The empirical level of scientific knowledge and its methods. The main methods of the empirical level of scientific knowledge

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 type of 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 Latin inductio - guidance), a special kind of generalization 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 - 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, sets new, more complex tasks for it. 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.

Scientific knowledge can be divided into two levels: theoretical and empirical. The first is based on inferences, the second - on experiments and interaction with the object under study. Despite their different nature, these methods are equally important for the development of science.

Empirical Research

Empirical knowledge is based on direct practical interaction between the researcher and the object he is studying. It consists of experiments and observations. Empirical and theoretical knowledge are opposite - in the case of theoretical research, a person manages only his own ideas about the subject. As a rule, this method is the lot of the humanities.

Empirical research cannot do without instruments and instrumental installations. These are means related to the organization of observations and experiments, but in addition to them there are also conceptual means. They are used as a special scientific language. It has a complex organization. Empirical and theoretical knowledge is focused on the study of phenomena and the dependencies that arise between them. By experimenting, man can discover an objective law. This is also facilitated by the study of phenomena and their correlation.

Empirical methods of knowledge

According to the scientific view, empirical and theoretical knowledge consists of several methods. This is a set of steps necessary to solve a specific problem (in this case, we are talking about identifying previously unknown patterns). The first empirical method is observation. It is a purposeful study of objects, which primarily relies on various senses (perceptions, sensations, ideas).

At its initial stage, observation gives an idea of ​​the external characteristics of the object of knowledge. However, the ultimate goal of this is to determine the deeper and inner properties of the subject. A common misconception is that the idea that scientific observation is passive is far from true.

Observation

Empirical observation is distinguished by a detailed character. It can be both direct and indirect by various technical devices and instruments (for example, a camera, telescope, microscope, etc.). As science advances, observation becomes more complex and complex. This method has several exceptional qualities: objectivity, certainty and unambiguous design. When using devices, an additional role is played by the decoding of their readings.

In the social and human sciences, empirical and theoretical knowledge takes root in a heterogeneous manner. Observation in these disciplines is particularly difficult. It becomes dependent on the personality of the researcher, his principles and attitudes, as well as the degree of interest in the subject.

Observation cannot be carried out without a certain concept or idea. It must be based on a certain hypothesis and record certain facts (in this case, only interconnected and representative facts will be indicative).

Theoretical and empirical studies differ from each other in details. For example, observation has its own specific functions that are not characteristic of other methods of cognition. First of all, this is providing a person with information, without which further research and hypotheses are impossible. Observation is the fuel on which thinking runs. Without new facts and impressions, there will be no new knowledge. In addition, it is with the help of observation that one can compare and verify the validity of the results of preliminary theoretical studies.

Experiment

Different theoretical and empirical methods of cognition also differ in the degree of their intervention in the process under study. A person can observe it strictly from the outside, or can analyze its properties on their own experience. This function is carried out by one of the empirical methods of cognition - experiment. In terms of importance and contribution to the final result of research, it is in no way inferior to observation.

An experiment is not only a purposeful and active human intervention in the course of the process under study, but also its change, as well as reproduction in specially prepared conditions. This method of cognition requires much more effort than observation. During the experiment, the object of study is isolated from any extraneous influence. A clean and uncluttered environment is created. The experimental conditions are completely set and controlled. Therefore, this method, on the one hand, corresponds to the natural laws of nature, and on the other hand, it is distinguished by an artificial, human-defined essence.

Experiment structure

All theoretical and empirical methods have a certain ideological load. The experiment, which is carried out in several stages, is no exception. First of all, planning and step-by-step construction take place (the goal, means, type, etc. are determined). Then comes the experimentation stage. However, it takes place under the perfect control of a person. At the end of the active phase, it is the turn to interpret the results.

Both empirical and theoretical knowledge differ in a certain structure. In order for an experiment to take place, the experimenters themselves, the object of the experiment, instruments and other necessary equipment, a methodology and a hypothesis are required, which is confirmed or refuted.

Instruments and installations

Every year scientific research becomes more and more difficult. They need more and more modern technology that allows them to study what is inaccessible to simple human senses. If earlier scientists were limited to their own sight and hearing, now they have at their disposal unprecedented experimental facilities.

