30.09.2019
The structure of scientific knowledge. Forms and methods of the empirical level of scientific knowledge
There is a movement from ignorance to knowledge. Thus, the first step cognitive process definition of what we don't know. It is important to clearly and rigorously define the problem, separating what we already know from what we do not yet know. problem(from the Greek. problema - task) is a complex and controversial issue that needs to be resolved.
The second step in is the development of a hypothesis (from the Greek. Hypothesis - assumption). Hypothesis - this is a scientifically based assumption that needs to be tested.
If the hypothesis is proven a large number facts, it becomes a theory (from the Greek theoria - observation, research). Theory is a system of knowledge that describes and explains certain phenomena; such, for example, are evolutionary theory, the theory of relativity, quantum theory, etc.
When choosing the best theory, the degree of its testability plays an important role. A theory is reliable if it is confirmed by objective facts (including newly discovered ones) and if it is distinguished by clarity, distinctness, and logical rigor.
Scientific facts
Distinguish between objective and scientific data. objective fact is a real-life object, process or event. For example, the death of Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov (1814-1841) in a duel is a fact. scientific fact is knowledge that is confirmed and interpreted within the framework of a generally accepted system of knowledge.
Estimates are opposed to facts and reflect the significance of objects or phenomena for a person, his approving or disapproving attitude towards them. Scientific facts usually fix the objective world as it is, and assessments reflect the subjective position of a person, his interests, the level of his moral and aesthetic consciousness.
Most of the difficulties for science arise in the process of moving from hypothesis to theory. There are methods and procedures that allow you to test a hypothesis and prove it or reject it as incorrect.
method(from the Greek methodos - the path to the goal) is the rule, method, method of knowledge. In general, a method is a system of rules and regulations that allows you to explore an object. F. Bacon called the method "a lamp in the hands of a traveler walking in the dark."
Methodology is a broader concept and can be defined as:
- a set of methods used in any science;
- general doctrine of method.
Since the criteria of truth in its classical scientific understanding are, on the one hand, sensory experience and practice, and on the other hand, clarity and logical distinctness, all known methods can be divided into empirical (experimental, practical methods of cognition) and theoretical (logical procedures).
Empirical methods of knowledge
basis empirical methods are sensory cognition (sensation, perception, representation) and instrumental data. These methods include:
- observation- purposeful perception of phenomena without interference in them;
- experiment— study of phenomena under controlled and controlled conditions;
- measurement - determination of the ratio of the measured value to
- standard (for example, a meter);
- comparison- identifying the similarities or differences of objects or their features.
There are no pure empirical methods in scientific knowledge, since even for simple observation, preliminary theoretical foundations are necessary - the choice of an object for observation, the formulation of a hypothesis, etc.
Theoretical methods of cognition
Actually theoretical methods based on rational knowledge (concept, judgment, conclusion) and logical inference procedures. These methods include:
- analysis- the process of mental or real dismemberment of an object, phenomenon into parts (signs, properties, relationships);
- synthesis - connection of the sides of the subject identified during the analysis into a single whole;
- - combining various objects into groups based on common features(classification of animals, plants, etc.);
- abstraction - distraction in the process of cognition from some properties of an object with the aim of in-depth study of one specific aspect of it (the result of abstraction is abstract concepts such as color, curvature, beauty, etc.);
- formalization - displaying knowledge in a sign, symbolic form (in mathematical formulas, chemical symbols, etc.);
- analogy - inference about the similarity of objects in certain respect on the basis of their similarity in a number of other respects;
- modeling— creation and study of a substitute (model) of an object (for example, computer modeling of the human genome);
- idealization- creation of concepts for objects that do not exist in reality, but have a prototype in it (geometric point, ball, ideal gas);
- deduction - moving from the general to the particular;
- induction- the movement from the particular (facts) to the general statement.
