Ways of Knowing

Sensory experience
Methods of Research
Agreement with others

Expert Opinion

Logic
In Computer Science
The Scientific Method

Superstitions and Intuition
Instructor: Randy B. Domantay, BSCS, MSIT
Email: [email protected]

Authority

Tenacity

Empiricism

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Sensory experience Agreement with others

We hear (a sonic boom of a jet plane),
Another information source : opinion of

We smell (a rose), others

We taste (chocolate ice cream),

and we touch (and feel the wetness of a rainy day)
We can share our sensations with others

Sensory data can be refined and check on the accuracy and

By seeing the outside temperature, we can refine our knowledge of authenticity of these sensations
how cold it is

Many experiments in sensory perception have revealed that it is not
Examples:
always wise to trust our sense
Does this soup taste salty to you?
Sensory knowledge is independable and is also incomplete

Did you hear someone cry?

Did someone just spew gas?

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Agreement with others Expert Opinion

This helps us discard what is untrue and helps
We are likely to consult experts
manage our lives more intelligently
A heart specialist or a lawyer

Others hear an incoming vehicle but you can’t
Depends on their credentials

All of us frequently discount our own
Experts, like all of us, can also be mistaken
sensations when others report that we are
For all their training and study, they still based it
primarily on what they have learned from thinking
missing something or are “seeing” something and reading
things incorrectly
No expert has studied and experienced all there is

The problem with such common knowledge is to know in a given field

Can never be totally sure
that it too, can be wrong!

A majority vote does not always mean that the
decision is right

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Logic Scientific Method

Scientists – are people who know a lot and the term science

We know things logically (we have the suggests a tremendous body of knowledge
capability to reason things out)
What we are interested in here, however, is science as a method
of knowing (the scientific method)

Example 1 (syllogism)
This method involves the testing of ideas in the public arena
All human beings are mortal (major premise).
Almost all of us humans are capable of making connections-of
Sally is a human being (minor premise-sensory).
seeing relationships and associations among the sensory data we
experience
Therefore, Sally is mortal (conclusion).
Most of us identify these connections as facts – items of knowledge
about the world in which we live

Example 2
We may speculate that our students may be less attentive in class
when we lecture than when we engage them in discussions
All students who take down notes on a regular basis find
A physician may guess that people who sleep 7 to 8 hours a day are
improvements in their grades (major premise) less prone to sickness than those who sleep less hours
If you will take down notes on a regular basis (minor premise), then
A counselor may feel that students study less than they used to
because they spend most of their time on social networking sites
your grades will improve!

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Scientific Method Scientific Method

In each of these cases, we do not really know
Such investigations do not constitute
if what we think is true
science unless they are made public

What we are dealing with are only guesses or
hunches, or as scientists would say, hypothesis
This means that all aspects of the

What we must do: put each of these guesses investigation are described in sufficient
to a rigorous test to see if they hold up under detail that the study can be repeated by
more controlled conditions

To investigate our speculation on attentiveness, we any one who questions the results –
can observe carefully and systematically how provided that those interested possess
attentive students are when we lecture and when
we hold class discussions the necessary competence and
resources
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Scientific Method Scientific Method

There is nothing mysterious about how
It requires an attitude of skepticism

scientists work in their quest for reliable
A skeptic is a person who questions the
knowledge validity, authenticity, or truth of something
purportedly factual

In reality, most of us proceed this way

Being a skeptic means that you do not
when we try to reach an intelligent
blindly accept any idea coming down
decisions about a problem that is
bothering us. These procedures can be
broken down into five distinct steps