During the use of the device, it can have a negative impact on the object under study. For this reason, the result of an experiment sometimes diverges from its original goals. Some researchers try to achieve such results on purpose. In science, this process is called randomization. If the experiment takes on a random character, then its consequences become an additional object of analysis. The possibility of randomization is another feature that distinguishes empirical and theoretical knowledge.

Comparison, description and measurement

Comparison is the third empirical method of cognition. This operation allows you to identify differences and similarities of objects. Empirical, theoretical analysis cannot be carried out without deep knowledge of the subject. In turn, many facts begin to play with new colors after the researcher compares them with another texture known to him. Comparison of objects is carried out within the framework of features that are essential for a particular experiment. At the same time, objects that are compared according to one feature may be incomparable in their other characteristics. This empirical technique is based on analogy. It underlies the important science

Methods of empirical and theoretical knowledge can be combined with each other. But research is almost never complete without description. This cognitive operation fixes the results of the previous experience. For the description, scientific notation systems are used: graphs, diagrams, drawings, diagrams, tables, etc.

The last empirical method of knowledge is measurement. It is carried out through special means. Measurement is necessary to determine the numerical value of the desired measured value. Such an operation must be carried out in accordance with strict algorithms and rules accepted in science.

Theoretical knowledge

In science, theoretical and empirical knowledge has different fundamental supports. In the first case, this is a detached use of rational methods and logical procedures, and in the second, direct interaction with the object. Theoretical knowledge uses intellectual abstractions. One of its most important methods is formalization - the display of knowledge in a symbolic and sign form.

At the first stage of expressing thinking, the usual human language is used. It is characterized by complexity and constant variability, which is why it cannot be a universal scientific tool. The next stage of formalization is connected with the creation of formalized (artificial) languages. They have a specific purpose - a strict and precise expression of knowledge that cannot be achieved using natural speech. Such a symbol system can take the format of formulas. It is very popular in mathematics and other areas where numbers cannot be dispensed with.

With the help of symbolism, a person eliminates the ambiguous understanding of the record, makes it shorter and clearer for further use. Not a single research, and therefore all scientific knowledge, can do without speed and simplicity in the application of its tools. Empirical and theoretical study equally needs formalization, but it is at the theoretical level that it takes on an exceptionally important and fundamental significance.

An artificial language, created within a narrow scientific framework, is becoming a universal means of exchanging thoughts and communicating specialists. This is the fundamental task of methodology and logic. These sciences are necessary for the transmission of information in an understandable, systematized form, free from the shortcomings of natural language.

The meaning of formalization

Formalization allows you to clarify, analyze, clarify and define concepts. The empirical and theoretical levels of knowledge cannot do without them, so the system of artificial symbols has always played and will continue to play a big role in science. Common and colloquial concepts seem obvious and clear. However, due to their ambiguity and uncertainty, they are not suitable for scientific research.

Formalization is especially important in the analysis of alleged evidence. The sequence of formulas based on specialized rules is distinguished by the precision and rigor necessary for science. In addition, formalization is necessary for programming, algorithmization and computerization of knowledge.

Axiomatic Method

Another method of theoretical research is the axiomatic method. It is a convenient way of deductively expressing scientific hypotheses. Theoretical and empirical sciences cannot be imagined without terms. Very often they arise due to the construction of axioms. For example, in Euclidean geometry at one time the fundamental terms of angle, line, point, plane, etc. were formulated.

Within the framework of theoretical knowledge, scientists formulate axioms - postulates that do not require proof and are the initial statements for further construction of theories. An example of this is the idea that the whole is always greater than the part. With the help of axioms, a system for deriving new terms is built. Following the rules of theoretical knowledge, a scientist can obtain unique theorems from a limited number of postulates. At the same time, it is much more effectively used for teaching and classification than for discovering new patterns.

Hypothetical-deductive method

Although theoretical, empirical scientific methods differ from each other, they are often used together. An example of such an application is that it builds new systems of closely intertwined hypotheses. On their basis, new statements concerning empirical, experimentally proven facts are derived. The method of deriving a conclusion from archaic hypotheses is called deduction. This term is familiar to many thanks to the novels about Sherlock Holmes. Indeed, a popular literary character in his investigations often uses the deductive method, with the help of which he builds a coherent picture of the crime from a multitude of disparate facts.