Theoretical methods require empirical facts. So, although induction itself is a theoretical logical operation, it still requires experimental verification of each particular fact, and therefore is based on empirical knowledge, and not on theoretical. Thus, theoretical and empirical methods exist in unity, complementing each other. All the methods listed above are methods-techniques (specific rules, action algorithms).
Wider methods-approaches indicate direction and general way problem solving. Methods-approaches can include many different techniques. These are the structural-functional method, hermeneutic, etc. The most common methods-approaches are philosophical methods:
- metaphysical- consideration of the object in mowing, static, out of connection with other objects;
- dialectical- disclosure of the laws of development and change of things in their interconnection, internal inconsistency and unity.
Absoluteization of one method as the only true one is called dogma(for example, dialectical materialism in Soviet philosophy). An uncritical piling up of various unrelated methods is called eclecticism.
Question #10
Empirical level of scientific knowledge: its methods and forms
Methods of scientific knowledge are usually subdivided according to the degree of their generality, i.e. by the breadth of applicability in the process of scientific research.
The concept of method(from Greek word"methodos" - the path to something) means a set of techniques and operations for practical and theoretical mastering of reality, guided by which a person can achieve the intended goal. Possession of the method means for a person the knowledge of how, in what sequence to perform certain actions to solve certain problems, and the ability to apply this knowledge in practice. The main function of the method is the regulation of cognitive and other forms of activity.
There is a whole field of knowledge that is specifically concerned with the study of methods and which is usually called methodology. Methodology literally means "the study of methods".
General scientific methods used in most various fields sciences, that is, they have a very wide, interdisciplinary range of applications.
The classification of general scientific methods is closely related to the concept of levels of scientific knowledge.
Distinguish two levels of scientific knowledge: empirical and theoretical. This difference is based on the dissimilarity, firstly, of the methods (methods) of cognitive activity itself, and secondly, the nature of the scientific results achieved. Some general scientific methods are applied only at the empirical level (observation, experiment, measurement), others - only at the theoretical level (idealization, formalization), and some (for example, modeling) - both at the empirical and theoretical levels.
Empirical level scientific knowledge is characterized by a direct study of real-life, sensually perceived objects. At this level of research, a person directly interacts with the studied natural or social facilities. Here, living contemplation (sensory cognition) predominates. At this level, the process of accumulating information about the objects and phenomena under study is carried out by conducting observations, performing various measurements, and setting up experiments. Here, the primary systematization of the received actual data is also carried out in the form of tables, diagrams, graphs, etc.
However, in order to explain the real process of cognition, empiricism is forced to turn to the apparatus of logic and mathematics (primarily to inductive generalization) to describe experimental data as a means of constructing theoretical knowledge. The limitation of empiricism lies in the exaggeration of the role of sensory cognition, experience, and in the underestimation of the role of scientific abstractions and theories in cognition. Therefore, e A empirical study is usually based on a certain theoretical structure that determines the direction of this study, determines and justifies the methods used in this.
Turning to the philosophical aspect of this issue, it is necessary to note such philosophers of the New Age as F. Bacon, T. Hobbes and D. Locke. Francis Bacon said that the path leading to knowledge is observation, analysis, comparison and experiment. John Locke believed that we draw all our knowledge from experience and sensations.
Highlighting in a scientific study these two various levels, however, should not be separated from each other and opposed. After all empirical and theoretical levels of knowledge are interconnected between themselves. The empirical level acts as the basis, the foundation of the theoretical one. Hypotheses and theories are formed in the process of theoretical understanding of scientific facts, statistical data obtained at the empirical level. In addition, theoretical thinking inevitably relies on sensory-visual images (including diagrams, graphs, etc.) with which the empirical level of research deals.
features or forms of empirical research
The main forms in which scientific knowledge exists are: problem, hypothesis, theory. But this chain of forms of knowledge cannot exist without factual material and practical activities to test scientific assumptions. Empirical, experimental research masters the object with the help of such techniques and means as description, comparison, measurement, observation, experiment, analysis, induction, and its essential element is a fact (from lat. factum - done, accomplished). Any Scientific research begins with the collection, systematization and generalization facts.
science facts- the facts of reality, reflected, verified and fixed in the language of science. Coming to the attention of scientists, fact of science excites theoretical thought
. A fact becomes scientific when it is an element of the logical structure of a particular system of scientific knowledge and is included in this system.
