1. What assumptions, attitudes, and activities characterize scientific research? The assumptions made by scientists concerning scientific research are: (1) universal determinism (all events are lawful and ordered, and things that happen have explanable, logical explanations), (2) orderliness (orderly in events in nature, orderly in a pattern, and can be discovered by the scientific method), (3) observation (truth (principle, rule, or standard) can be derived from "direct" observation, and (4) empiricism (only phenomenon that can be seen to exist are within the realm of scientific investigation).

The attitudes of scientists performing scientific research are: (1) doubting and skeptical (they do not just believe what they are told), (2) objective and impartial (they try to remain neutral), (3) factual (they deal with facts, not values), and (4) systematic and integrating (they take random, unrelated data and formulate them into a unified theory or experiment).

The characteristics that make an activity scientific are: (1) relies on logical cause and effect (Freud's cause and effect are not that logical, involve too much imagination), (2) relies on determinism (if A then B), (3) goal is generalizability, (4) empirical verification (can be verified by idea of empiricism (touch, feel, sense, and so forth), (5) intersubjectivity (various perspectives lead to the same conclusion), (6) parsimony (try to develop the simplest possible explanation without being vague), (7) publication (the researcher should publish work), (8) scientific research is open to modification (a good study/theory can be flexible, undergo change, and does not stand on only one leg), and (9) specificity (be specific in what is being pursued, measured, and researched).

2. What human qualities and errors can affect scientific inquiry? First, scientists are human. They have (1) egos and other weaknesses, (2) biased selections where they only see and hear what they want, (3) prejudices when gathering information relative to the subject or the instrument they use, (4) a credentials versus scholarship controversy where credentials sometimes get published before quality, (5) grant money which can affect the types of research that is done, and (6) admissions within science (i.e., Cyril Burt) where numbers are sometimes fictitious. Second, possible errors can occur in acquiring knowledge. Examples are (1) inaccurate observations, (2) overgeneralization (talk about this in research proposal), (3) selective observation, (4) made-up information (have A, C, assume B), (5) illogical reasoning by not thinking through all the facts, (6) personal involvement hurts objectivity, and (7) premature closure leading to conclusions too soon (in marriage counseling, the first person talked to often sounds right).

3. What are some of the major terms associated with research? First, basic research (i.e., Mendel's pea research) is just for the sake of research, not problem oriented, whereas applied research is driven by a problem or need. Second, constitutive definitions are from the dictionary while operational definitions are measurable and given by a research instrument. Third, categorical variables can be grouped into categories, such as religious affiliation and political party. Fourth, dichotomous variables can be split into two parts, such as yes/no and male/female. Artificial dichotomony variables are something like pass/fail where the actual grades are ignored. Fifth, continuous variables are full running possibities, such as age or IQ. Sixth, independent variables can be manipulated by the researcher, and dependent variables are the results of the manipulations. Seventh, active variables are directly manipulated by the researcher while attribute (assigned) variables are already brought to the research (i.e., white/black or male/female).

4. What are the major research methodologies in education? First, in experimental, researchers can manipulate the independent variables which also tend to be active variables. Second, in causal-comparative (ex post facto), attribute variables are used because they cannot be manipulated. Third, with descriptive, the situation is examined and described. Fourth, with qualitative, there is some math but mostly reporting and verifying. These reports can sometimes be fluffy. Fifth, with historical, the researcher looks at textbooks and journals to gather data from a different era. With this methodology, the researcher might try to determine why a particular civilization did or did not survive.

				Tom of Bethany

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