pExam “Theory and methodology of science”

General instructions
The exam consists of two parts: a ‘multiple choice’ part and a ‘short answer’ part. No
external materials allowed.

PART 1 – Multiple choice questions

Instructions for multiple-choice questions. Mark the correct answer on the answer sheet, NOT on the
exam. Only mark one alternative. One point will be rewarded for each correct answer. An incorrect
answer, or an omitted answer, gives no points (incorrect answers are not punished).

1. What does ”verifying an hypothesis” mean?

a. To reformulate the hypothesis so that it can be tested.
b. To decide the truth value of the hypothesis
c. To test its mathematical correctness
d. To show that the hypothesis is true.

2. What is the difference between an experiment and a controlled

observation?
a. In an experiment one always tries to optimize the outcome. In a controlled
observation one only tries to describe the outcome.
b. In an experiment one does not have the control over the observation variables
that one has in a controlled observation.
c. The two concepts are synonymous. There is no difference.
d. In an experiment there is control over the experimental variables.

3. When one has found a strong statistical correlation between two

parameters…
a. …one has proven that there is a causal relation among the parameters.
b. …one has a measure of the probability that there is a causal relation between
the parameters.
c. … a strong statistical correlation will always be found when there is a causal
relation.
d. …one has not proven that there is a causal relation among the parameters.
4. What does ”mass-correlation” mean?
a. A significant result that occurs when one has studied so many points in the
outcome space that they, due to their sheer number, in practice cannot be
randomly placed.
b. That every variable has a significant (positive or negative) correlation with a
great number of other variables.
c. One does so many statistical tests that one can expect that at least one of them
will give a significant result by mere chance.
d. That every variable has a significant correlation with a great number of other
variables.

5. What is a false-positive (Type I error) result?

a. The experimental leader reports a result that he or she wishes to obtain, but
has no grounds for doing so.
b. The result suggests that a phenomenon exists, even though it does not exist.
c. The result is in line with what was expected, but this is because of an
experimental error.
d. The difference between an experimental outcome and the actual value (i.e. the
measurement error) is greater than zero.

6. What is the principle of induction

a. If most As that have been observed in a wide variety of conditions without
exception have possessed the property B, then all As possess the property B.
b. If a large number of As have been observed in a wide variety of conditions and
if all those observed As without exception have possessed the property B, then
all As possess the property B.
c. If it is logically possible that all As possess the property B, then all As possess
the property B.
d. If a large number of As have been observed in a wide variety of conditions and
if all those observed As without exception have possessed the property B, then
everything that possesses the property B is an A.

7. What does it mean that a model is idealized?

a. When testing an hypothesis one focuses on its content and not on its linguistic
formulation.
b. When testing an hypothesis one focuses on its content and not on any other
features.
c. To interpret in a positive spirit, that is, to strive for a reasonable interpretation
of what the author is claiming.
d. To disregard some aspects of the object of study to achieve a simpler and more
manageable description.
8. What is an ad hoc hypothesis?
a. A modification of a theory that logically contradicts the rest of the theory.
b. A modification of a theory that does not in any way explain an observed
anomaly.
c. A modification of a theory that makes the theory more falsifiable than it was
before.
d. A modification of a theory that does not propose a new means of testing the
theory.

9. Lexical definitions of value-laden terms should

a. strongly emphasise
b. strive to eradicate
c. accurately reflect
d. completely ignore´

... the term's value-ladenness.

10. What is the hypothetico-deductive method?

a. That one states ones hypotheses so that they can be deduced from other, more
fundamental theories
b. That one deduces empirical consequences from one’s hypotheses and tests
these empirically
c. That all claims in science can be viewed as uncertain hypotheses, from which
other uncertain hypotheses can be deduced
d. That all hypotheses should be deduced from secure empirical results

11. What is David Hume’s (skeptical) response to the Problem of

induction?
a. Inductively derived statements are only probably true.
b. Science cannot be rationally justified.
c. Logic, but not experience, can justify science.
d. Experience, but not logic, can justify science.

12. A spurious relation between two variables exists when

a. There is a correlation between the variables in the observed data, but in actual
fact there is no direct causal relationship between the variables.
b. There is no direct causal relationship between the variables as can be seen
from the observed data.
c. There is a direct causal relationship between the variables, but the variables
are not correlated in the observed data.
d. There is a correlation between the variables in part of the observed data, but
not in other parts.
13. What does a double-blind test mean in medical contexts?
a. A statistical test that is performed by someone who doesn’t know what the
dependent and the independent variables are.
b. A test where neither the subjects nor the person the evaluating the effects on
the subjects know what kind of treatments that the subjects are given.
c. A statistical test where all ordinal scales are transformed into cardinal scales
d. A statistical factorial analysis where on the one hand the person that assembles
the empirical data does not know what statistical method that will be used, and
on the other hand the statistician analysing the data does not know what the
numbers in the analysis mean.

14. What is the “referee-system” / “peer-review system”?

a. A standardized system for making references to one’s sources.
b. The editor of a scientific journal sends off incoming articles to experts in the
area and bases the decision whether to publish or not on their judgment.
c. That editors of scientific journals cooperate so that bad articles will not be
accepted due to the author sending the article to so many journals in the hope
that the control system will fail.
d. A standardized system for testing whether articles are plagiarised.

15. What is plagiarism?

a. Not giving credit to your associates when they have helped you in your
research.
b. Using somebody else’s words or ideas without attribution.
c. Lack of originality in research proposals.
d. To profit from your research for personal financial benefit.