In understanding the nature of a fact in the modern methodology of science, two extreme trends stand out: factualism and theorism. If the first emphasizes the independence and autonomy of facts in relation to various theories, then the second, on the contrary, argues that the facts are completely dependent on the theory, and when theories are changed, the entire factual basis of science changes. The correct solution to the problem is that scientific fact, having a theoretical load, is relatively independent of theory, since it is basically determined by material reality. The paradox of theoretical loading of facts is resolved as follows. Knowledge that is verified independently of theory participates in the formation of a fact, and facts provide an incentive for the formation of new theoretical knowledge. The latter, in turn - if they are reliable - can again participate in the formation latest facts, etc.
Speaking of essential role facts in the development of science, V.I. Vernadsky wrote: “Scientific facts constitute the main content of scientific knowledge and scientific work. If they are correctly established, they are indisputable and obligatory for all. Along with them, systems of certain scientific facts can be singled out, the main form of which is empirical generalizations. This is the main fund of science, scientific facts, their classifications and empirical generalizations, which, in its reliability, cannot cause doubts and sharply distinguishes science from philosophy and religion. Neither philosophy nor religion creates such facts and generalizations. At the same time, it is unacceptable to "grab" individual facts, but it is necessary to strive to cover all the facts as far as possible (without a single exception). Only if they are taken into complete system, in their interconnection, they will become the "stubborn thing", "the air of the scientist", "the bread of science". Vernadsky V. I. About science. T. 1. Scientific knowledge. Scientific creativity. Scientific thought. - Dubna. 1997, pp. 414-415. |
Thus, empirical experience
never, especially modern science- is not blind: he planned, constructed by theory, and the facts are always theoretically loaded in one way or another. Therefore, the starting point, the beginning of science, is, strictly speaking, not objects in themselves, not bare facts (even in their totality), but theoretical schemes, "conceptual frameworks of reality." They consist of abstract objects ("ideal constructs") of various kinds - postulates, principles, definitions, conceptual models, etc.
According to K. Popper, it is absurd to believe that we can start scientific research with "pure observations" without "something resembling a theory." Therefore, some conceptual point of view is absolutely necessary. Naive attempts to do without it can, in his opinion, only lead to self-deception and to the uncritical use of some unconscious point of view. Even the careful testing of our ideas by experience itself, according to Popper, is inspired by ideas: An experiment is a planned action, each step of which is guided by a theory. |
methods of scientific knowledge
By studying phenomena and the relationships between them, empirical knowledge is able to detect the operation of an objective law. But it fixes this action, as a rule, in the form of empirical dependencies, which should be distinguished from a theoretical law as a special knowledge obtained as a result of a theoretical study of objects. Empirical dependency is the result inductive generalization of experience And represents probabilistically true knowledge. Empirical research studies phenomena and their correlations in which it can detect the manifestation of a law. But in its pure form it is given only as a result of theoretical research.
Let us turn to the methods that find application at the empirical level of scientific knowledge.
Observation
- this is a deliberate and purposeful perception of phenomena and processes without direct intervention in their course, subject to the tasks of scientific research. The main requirements for scientific observation are as follows:
- 1) unambiguous purpose, design;
- 2) consistency in observation methods;
- 3) objectivity;
- 4) the possibility of control either by repeated observation or by experiment.
