EXAM QUESTIONS BASED ON DR ELLYARDS CLASSES

You are to answer 5 of the following 7 questions with a response of

up to 150 words in each case:
Explain the two ways relationship between (a) the formation and
testing of a hypothesis and (b) the gathering of data by
observation and experiment.
- talk about induction and deduction: experiments and
observations generate data, data generates hypothesis and so
other more observations can be made. Hypothesis is
constantly being refined.
In Francis Bacons analogy between the process of science and
the behavior of insects, what do the bess do that the ants and the
spiders do not? How does the behavior of the bees aid the
growth of science?
- The spider is a model of all the rationalists and that
everything can be done by thoughts.
What did Thomas Kuhn mean by a paradigm? According to Kugn,
what role do paradigms play in the growth of scientific
knowledge?
- We have to explain why paradigm shifts occur (because the
old paradigm cannot maintain all the broad observations).
- What does a paradigm does for normal science? It provides
a framework and guides scientists interpretation of data.
Can a hypothesis be proved correct? If not, why not?
- limits of induction: it is possible that there are other
explanations to describe the phenomena.
Describe what Kart Popper meant by falsibility as a way of judging
if a statement is scientific?
- Popper thinks that all scientists try to falsify hypothesis
upon conjectures. Falsifiability arises from Poppers views of
what scientists do.
Science has been described as self correcting. Describe what
you think this term means and the mechanisms how it an be
achieved.
- Peer-reviewed, experimentation- the bad ideas are thrown
away.
What distinguishes science from technology? How do the two
interact?
- Technology aids science. But we should also talk about how
science aids technology. We have to understand the way
nature works before we can invent technology to change
nature- quote from Francis Bacon.