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Five Steps Five Steps
1. There is a problem of some sort-some disturbance 4. Project the consequences of each of the possible
in our lives that disrupts the normal or desirable solutions we have conceived. If we were to do such
state of affairs (scientists vs you) and such, what would happen? (Suggesting that lack
2. Steps are taken to define the problem more of exercise is a cause of cancer may bring ridicule
precisely, to become more clear about exactly what from scientific colleagues and be hard to investigate
the problem is (having trouble explaining ideas vs but is can be studied)
finding causes of cancer) 5. Finally, we test our solutions to see what
3. Comes an attempt to search out every potential consequences actually do result. Scientists design
solution to the problem imaginable. One’s experiments, prepare exercise routines, administer
imagination is allowed and even encouraged to run them under controlled conditions. In short, they try out
freely, even those we consider to be outrageous each of their hypothesis to get at the consequences
(lack of exercise may cause cancer) and see what happens

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Superstitions and Intuitions Authority

Based on subjective feelings , belief in
When we accept what a respected or a

chance, and belief in magic events famous person tells us, we are gaining
knowledge by authority

Three people in a picture is bad omen

As children, we accepted the teachings of our

Breaking a mirror brings seven years of bad
parents
luck

You believed they knew what they were talking

Intuition: i.e. “It’s just a gut feeling” about

Many people believe that many babies are born
Problem: some authority figures are not really
during a new moon
knowledgeable in the subject areas

Illusionary correlation

i.e. infomercials

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Tenacity Empiricism

Involves hearing a piece of information as
Involves gaining knowledge through

often as you begin to believe it is true and
then, despite evidence to the contrary, clinging
objective observation and experiences.
stubbornly to the belief
An individual who says “I believe

Advertisers use the method of tenacity by nothing until I see it with my own eyes is
repeating a slogan for a particular product over an empiricist
and over until people begin to associate the
product with the slogan
It leads to a collection of facts

i.e. Visine: gets the red out, in sixty seconds

Problem is, we do not know whether the
claims are true
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Research Methods Descriptive Method

Descriptive Methods Three types:

Predictive Methods 1. Observational method

Explanatory Methods 1. Naturalistic observation
2. Laboratory observation
2. Case study method
3. Survey method

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Descriptive Method Descriptive Method

Observational Case study

- Researcher simply observes human or other
An in-depth study of one or more individuals
animal behavior

Is considered descriptive in nature because it
1. Naturalistic
involves simply describing the individuals
- involves observing how humans or other animals
behave in their natural habitat being studied
2. Laboratory
It can be used to describe a unit of analysis
- observing behavior in a contrived and
Most common qualitative method used in
controlled situation usually in the laboratory IS/CS research

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Descriptive method Descriptive Method

Survey method
Case study
Questioning individuals on a topic and then describing their

It investigates a contemporary phenomenom responses

Surveys can be administered by mail, over the phone, on
within its real-life context especially when the the Internet, or in a personal interview
boundaries between phenomenon and context
Advantage: allows researchers to study larger groups of
are not clearly evident individuals more easily

Well-suited to IS/CS research, since the object
Concerns: (1) whether the group of people (sample) who
of our discipline is the study of information participate is representative of all the people about whom
the study is meant to generalize (population) and (2) clarity
systems in organizations, and the interest has and ease of understanding of the questions
shifted to organizational rather than technical
Can be overcome by random sampling
issues
A random sample is achieved when, through random selection,
each member of the population is equally likely to be chosen as part
of the sample

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Predictive (Relational) Methods Correlational method

Two kinds
Assesses the degree of relationship

1. Correlational method and
between two measured variables

i.e. height and weight are correlational
2. Quasi-experimental method

Watching violent TV and aggressive
behavior?

One problem: often misinterpreted.
Correlation does not imply causation

A correlation simply means that two
variables are related in some way

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Correlational method Quasi-experimental method

Positiverelationship – as one variable
Enables us to compare naturally

increases (height), we observe an occurring groups of individuals
increase in the second (weight)
i.e. examining alcohol consumption

Negative relationship – as one variable between fraternities and non fraternities
increases, the other systematically
Subject or participant variable – a
decreases characteristic of the participant that
cannot be changed (we do not control
whether people join fraternities)

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Minimum requirements needed for

Explanatory/Experimental Method
the experiment

Allows researchers proper controls 1. Basic premise of experimentation:

Also determine whether there is a cause-
researcher controls as much as possible
to determine whether there is cause-and-
and-effect relationship between the effect relationship between variables
variables of interests
Does taking vitamin C supplements lead to

Allows researchers to know when and fewer episodes of colds?
why a behavior occurs
One variable – independent variable
(manipulate)

Requires many pre-conditions
Another variable – dependent variable
(measure)

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Minimum requirements needed for Minimum requirements needed for
the experiment the experiment

For comparative purposes: independent 2. Control the type of participants (in each of the
variable has to have at least two groups or treatment conditions)
conditions, typically referred to as the control
Should begin by drawing a random sample of
group and the experimental group participants from the population

Control group – serves as the baseline or
Perform random assignment!
‘standard’ (those who do not take vitamin c
Also helps to control for participant differences
supplements) between groups

Experimental group – receives the treatment
Can you identify other variables that we might need
to consider for greater control in the present study?

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Exercises Exercises
1. In a recent study, researchers found a negative 3. Which type of method would you
correlation between income levels and the incidence
of drop outs in IT. Jim thinks that this means that recommend using to answer the
being poor leads to poor performance in school. Is following questions
he correct in his conclusion? Why or why not?
a. Percentage of cars that run red lights?
2. In a study designed to assess the effects of exercise
on life satisfaction, participants were assigned to b. Do student athletes spend as much
groups based on whether or not they reported time studying as student non-athletes?
exercising. All participants then completed a life
satisfaction inventory c. Is there a relationship between the type
1. What is the independent variable? of punishment used by parents and
2. What is the dependent variable?
aggressiveness in children?

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Doing Science Proof and disproof

Researchers do not wholeheartedly accept a
When scientists test theories, they do not
conclusion based on only one study

There might be control problems (i.e. they might believe that try to prove them true
the manipulated independent variable caused the results
when, in reality, something else did)
They can be supported by data, but

Study may be limited by technical equipment available obtaining support does not mean a theory is
at that time (i.e. “phrenology”) true in all instances

A single study cannot tell us everything about a theory

Science is not static – the theories generated through science
Proof of theory is logically impossible!
change (i.e. eggs are high in cholesterol and are bad for your
health- limit egg intake to 2x a week only)

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Qualitative Research Qualitative Research

Loosely defined category of research
Enable researchers to study social and cultural
design.model that elicit verbal, visual, tactile, phenomenon
olfactory, and gustatory data in the form of

Examples: action researches, case study
descriptive narratives like field notes,
recordings, or other transcriptions from audio- researches, ethnography researches
and videotapes, and other written records,
Qualitative data sources include observation
pictures, and videos and participant observation (fieldwork),

Also called: interpretative research, naturalistic interviews, and questionnaires, documents
research, phenomenological research, or and text, and the researcher’s impressions
DESCRIPTIVE research and reactions

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Qualitative Research Reviewing the Literature

Ethnography study
Once you decide on a topic, the next step is to

Documenting or portraying the everyday conduct a literature review
experiences of individuals by observing them and
Literature review – search for the published
relevant others
studies that are relevant to your topic to

An ethnography is required to spend a significant
ensure that you have a grasp of what has
amount of time in the field. They immerse
themselves in the lives of the people they study been done in your area of intended study

It takes time

Content analysis

Not an overwhelming task but it is also not simple

Documents are observed and analyzed

Analysis of written or visual contents of documents

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Literature Review Seatwork 2 Answer the following in 1 short bond paper

(by pair/individual)

In a research project intended to gather data on the effects of

Libraryresearch type of study method on examination performance,
participants are randomly assigned to one of two conditions.

Journals In one condition, they study alone, using notes they took
during the class lectures. In the second condition, participants

Other sources study in interactive groups with notes from class lectures. The
amount of time spent studying is held constant. All students
then take the same exam. In this study:

1. What is the independent variable?

2. What is the dependent variable?
3. Identify the control group and the experimental group
4. Is the independent variable manipulated, or is it a participant variable?
Why?
5. What other variables or modifications can you add to this experiment?

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