Measurement
- there is a definition of the ratio of one (measured) quantity to another, taken as a standard. Since the results of observation, as a rule, take the form of various signs, graphs, curves on an oscilloscope, cardiograms, etc., the interpretation of the data obtained is an important component of the study. Observation in the social sciences is especially difficult, where its results largely depend on the personality of the observer and his attitude to the phenomena being studied. In sociology and psychology, a distinction is made between simple and participatory (included) observation. Psychologists also use the method of introspection (self-observation).
Experiment
, as opposed to observing is a method of cognition in which phenomena are studied under controlled and controlled conditions. An experiment, as a rule, is carried out on the basis of a theory or hypothesis that determines the formulation of the problem and the interpretation of the results. The advantages of the experiment in comparison with observation are, firstly, that it is possible to study the phenomenon, so to speak, in its “pure form”, secondly, the conditions for the process can vary, and thirdly, the experiment itself can be repeated many times. There are several types of experiment.- 1) The simplest kind experiment - qualitative, establishing the presence or absence of the phenomena proposed by the theory.
- 2) The second, more complex type is the measuring or quantitative an experiment that establishes the numerical parameters of some property (or properties) of an object or process.
- 3) A special kind of experiment in the fundamental sciences is mental experiment.
- 4) Finally: a specific kind of experiment is social an experiment carried out in order to introduce new forms of social organization and optimize management. The scope of social experiment is limited by moral and legal norms.
Analysis
- the process of mental, and often real, dismemberment of an object, phenomenon into parts (signs, properties, relationships). The reverse procedure of analysis is synthesis.
Synthesis
- this is a combination of the sides of the subject identified during the analysis into a single whole.
Comparison
— cognitive operation that reveals the similarity or difference of objects. It makes sense only in the totality of homogeneous objects that form a class. Comparison of objects in the class is carried out according to the features that are essential for this consideration.
Description
— a cognitive operation consisting in fixing the results of an experience (observation or experiment) with the help of certain notation systems adopted in science.
A significant role in generalizing the results of observations and experiments belongs to induction(from lat. inductio - guidance), special kind generalizations of experience data. During induction, the researcher's thought moves from the particular (private factors) to the general. Distinguish between popular and scientific, complete and incomplete induction. The opposite of induction is deduction movement of thought from the general to the particular. Unlike induction, with which deduction is closely related, it is mainly used at the theoretical level of knowledge. The process of induction is associated with such an operation as comparison - the establishment of similarities and differences between objects and phenomena. Induction, comparison, analysis and synthesis set the stage for the development classifications
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combining various concepts and their corresponding phenomena into certain groups, types in order to establish links between objects and classes of objects. Examples of classifications are the periodic table, classifications of animals, plants, etc. Classifications are presented in the form of schemes, tables used for orientation in the variety of concepts or corresponding objects.
For all their differences, the empirical and theoretical levels of cognition are interconnected, the boundary between them is conditional and mobile. Empirical research, revealing new data with the help of observations and experiments, stimulates theoretical knowledge, which generalizes and explains them, puts before him new, more challenging tasks. On the other hand, theoretical knowledge, developing and concretizing its own new content on the basis of empirical knowledge, opens up new, wider horizons for empirical knowledge, orients and directs it in search of new facts, contributes to the improvement of its methods and means, etc.
Science as an integral dynamic system of knowledge cannot develop successfully without being enriched with new empirical data, without generalizing them in a system of theoretical means, forms and methods of cognition. At certain points in the development of science, the empirical becomes theoretical and vice versa. However, it is unacceptable to absolutize one of these levels to the detriment of the other.
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Empirical research is based on the direct practical interaction of the researcher with the object under study (i.e., at the empirical level, living contemplation prevails => the object under study is reflected mainly from the side of its external connections and manifestations, accessible to live contemplation and expressing internal relations).
Empirical knowledge is a process of cognition that includes three interrelated forms:
1. feeling- reflection in the mind of a person of individual aspects, properties of objects, their direct impact on the senses;
2. perception- a holistic image of an object, directly given in a living contemplation of the totality of all its sides, a synthesis of these sensations;
3. performance- a generalized sensory-visual image of an object that acted on the senses in the past, but is not perceived at the moment.
