Session 2
Positivism
Auguste Comte
utilitarianism
liberalism
deduction
hypotheses
induction
methodological individualism
epiphenomenal
environment-behaviour research
cognitive maps
environmental perception
spatial cognition
legibility
monograph
mimesis
Session2
Key Ideas of the Enlightenment
Individualism - The individual is the starting point for all knowledge and action, and individual reason cannot be subjected to a higher authority (such as God or the Church).
Rationalism - Reason, or the process of rational thought, independent of experience, is innate within the human mind and is the only basis for organizing knowledge.
Empiricism - The only valid way to gain knowledge about the world is through observation or sensory experience.
Scientific Method - Science allows us to order observable facts and to discover the laws that govern them.
Progress - Knowledge gained by scientific methods can be used to explain or predict events, resulting in the improvement of the human condition.
Universalism - Scientific methods for acquiring objective knowledge are universal so they can be applied to all spheres of endeavour.
Session 2
Types of Theory Work
1) Ad hoc classificatory systems are arbitrary classes constructed for the sake of summarizing data.
They are methods of organizing observations so that more sophisticated theory development can follow.
2) Categorical systems or taxonomies construct classes to fit the subject matter and facilitate the description of relationships among classes of phenomena.
Taxonomies do not offer an explanation; they merely provide descriptive schemes that anticipate explanatory and predictive theories.
3) Conceptual frameworks place descriptive categories within a broad structure of propositions, which are used to analyze the data.
Conceptual frameworks are based on concepts, the first building blocks of theory.
They systematically direct empirical and theoretical activity around a core set of problems.
4) Theoretical systems combine taxonomies and conceptual schemes with descriptions and predictions in a deductive relationship, but they lack an empirical base.
5) Empirical theoretical systems are fully developed positivist theories consisting of concepts, definitions, hypotheses or propositions and empirical observations.
Session 2
The Main Characteristics of Positivism
1) Positivism is based on phenomenalism, which assumes that every phenomenon in the world has an independent existence, or "essence", which remains constant and can be observed.
2) Positivism assumes that every phenomenon is governed by laws that a detached investigator using appropriate methods may discover.
3) The knowledge discovered using these methods is believed to be objective and factual.
4) Positivism claims that once knowledge is gained it can be used to explain events, make predictions about future events, and control phenomena in ways that will be advantageous to the controllers.
5) Positivist research is organized around the principles of verifiability or falsifiability.
6) Positivism makes a very rigid distinction between fact and value and portrays itself as neutral, objective or value-free.
7) The positivist or scientific method aims to build theories by incorporating different levels of theory-work.
8) Positivists believe in the essential unity of the scientific method, that the methods for acquiring knowledge are the same in all spheres of experience.
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