The same system operates in science. This method of theoretical knowledge has its own clear structure. First of all, there is an acquaintance with the invoice. Then assumptions are made about the patterns and causes of the phenomenon under study. To do this, various logical techniques are used. Guesses are evaluated according to their probability (the most probable one is selected from this heap). All hypotheses are checked for consistency with logic and compatibility with basic scientific principles (for example, the laws of physics). Consequences are derived from the assumption, which are then verified by experiment. The hypothetical-deductive method is not so much a method of a new discovery as a method of substantiating scientific knowledge. This theoretical tool was used by such great minds as Newton and Galileo.

Empirical knowledge has always played a leading role in the system of obtaining knowledge about the surrounding reality by a person. In all areas of human life, it is believed that knowledge can be successfully applied in practice only if it is successfully tested experimentally.

The essence of empirical knowledge is reduced to the direct receipt of information about the objects of study from the sense organs of the person who knows.

To imagine what the empirical method of cognition is in the system of obtaining knowledge by a person, it is necessary to understand that the entire system of studying objective reality is two-level:

• theoretical level;
• empirical level.

Theoretical level of knowledge

Theoretical knowledge is built on the forms characteristic of abstract thinking. The cognizer operates not with exclusively accurate information obtained as a result of observing objects of the surrounding reality, but creates generalizing constructions based on studies of "ideal models" of these objects. Such "ideal models" are devoid of those properties that, in the opinion of the cognizer, are unimportant.

As a result of theoretical research, a person receives information about the properties and forms of an ideal object.

Based on this information, forecasts are made and monitoring of specific phenomena of objective reality is carried out. Depending on the discrepancies between ideal and specific models, certain theories and hypotheses are substantiated for further research using different forms of cognition.

Characteristics of empirical knowledge

Such an order of studying objects is the basis of all types of human knowledge: scientific, everyday, artistic and religious.

Presentation: "Scientific knowledge"

But the orderly correlation of levels, methods and methods in scientific research is especially strict and justified, since the methodology for obtaining knowledge is extremely important for science. In many ways, it depends on the scientific methods used to study a particular subject whether the theories and hypotheses put forward will be scientific or not.

For the study, development and application of methods of scientific knowledge, such a branch of philosophy as epistemology is responsible.

Scientific methods are divided into theoretical methods and empirical methods.

empirical scientific methods

These are the tools with which a person forms, captures, measures and processes information obtained during the study of specific objects of the surrounding reality during scientific research.

The empirical level of scientific knowledge has the following tools-methods:

• observation;
• experiment;
• research;
• measurement.

Each of these tools is necessary to test theoretical knowledge for objective validity. If theoretical calculations cannot be confirmed in practice, they cannot be taken as the basis of at least some scientific provisions.

Observation as an empirical method of cognition

Observation came to science from. It is the success of a person's application of observations of environmental phenomena in his practical and everyday activities that is the basis for the development of an appropriate method of scientific knowledge.

Forms of scientific observation:

• direct - in which special devices, technologies and means are not used;
• indirect - using measuring or other special devices and technologies.

Mandatory procedures for monitoring are fixing the results and multiple observations.

It is thanks to these processes that scientists get the opportunity not only to systematize, but also to generalize the information obtained during observations.

An example of direct observation is the registration of the state of the studied groups of animals in a given specific unit of time. Using direct observations, zoologists study the social aspects of the life of groups of animals, the influence of these aspects on the state of the body of a particular animal and on the ecosystem in which this group lives.

An example of indirect observation is astronomers monitoring the state of a celestial body, measuring its mass and determining its chemical composition.

Gaining knowledge through experiment

Conducting an experiment is one of the most important stages in the construction of a scientific theory. It is thanks to the experiment that hypotheses are tested and the presence or absence of causal relationships between two phenomena (phenomena) is established. The phenomenon is not something abstract or supposed. This term refers to the observed phenomenon. The observed fact of the growth of a laboratory rat by a scientist is a phenomenon.