Characteristic features of empirical knowledge: collection of facts, their primary generalization, description of observed and experimental data, their systematization, classification and other fact-fixing activities.
Empirical, experimental research is directed directly at its object. It masters it with the help of such methods and means, How description, comparison, measurement, observation, experiment, analysis, induction, and its most important element is fact (from lat. factum - done).
Stepin distinguishes 2 sublevels of ES:
a) immediate observations and experiments, resulting in observational data (+ modeling);
b) cognitive procedures(methods of structuring: O, S, I), through which the transition from observational data to empirical dependencies and facts is carried out.
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Measurement |
Description - presentation of empirical data in qualitative terms. One of the description requirements is versatility .
Comparison - presentation of empirical data in terms that reflect a different degree of expression of any property. (For example, a theory is more accurate or more plausible.) Comparison does not require a standard; it is possible to order the subject area without introducing units of measurement.
Measurement - there is an operation of attributing quantitative characteristics of the object under study to properties and relationships. A special requirement is accuracy , (in the study it is necessary to formulate the degree of accuracy sufficient to perform a specific task). Measurement: direct (measurement of length), indirect (time, temperature; temperature is the energy of the movement of molecules).
Observation- This research situation purposeful perception of objects, phenomena, processes of the surrounding world
The structure of observation as a research situation:
Subject - Object - Observation condition.
Observation is divided into:
1) direct (the object is available) and indirect (the object is not accessible, only its traces, etc., which it left), are available. Continuous / selective and continuous / discontinuous, etc.
2) systematic And random . Scientific observations are always purposeful and are carried out as systematic ones, and in systematic observations the subject always controls the instrumental situation. These observations suggest a special, active relation of the subject to the object, which can be considered as a kind of quasi-experimental practice. Random observations can become an impulse for discovery if and only if they turn into systematic ones.
Any scientific research begins with the collection, systematization and generalization of facts. Concept " fact "has the following basic values :
1) Some fragment of reality, relating either to objective reality ("facts of reality"), or to the sphere of consciousness and cognition ("facts of consciousness").
2) Knowledge about any event, phenomenon, the reliability of which has been proven, i.e. synonymous with truth.
3) A sentence fixing empirical knowledge, i.e. obtained in the course of observations and experiments.
To obtain an empirical fact, it is necessary to carry out at least 2 types of operations:
1) Rational processing of observational data and search for stable invariant content in them.
2) Interpretation of the invariant content identified in observations
In scientific knowledge, facts play a dual role: firstly, their totality forms an empirical basis for putting forward hypotheses and constructing theories; secondly, facts are of decisive importance in confirming or refuting a theory.
Experiment- this is a research situation of studying a phenomenon in specially created and controlled conditions, which allows you to control the course this process(F. Bacon).
The main task is to isolate the phenomenon from insignificant influences, to highlight the properties and relationships of interest in a “pure form”. The experiment allows you to vary the environmental conditions, reproduce them if necessary and create a phenomenon or relationships in their natural form that do not exist (combination of any substances).
Independent variables (set by researcher) - that part of the condition that can be controlled. dependent variables - that part of the variables that change when the independent variables vary.
Stages of experimental research:
1) Program development or working hypothesis, in addition to the purpose of the methodology, conditions, the meaning and adequacy of the study are also being developed here.
2) Experiment plan.
3) Conducting an experiment with mandatory recording.
4) Analysis and generalization and interpretation of data (interpretation).
Experiment classification:
1) According to the conditions of the event. Natural and artificial experiment. Natural is closer to observation.
2) By goals. Transformative, controlling, ascertaining, decisive.
3) According to the degree of controllability. Active and registering.
By number of factors. Univariate and multivariate experiment.