16. By “operationalizing” a concept or a property one…

a. …invents a new concept or property.
b. …provides a concept or property suitable for operational settings.
c. …provides a method for testing whether a concept or property is useful in
science.
d. …provides a method for deciding whether a concept or property applies to an
object or phenomenon.

17. What did the Vienna School (the logical positivists) think of
verification and falsification?
a. Research should strive to verify scientific hypotheses, and non-verifiable
claims have no place in science
b. Hypotheses should be evaluated with regard to their logical structure instead
of by verification or falsification
c. Research should aim at falsifying scientific hypotheses
d. Neither verification nor falsification is possible for scientific hypotheses if
they are formulated in a logically correct (”logically positive”) way
18. In the context of the methodology of science, when one speaks of
“observer influence” one refers to…
a. The fact that the scientific observer has considerable influence over the
methods of observation.
b. The phenomenon that the observer interprets that which is being observed
which sometimes results in erroneous observations.
c. The fact that the observer can change the parameters in the experimental
setup.
d. The phenomenon that the method of observation can change that which is
being observed, resulting in erroneous observations.

19. What does it mean to say that paradigms are incommensurable?

a. It is not possible to understand one paradigm through the framework of
another paradigm.
b. Paradigms never fully correspond to the real world.
c. It is not possible to distinguish science from pseudoscience within one and the
same paradigm.
d. It is not possible to exactly define what a paradigm is.

20. In the context of hypothesis testing, what is meant by 'verification

asymmetry'?
a. The observable consequence drawn from the hypothesis is of a different kind
than the hypothesis.
b. One of the two possible statements of the hypothesis is for practical reasons
easier to verify than the other.
c. Some observations verify the hypothesis while others do not.
d. The auxiliary hypotheses cannot be verified but the tested hypothesis can be
verified.

21. What is naïve inductivism?

a. The position that statements about the world can be established as true by an
observer’s use of his senses. From these statements, the laws and theories that
make up scientific knowledge are derived.
b. The position that statements about the world can be established as true by an
observer’s use of his reason. From these statements, the laws and theories that
make up scientific knowledge are derived.
c. The position that facts about the world cannot be established as true by an
observer’s use of his senses. Only from other known statements, the laws and
theories that make up scientific knowledge are derived.
d. The position that science and the statements produced by science can be
established as true by common sense.

22. The statistical power of an investigation depends e.g. on:

a. the relevance of the study model, including the duration of the experiment.
b. whether supporting evidence from other test models are available or not.
c. whether the experiment follows a standardized test guideline or not.
d. the size of the effect to be measured and the number of objects studied.
23. Which of the following is correct (in the context of the theory of
measurement)?

a. Measurements with a high degree of reliability also exhibit a high degree of

validity.
b. Systematic errors can arise from methods of measurement with a high degree
of reliability.
c. Random errors occurs only with measurement methods with a high degree of
reliability and a low degree of validity.
d. A method of measurement cannot exhibit both random and systematic errors

24. What does one mean when one says that observations are theory
dependent?
a. Observations are planned to test a theory or hypothesis.
b. The choice of the objects to observe and/or the interpretation of the
observations, depend on the scientific theories that one is using.
c. Observations are planned so that they can contribute to theoretical
explanations, and do not just give rise to statistical correlations.
d. The possibility of an observation depends on whether a given theory is correct
or not.

25. Why do historians generally treat diaries as more reliable sources

than memoirs/autobiographies?
a. Diaries contain more information.
b. Memoirs are more fact-based and emotional reactions are not described as
clearly as in diaries.
c. The temporal distance to the described events is shorter in diaries.
d. Memoirs are often edited by the publisher and a lot can be lost in the editing.
Part 2 - Short answer questions:
The following questions should be answered on a separate paper. Be brief but
informative.

1.What is a statistical explanation? The problem of the reference class? Give an

example.

2. What is the classical definition of knowledge? Explain how the different

components of the classical definition of knowledge are relevant to science.

3. Give an example of (a) a true belief that is not justified, (b) a false belief that is
justified.

4. Analyze the argument presented below in terms of the structure of hypothesis

testing (i.e. in terms of hypotheses, auxiliary hypotheses and observable
consequences).
(i) Identify the hypothesis that Gould is arguing against as well as (ii) the auxiliary
hypotheses he is invoking and (iii) the relevant explicit or implicit observable
consequences that follow from these (relevant in the sense that they are used in the
argument). (iv) Present the argument in the form of the hypothetico-deductive
method. (v) Note if the observable consequences are falsified or not.

“It has commonly been assumed that the dinosaurs were poikilothermic [= having a
fluctuating internal body temperature depending on the local environmental
conditions]. Stephen Jay Gould has criticized this assumption. He claims that they
must have been warm-bodied and his argument is:
a) Poikilothermic animals have a body-temperature that varies with the outer
temperature. Poikilothermic animals that live in areas with large temperature
differences during different seasons get “growth rings” in their skeleton, a bit like the
way trees have growth rings. Varm blooded animals do not get such growth rings as
they have constant body temperature. Dinosaurs from areas with large temperature
differences do not have any growth arings.
b) Big poikilothermic animals do not live close to the polar areas as they cannot heat
themselves during the short winter days. Some of the big dinosaurs lived so far north
that they must have lived long periods without sun-light and hence without an
external source of heat.
…” (5p)
Name:

Personal number:

a. b. c. d. a. b. c. d.

1. 13.

2. 14.

3. 15.

4. 16.

5. 17.

6. 18.

7. 19.

8. 20.

9. 21.

10. 22.

11. 23.

12. 24.

25.