METHODS

OF ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE
LECTURE #1
4 Ways
of Acquiring Knowledge

Tenacity
Authority
A priori
Science
We acquire knowledge thru
Tenacity ~ a knowledge becomes valid
because it has been accepted for a long
period without any question
~ does not need evidence
~ very weak and unscientific
Ex: beliefs, customs, traditions, social
practices (culture)
Authority ~ knowledge is valid because it is
claimed as valid by a respectable source or
authority
~ better than tenacity
Ex: teachers, artists, politicians, experts,
opinion leaders
A priori ~ agreeing with reason, not with
experience
~ method of intuition
~ natural inclination toward truth
Ex: The way we decide in our family or
personal lives ~ out of gut feel
Science ~ or scientific method
~ self-correcting
~ the method must be such that the ultimate
conclusion of every man shall be the same
~ a positivist view
Ex: national census, research studies, polls
Schools of Thought
Rationalism ~ acquiring knowledge thru the
process of reasoning
~ information is stated and logical rules are
followed in order to arrive at an acceptable
conclusion
~ permits us to hypothesize

Empiricism ~ gaining knowledge thru
observation of real events
~ knowing by experience through the senses
~ it is not enough that we arrive at knowledge
through reasoning; we must experience these
events through our senses
Science
A combination of rationalism and empiricism
A way of thinking that involves a continuous
and systematic interplay of rational thought
and empirical observation
Group Discussion
Consider these:
~ science is difficult
~ scientists are weird people who have gray
hair, are bespectacled, wear white laboratory
gowns, are old and have that strange stare as
they sit in their laboratories tinkering with
some glass tubes, and so forth
Points to Ponder
Do you agree that science is better left to the
scientist than have the public tinker with it?
That science is the business of scientists and
that the ordinary individual has nothing to do
with it?
The Real Score
Science is science only if it becomes public
knowledge
Science is not restricted to an elite group of
learned people calling themselves scientists
Science must be public knowledge
The more people who know science, the
better
Two Themes
Science is a method of inquiry
Science is a product of such inquiry
Manheims Definition
Science is an objective, accurate, systematic
analysis of a determinate body of empirical
data, in order to discover recurring
relationships among phenomena
objective
Unbiased, unprejudiced, detached,
impersonal
Viewing things as they are
You dont go ego-involved in research acts
A hallmark of any scientific endeavor
Shuns away personal biases and
idiosyncrasies
accurate
Striving to be definite, precise, exact
A function of research measurement
systematic
Science is methodical, thorough, and regular
Classificatory schemes
Interrelatedness of various parts
Parts form a coherent whole
analysis
The identification and study of the
component parts or elements which make up
things
Breaking down a whole into parts, a
procedure into steps, a question into issues
determinate
Relatively agreed-upon defined traits or
boundaries
Ex: Orgcom does not deal with fiscal
management; but both Orgcom and Fiscal
Administration look at things in the context
of their own fields
Aims of Science
To describe
To explain
To predict
Description
What are the facts?
What is the case?
What is out there?
Explanation
why?
Describe then explain
How things and events come about
What causes phenomena
What laws determine their occurrence
Prediction
Making inferences from facts or laws
such and such will happen
if these conditions prevail
so and so will occur
You leapfrog into the future
Theory
A set of propositions
With defined and interrelated constructs
Interrelations among sets of variables
A systematic view of phenomena
Explains a phenomenon
A way of seeing
The Scientific Method
Identify the problem
Define the problem
Formulate hypothesis
Deduce consequences
Test hypothesis
Problem Identification
An obstacle to understanding
A felt difficulty
A knowledge gap
Defining the Problem
Observe the problem situation
Problematize!
Intellectualize what may be initially an
emotional observation of a situation
Hypothesizing
Suggest solutions to the problem
Craft tentative propositions about relations
between variables
Deductive Reasoning
If each hypothesis is true, certain
consequences can lead to more significant
problems or implications
Hypothesis Testing
Search for observable evidence that will
confirm or nullify consequences
Finding which hypothesis goes with
observable facts ~ offering most reliable
solution to a problem
Testing the relation expressed by the
hypothesis
In concrete terms
There is doubt, a barrier, an emotional
disturbance
You struggle to define the problem
You study the literature
You analyze experiences
You wait for an inventive leap of the mind
You formulate hypothesis
You deduce the empirical implications
A more concrete example
Problem: Job Satisfaction (JS)
What is the relation between JS and Job
Position (JP)?
Hypothesis: Ones JP in the organizational
ladder determines ones level of JS
As one climbs up the organizational
structure, the more satisfied the person
becomes in his/her job
Getting into real action
Ill conduct a survey to test my hypothesis
Analysis of survey data may lead to (1) JS and
JP are directly related (as one goes up and
down the organizational ladder, his/her JS
follows), or (2) JS and JP do not affect each
other (JS is not determined by JP; thus, one
may be satisfied or dissatisfied with his/her
job regardless of ones JP)
Your Turn!
Think of your own Problem. Problematize!
Follow the rigors of the Scientific Method
Present your output ~