Thus, empirical experience is never - especially in modern science - blind: it is planned, constructed by theory, and facts are always theoretically loaded in one way or another.
Empirical knowledge - a kind of sensory knowledge?
Our knowledge is not only scientific, but also carried out at the logical level. Empirical knowledge includes elements logical thinking. Forms empirical knowledge facts and empirical generalizations come forward. Therefore - no, empirical knowledge is not a kind of sensory, since logic is included.
Forms and results of empirical knowledge.
Empirical knowledge has forms. Form - the type of result and the process itself. 1st form - facts, 2nd form - empirical generalizations. A fact is a scientific reflection of phenomena, a kind of generalization of many similar experiments and observations. Empirical generalizations are the next step, at which stable connections and relationships are found in the array of e phenomena. material. The fact is not a single observation, but also a generalization. What is the difference between the understanding of the fact in positivism and epistemology? The fact has the character of a protocol sentence. For scientific philosophy, there is the content of an objective empirical generalization - this is the result of a logical synthesis, which is similar to the form of a theory. Empirical generalization is on the borderline, all links between differences are eliminated in it and there is an objective content. Empirical generalization, in contrast to Mach's principle of economy of thought, has an objective content. Example - generalization of chemistry, 1 - Butler's theory of structure chemical compounds(the property of an element essentially depends on the neighboring and other elements, one element may exhibit different properties), 2 – periodic law and table.
Empirical generalization performs a number of functions: 1-descriptive, 2-predictive (the periodic law predicted the discovery of new elements).
Generalizations underlie the doctrine of the biosphere. Vernadsky believed that the biosphere evolved in the speed of migration chemical elements. biological evolution aimed at the emergence of species. Empirical generalization does not contain an answer to the question - why does it have such content? Because the facts are. Why are the facts like this? No answer. The answer is to be found in the more general sciences.
Empirical cognition, or sensual, or living contemplation, is the process of cognition itself, which includes three interrelated forms:
1. sensation - a reflection in the mind of a person of individual aspects, properties of objects, their direct impact on the senses;
2. perception - a holistic image of an object, directly given in a living contemplation of the totality of all its sides, a synthesis of these sensations;
3. representation - a generalized sensory-visual image of an object that acted on the senses in the past, but is not perceived at the moment.
Empirical research is carried out with the help of observation, experiment and measurement.
Observation- present not only real contact with the object, but also in our imagination (sign observation - reading, mathematics).
Observations: direct (the object is accessible) and indirect (the object is not accessible, only its traces, etc., which it left), are available.
Approbation (lat.) - approval (it is not from the word "test").
Measurement: direct (measurement of length), indirect (time, temperature; temperature is the energy of the movement of molecules).
Measurement in science is carried out repeatedly. Since all the quantities will be different in the measurement. Each specific result is an average value (the error is also considered).
An experiment is an active influence on an object. Task: search (we don’t know what will happen) or we check an already existing hypothesis.
QUESTION
ADDITIONALLY
EMPIRICAL FORMS AND METHODS OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE.
There are ways of structuring information used in the studied situation (description, comparison and measurement):
ABOUT - description– presentation of empirical data in qualitative terms. Narrative methods (narrative) and natural language are used. A mandatory requirement for the description is unambiguity and certainty.
WITH - comparison– presentation of empirical data in terms reflecting varying degrees of expression. This operation is feasible even if there is no exact standard for comparison. The value of comparison lies in the fact that it allows you to streamline the subject area without introducing a clear unit of measurement.
AND - measurement- the operation of attributing quantitative characteristics of the studied objects, properties or relationships, carried out according to certain rules. Methods of measurement: direct and indirect. In indirect measurement, the result is achieved through calculations, based on the relationships between quantities. Arithmetization and ranking is not measurement. Requirement for measurement: invariance with respect to measuring instruments, objectivity of measurement. The requirement of objectivity means that the researcher must formulate a degree of accuracy sufficient for the decision.
