Response to "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” by Thomas Kuhn
How the Reading Has Affected What I Believe about the Nature of Science and What It Can Tell Us about the World
Science has always been a part of the world: people from the beginning of time have asked questions about nature and the world—and they have based their answers on evidence. Discovering laws or formulating theories is part of the process of science. But so too is something like building or designing or doing mathematics or making a work of art. The science of architecture, or the science of medicine—these sciences are always growing and developing in new ways because the human mind is not static. It can look back on all of human history and on personal experience to make new discoveries and to advance the field of science in unique ways. The reading really opened this idea up to me, first off by discussing the notion of science in terms of the big breakthroughs—i.e., the Newtonian breakthrough (gravity), the Einstein breakthrough (relativity), and so on. People might have understood that things fall—but it took Newton’s theory to help explain the why. Considering the history of human life, that is a relatively modern theory, which indicates that science is still very much a field that has a lot of room to grow.
As Kuhn (1972) points out, “normal science” is that science which builds upon the work of others—i.e., “research firmly based upon one or more past scientific achievements, achievements that some particular scientific community acknowledges for a time as supplying the foundation for its further practice” (p.10). Kuhn’s point is that science is normal when it is growing, when it is standing on the shoulders of those who came before and finding what else it can make sense of or explain. This is what Kuhn describes as the “acquisition of a paradigm” (Kuhn, 1972, p. 11). It is important to realize, however, that paradigms are not wholly complete in and of themselves. New discoveries—such as the movement of planets and stars—only come about with changes in technology. The telescope required a new scientific explanation to address the reality, and Newton, for example, helped to provide that explanation. This is how science works, as Kuhn describes it.
Science can thus tell us about the world by shedding light on the dynamics at play. Science relies on proof but it takes a rational mind to arrive at that ability to collect the right data in the first place. That data then needs to be interpreted and the interpretation of facts is a science in and of itself. In short, science and the world around us and somewhat constantly in a state of revision—of new thinkers and researchers looking at...
Scientific Research Design: What are the effects of human resources outsourcing on leadership performance and employee commitment? There is speculation that an outsourced human resources (HR) department will have a negative impact on a company's performance. Furthermore, the researcher believes that this impact will be more significant in larger companies. To test this hypothesis, the researcher will perform case studies of two companies, a large one and a small one, that
Scientific Research Collect Methods Comment by Sabina: Scientific research is obtainable through several methodologies, of which qualitative and quantitative methods are highly utilized. These two research methodology are highly used in the field of social sciences and marketing. Social scientist utilizes these two data collection tools to collect data that would otherwise not be observable without these tools. Marketing researchers utilizes these tools to collect information about the market, gain information about
In these cases, the ethical and moral choice seems to be to find another way to test these products that is not so cruel, and to keep cruel procedures out of the labs altogether. The case of the cat sex experiments at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City in the 1960s are another case in point. Researchers maimed cats in a variety of ways, from removing
Scientific research facilitates acquisition of true knowledge, whose highest level is being able to examine scientific issues (Glickman et.al 2009). If knowledge constitutes a universal human property thus greatly impacting overall societal development and wellbeing, the key goal of science will clearly be the truth. Moreover, science’s credibility with the masses is reliant on upholding the highest standards of ethicality when conducting research. Sticking to such guidelines helps prevent deviation
Scientific Method Scenario 1: You come home after a long day at work and you flip on the light switch and nothing happens; light does not come on. Now what? Miriam Webster's dictionary defines the scientific method as all of the "principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of
Wood indicates that "everyone has different motivations and aspirations that they wish to achieve in their life. Work-life balance is about adjustments that can be made to working patterns to enable people to combine work with the other facets of their life. Bratton and Gold (2003: 105) de-ne work-life balance as, 'the relationship between the institutional and cultural times and spaces of work and non-work in societies where income
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now