The difference between experiment and observations:

1. During the experiment, the phenomenon of objective reality does not occur by itself, but the researcher creates the conditions for its appearance and dynamics. When observing, the observer registers only the phenomenon that is independently reproduced by the environment.
2. The researcher can interfere in the course of events of the phenomena of the experiment within the limits determined by the rules of its conduct, while the observer cannot somehow regulate the observed events and phenomena.
3. During the experiment, the researcher can include or exclude certain parameters of the experiment in order to establish relationships between the phenomena under study. The observer, who must establish the order of the course of phenomena under natural conditions, has no right to use the artificial adjustment of circumstances.

In the direction of research, several types of experiments are distinguished:

• Physical experiment (the study of natural phenomena in all their diversity).

• Computer experiment with mathematical model. In this experiment, other parameters are determined from one model parameters.
• Psychological experiment (study of the circumstances of the object's life).
• Thought experiment (the experiment is carried out in the imagination of the researcher). Often this experiment has not only the main, but also an auxiliary function, since it is intended to determine the main order and conduct of the experiment in real conditions.
• critical experiment. It contains in its structure the need to verify the data obtained during certain studies in order to check them for compliance with certain scientific criteria.

Measurement - a method of empirical knowledge

Measurement is one of the most common human activities. To obtain information about the surrounding reality, we measure it in different ways, in different units, using different devices.

Science, as one of the spheres of human activity, also absolutely cannot do without measurements. This is one of the most important methods of obtaining knowledge about objective reality.

Due to the ubiquity of measurements, there are a huge number of their types. But all of them are aimed at obtaining a result - a quantitative expression of the properties of an object of the surrounding reality.

Scientific research

A method of cognition, which consists in processing information obtained as a result of experiments, measurements and observations. It comes down to building concepts and testing built scientific theories.

The purpose of fundamental developments is exclusively to obtain new knowledge about those phenomena of objective reality that are included in the subject of study of this science.

Applied developments generate the possibility of applying new knowledge in practice.

Due to the fact that research is the main activity of the scientific world, aimed at obtaining and implementing new knowledge, it is strictly regulated, including ethical rules that do not allow turning research to the detriment of human civilization.

In science, there are empirical and theoretical levels of research. empirical research is directed directly at the object under study and is realized through observation and experiment. theoretical research is concentrated around generalizing ideas, hypotheses, laws, principles. The data of both empirical and theoretical research are recorded in the form of statements containing empirical and theoretical terms. Empirical terms are included in statements, the truth of which can be verified in an experiment. Such, for example, is the statement: "The resistance of a given conductor increases when heated from 5 to 10 ° C." The truth of statements containing theoretical terms cannot be established experimentally. To confirm the truth of the statement "The resistance of conductors increases when heated from 5 to 10 ° C", an infinite number of experiments would have to be carried out, which is impossible in principle. "Resistance of a given conductor" is an empirical term, a term of observation. "Resistance of conductors" is a theoretical term, a concept obtained as a result of generalization. Statements with theoretical concepts are unverifiable, but they are, according to Popper, falsifiable.

The most important feature of scientific research is the mutual loading of empirical and theoretical data. In principle, it is impossible to separate empirical and theoretical facts in an absolute way. In the above statement with an empirical term, the concepts of temperature and number were used, and they are theoretical concepts. The one who measures the resistance of conductors understands what is happening because he has theoretical knowledge. On the other hand, theoretical knowledge without experimental data has no scientific force and turns into groundless speculation. Consistency, mutual loading of empirical and theoretical is the most important feature of science. If the specified harmonic agreement is violated, then in order to restore it, a search for new theoretical concepts begins. Of course, the experimental data are also refined in this case. Consider, in the light of the unity of the empirical and the theoretical, the main methods of empirical research.

Experiment- the core of empirical research. The Latin word "experimentum" literally means trial, experience. An experiment is an approbation, a test of the studied phenomena under controlled and controlled conditions. The experimenter seeks to isolate the phenomenon under study in its pure form, so that there are as few obstacles as possible in obtaining the desired information. The setting up of the experiment is preceded by the corresponding preparatory work. An experimental program is being developed; if necessary, special devices and measuring equipment are manufactured; the theory is refined, which acts as a necessary tool for the experiment.