N - observation– study of the situation of purposeful perception of objects, phenomena and processes. Structure of observations: subject, object, conditions and circumstances (time, place…).
Classification of observations:
1. direct and indirect (the nature of the observed object);
2. direct and indirect (with and without tools);
3. continuous and selective (by criteria or not);
4. by time (continuous and intermittent);
5. neutral or transformative (the observer can influence the conditions of observation, transformative observational intervention is possible only in the conditions, and not in the structure or behavior of the object)
Observation features:
1. Activity of the subject;
2. Theoretical loading (manifested even when selecting objects of observation);
3. Organization (planning).
The problem of the objectivity of the results of observation - it is necessary to achieve the possible degree of independence (under given conditions) from varying degrees of distortion. The primary results of observation can only be qualified as scientific fact after interpretation (assumptions and objectives of the study).
E - experiment– study of the situation of studying an object in specially created and controlled conditions. The purpose of influencing an object under experimental conditions is to achieve a possible level of process control. The structure of the experiment repeats the structure of the observation.
Experiment classification:
1. By goals:
a) ascertaining;
b) decisive;
c) controller;
d) search, etc.
2. By the number of changing conditions:
a) one-factor;
b) multifactorial.
3. Active and registering (passive)
If all states and factors are called variables, then the set that is controlled is called independent, and the dependent ones are those that change when the independent elements are varied - this is a one-factor set.
Currently, multivariate experiments are more common, in which the independent variables vary as a complex. The results are then subjected to statistical analysis, where each factor is evaluated according to the results of a series of experiments (for the first time in 1925). In such experiments, the effectiveness depends on the conceptual organization of the study.
There is an abstraction that represents the reflection and logic of experimental studies:
1. Absolute stability of conditions
2. Reproducibility
3. total reflection in the experiment of that natural situation of which the experiment is an abstraction.
The more real the experiment corresponds to the ideal, the higher its validity (effectiveness).
M - modeling- a model in scientific knowledge is understood as such a mentally represented or materially realized system in which the displayed object of research is able to fill in to replace it in such a way that its study gives new information about this object.
Awareness of the scientific significance of modeling occurs in the 2nd half of the 20th century in connection with the emergence of cybernetics as scientific knowledge.
This method is used when interaction with the object is inefficient, or difficult, or impossible at all (medical and biological tests, expensive equipment, etc.).
5 stages of modeling:
1. Building a model as a recreation of the necessary parameters (the choice depends on the purpose of the study)
2. Model study (detail)
3. Extrapolation (transfer) to the area of knowledge about the original object
4. Interpretation (assessment)
5. Logical aspect (basis) - the analogy is probabilistic, not deductive.
Because the analogy is not deductive, the following conditions must be met:
1. all transferred features must be essential
2. their number must be sufficient
The role of modeling is twofold. it is both an object and a means of research at the same time.
Model classification:
1. According to the substrate:
a) mechanical;
b) geographical;
c) thermophysical, etc.
2. According to the modeled aspect:
a) structural;
b) functional.
3. By type of similarity with the original and model:
a) physical;
b) isomorphic (when a correspondence is established about an essential property);
c) analog (method of reproducing objects, when the model and the object are different, but are mathematically described in the same way);
d) quasi-analogue (when the mathematical description of the model and the object differ, but are equivalent in terms of results).
Functions of models in scientific knowledge:
1. Generalizing. The model can become an adequate form for knowledge representation, i.e. be of independent theoretical value.
2. Heuristic. Modeling can be the basis for putting forward new hypotheses, especially if the results of the simulation do not match the empirical results.
3. Translational. It consists in the transfer of conceptual schemes or forms from one area to another.
4. Pragmatic. It consists in improving the forms of knowledge representation.
5. Interpretive. Modeling as a means of interpretation connects the empirical and theoretical levels of research. On the one hand, the model can be a means of interpreting the theory, on the other hand, the interpretation of facts.
