—we need additional sources of knowledge.Less

Linings

Paul Carter

in Dark Writing: Geography, Performance, Design

This concluding chapter discusses the history of the line. The modern line of drawing and thinking has at least two genealogies, a Cartesian-deductive one and an inductive one associated with the ... More

This concluding chapter discusses the history of the line. The modern line of drawing and thinking has at least two genealogies, a Cartesian-deductive one and an inductive one associated with the rise of the empirical sciences. The Modernists spiritualized or dematerialized the line in an attempt to represent essential forces, but the movement attributed to their lines remained linear as it were progressive and ruthless. The line that surfaces in representations is rhythmically underpinned. There was little sense that the line had a history, or a lining, that it was the formalization of a field of traces rather than the outline of a past, present, or future object.Less