Philosophy of science can be summarized in 3 domains: 1) Epistemology - the study of knowledge and justified belief, including what we know and how we know it. 2) Ontology - what exists and how we conceptualize and represent domains of knowledge. 3) Methodology - the framework for combining theories and approaches, including specific research methods. Key concepts in philosophy of science include knowledge, truth, explanation, concepts, constructs, variables, and research methodology.

1. Philosophy of Science • Summary
Edward Burne-Jones:
Pan and Psyche (1872)
Presentation and slides by David Engelby
See also: http://www.slideshare.net/engelby

2. Philosophy of Science • A Quick Overview
Epistemology What do we know and how do we know it? Defined narrowly, Knowledge Natural science Social Science Humanities
epistemology is the study of knowledge and justified belief. As the and traditions
study of knowledge, epistemology is concerned with the follow- of science Hypothetic-deductive Hermeneutics
ing questions: What are the necessary and sufficient conditions method
of knowledge? What are its sources? What is its structure, and Quantitative methods Qualitative methods
what are its limits? As the study of justified belief, epistemology
aims to answer questions such as: how are we to understand the Explanation Explaining Intentional
concept of x as a concept (ontology): of causes causes by actions explanations
Ontology What exists and what is “the thing” we deal with? An ontology is Makes laws of Laws based on individual
a specification of a conceptualization. What “exists” is that which universal validity statistical possibility correspondance
can be represented. When the knowledge of a domain is repre-
sented in a declarative way or if it’s normative, the set of objects Truth as correspondence Truth as meaning
that can be represented is called the universe of discourse. and coherence
Methodology What do we want to do with our theory and our concepts? Gen- Stratification
erally speaking, methodology does not describe specific meth- model Meta level:
ods. It is the constitution of a constructive generic framework in concepts, theory
which the theories can be combined. It could be the design of a and methodology
survey in relation to a theoretical approach
Space of
Key concepts description, demarcation, definition, explanation, knowledge, reflexivity and research
verification, falsification, hypothetic deduction, hypothesis, con-
cepts, falsification, postmodern, discourse, perception psychol- Theory → KNOWLEDGE ← Emperical data
use of knowledge
ogy, capital, field theory. tip: Read the PoS-slides.
References Carsten Rønn (2006): Kapitlerne 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12 samt References Lisa Bartolotti (2010): Chapter 1, 2, and 4
DK Almen videnskabsteori for side 159-166 (intro til del 3 i bogen) INT An Introduction to (there arealso handouts via
professionsuddannelserne. og s. 236-243 (en metateoretisk Philosophy of Science. powerpoints, see the wiki)
Alinea. model) Polity UK.
Experience economy, references at: http://www.slideshare.net/engelby/e-communication-experience-economy-10271777

3. Philosophy of Science • On Research
It‘s all about Concepts are the bodies of knowledge that are used by default The research The Hypothesis … is a proposition to be tested. Hypotheses
concepts to categorize. We investigate these concepts because they can be and the concept makes prognostications about the links between
percieved in different ways and play different roles to different variables. It can be tested, if this hypothesis can
types of people. Ask: what is in focus?: The technology, the val- be proved or disproved. (Jensen 2005: 212).
ue which is a result of the technology, or is it a mix? How is the
concept understood and expressed in contextual language (con- The variable … is gender, age, etc. if they are simple variables.
structuralism)? How do you observe and design a research via, More complex variables are …
say, thematic coding in interviews, in tests, online etc.?
Concepts Constructs
Key concepts concepts and constructs, A concept represents an abstract … are combined of concepts and
qualitative research idea that embodies the nature used to define the characteristics
quantitative research of observable phenomena, or an of the individual users as grouped
thick description interpretation of why such phe- in concepts (see the example).
attributes nomea occur. Example: Indi- Heavy users may be described
thematic coding viduals are defined in terms of by such concepts as sociability,
research ethics their use of a media. You define tolerance for strong stimulation,
tip: Read the examples and the study sheets the notions of a “light user” and risk-taking etc. These are values
in the first two PoS-slides a “heavy user” based on media or categories into which variables
types, levels of defined usage etc. can be divided.
Independent … can be relatively manipulated by the research-
References See Klaus Bruhn Jensen (2005): ← tip: It’s on Google Books variables er, it means the way the research process is con-
A Handboook of Media structed to measure a response.
and Communication Research.
Dependent … is the measure of the outcome of the research
Chapter 13 and 14.
Routledge 2005. variables based on its construct and its dependent varia-
bles, i.e. it is the information created by the vari-
Resources http://www.iep.utm.edu/ (English) ables and the hypothesis
www.samfundsviden.dk (Danish)