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| public:t-713-mers:mers-23:empiricism [2023/11/19 13:21] – [Empiricism] thorisson | public:t-713-mers:mers-23:empiricism [2024/04/29 13:33] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1 |
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| ====Empiricism==== | ====Empiricism==== |
| | What it is | The idea that all knowledge comes from experience -- the senses. | | | What it is | The idea that all knowledge comes from experience -- the senses. \\ In AI it also means that this experience comes from the physical world, through physical sensors. | |
| | Why it matters | Before the emphasis on empirical knowledge, science did not have a chance to rise in any obvious way above "other sources of knowledge," including old scriptures, intuition, religious beliefs, or information produced by oracles. | | | Why it matters | Before the emphasis on empirical knowledge, science did not have a chance to rise in any obvious way above "other sources of knowledge," including old scriptures, intuition, religious beliefs, or information produced by oracles. | |
| | Empiricism & Science | The fundamental source of information in (empirical, i.e. experimental) science is experience, which eventually became the formalized **comparative experiment**. | | | Empiricism & Science | The fundamental source of information in (empirical, i.e. experimental) science is experience, which eventually became the formalized **comparative experiment**. | |
| | Theory | A scientific (empirical) theory is a "story" about how certain phenomena relate to each other. The more details, the more accurately, and the larger scope the theory covers, the better it is. | | | Theory | A scientific (empirical) theory is a "story" about how certain phenomena relate to each other. The more details, the more accurately, and the larger scope the theory covers, the better it is. | |
| | Hypothesis | A statement about how the world works, derived from a theory. | | | Hypothesis | A statement about how the world works, derived from a theory. | |
| | Experimental design | A planned interference in the natural order of events. | | | Experimental design | A planned interference in the natural order of events. | |
| | Subject(s) | Subject of interest - that to be studied, whether people, technology, natural phenomena, or other | | | Subject(s) | Subject of interest - that to be studied, whether people, technology, natural phenomena, or other | |
| | Sample | Typically you can't study all the **individuals** of a particular subject pool (set), so in your experiment you use a **sample** (subset) and hope that the results gathered using this subset generalize to the rest of the set (subject pool). | | | Sample | Typically you can't study all the **individuals** of a particular subject pool (set), so in your experiment you use a **sample** (subset) and hope that the results gathered using this subset generalize to the rest of the set (subject pool). | |
| | Between subjects vs. within subjects design | Between subjects: Two separate groups of subject/phenomena measured \\ Within subjects: Same subjects/phenomena measured twice, on different occasions | | | Between subjects vs. within subjects design | Between subjects: Two separate groups of subject/phenomena measured \\ Within subjects: Same subjects/phenomena measured twice, on different occasions | |
| | Quasi-Experimental | When conditions do not permit an **ideal** design to be used (a properly controlled experiment is not possible), there may still be some way to control some of the variables. This is called quasi-experimental design. | | | Quasi-Experimental | When conditions do not permit an **ideal** design to be used (a properly controlled experiment is not possible), there may still be some way to control some of the variables. This is called quasi-experimental design. | |
| | Dependent variable | The measured variable(s) of the phenomenon which you are studying | | | Dependent variable | The measured variable(s) of the phenomenon which you are studying | |
| | Independent variable | The variable(s) that you manipulate in order to systematically affect (or avoid affecting) the dependent variable(s) | | | Independent variable | The variable(s) that you manipulate in order to systematically affect (or avoid affecting) the dependent variable(s) | |
| | Internal validity | How likely is it that the manipulation of the independent variables caused the effect in dependent variables? | | | Internal validity | How likely is it that the manipulation of the independent variables caused the effect in dependent variables? | |
| | External validity | How likely is it that the results generalize to other instances of the phenomenon under study? | | | External validity | How likely is it that the results generalize to other instances of the phenomenon under study? | |
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| ====Controlled Experiment==== | ====Controlled Experiment==== |
| | What is it? | A fairly recent research method, historically speaking, for testing hypotheses / theories | | | What is it? | A fairly recent research method, historically speaking, for testing hypotheses / theories | |
| | When | When it is possible to control and select everything of importance to the subject of study | | | When | When it is possible to control and select everything of importance to the subject of study | |
| | How | Select subjects freely, randomize samples, remove experimenter effect through double-blind procedure, use control groups, select independent and dependent variables as necessary to answer the questions raised. | | | How | Select subjects freely, randomize samples, remove experimenter effect through double-blind procedure, use control groups, select independent and dependent variables as necessary to answer the questions raised. | |