The components of the experiment are: the experimenter; the phenomenon under study; appliances. In the case of devices, we are not talking about technical devices such as computers, micro- and telescopes, designed to enhance the sensual and rational capabilities of a person, but about detector devices, intermediary devices that record experimental data and are directly influenced by the phenomena being studied. As we can see, the experimenter is "fully armed", on his side, among other things, professional experience and, what is especially important, knowledge of the theory. In modern conditions, the experiment is most often carried out by a group of researchers who act in concert, measuring their efforts and abilities.

The phenomenon under study is placed in the experiment in conditions where it reacts to detector devices (if there is no special detector device, then the sense organs of the experimenter himself act as such: his eyes, ears, fingers). This reaction depends on the condition and characteristics of the device. Due to this circumstance, the experimenter cannot obtain information about the phenomenon under study as such, that is, in isolation from all other processes and objects. Thus, the means of observation are involved in the formation of experimental data. In physics, this phenomenon remained unknown until experiments in the field of quantum physics, and its discovery in the 20s - 30s of the XX century. was a sensation. For a long time, N. Bora's explanation that means of observation affect the results of the experiment, was taken with hostility. Bohr's opponents believed that the experiment could be cleansed of the perturbing influence of the device, but this turned out to be impossible. The task of the researcher is not to present the object as such, but to explain its behavior in all possible situations.

It should be noted that in social experiments the situation is also not simple, because the subjects react to the feelings, thoughts, and spiritual world of the researcher. Summarizing the experimental data, the researcher should not abstract from his own influence, namely, taking into account it, be able to identify the general, essential.

The data of the experiment must somehow be brought to known human receptors, for example, this happens when the experimenter reads the readings of measuring instruments. The experimenter has the opportunity and at the same time is forced to use his inherent (all or some) forms of sensory cognition. However, sensory cognition is just one of the moments of a complex cognitive process carried out by the experimenter. Empirical knowledge cannot be reduced to sensory knowledge.

Among the methods of empirical knowledge are often called observation which is sometimes even opposed to the method of experimentation. This does not mean observation as a stage of any experiment, but observation as a special, holistic way of studying phenomena, observation of astronomical, biological, social and other processes. The difference between experimentation and observation basically boils down to one point: in experiment, its conditions are controlled, while in observation, processes are left to the natural course of events. From a theoretical standpoint, the structure of experiment and observation is the same: the phenomenon being studied - the device - the experimenter (or observer). Therefore, understanding an observation is not much different from understanding an experiment. Observation may well be considered a kind of experiment.

An interesting possibility of developing the method of experimentation is the so-called model experimentation. Sometimes they experiment not on the original, but on its model, that is, on another entity similar to the original. The model may be physical, mathematical or some other nature. It is important that manipulations with it make it possible to transmit the information received to the original. This is not always possible, but only when the properties of the model are relevant, that is, they really correspond to the properties of the original. A complete match between the properties of the model and the original is never achieved, and for a very simple reason: the model is not the original. As A. Rosenbluth and N. Wiener joked, another cat would be the best material model of a cat, but it would be preferable that it be exactly the same cat. One of the meanings of the joke is this: it is impossible to get as comprehensive knowledge on the model as in the process of experimenting with the original. But sometimes one can be content with partial success, especially if the object under study is inaccessible to a non-model experiment. Hydrobuilders, before building a dam across a stormy river, will conduct a model experiment within the walls of their native institute. As for mathematical modeling, it allows relatively quickly to "play" various options for the development of the processes under study. Math modeling- a method that is at the intersection of empirical and theoretical. The same applies to the so-called thought experiments, when possible situations and their consequences are considered.

Measurements are the most important point of the experiment; they allow obtaining quantitative data. When measuring, qualitatively identical characteristics are compared. Here we are faced with a situation quite typical for scientific research. The measurement process itself is undoubtedly an experimental operation. But here the establishment of the qualitative similarity of the characteristics compared in the process of measurement belongs already to the theoretical level of knowledge. To choose a standard unit of magnitude, it is necessary to know which phenomena are equivalent to each other; in this case, preference will be given to the standard that is applicable to the largest possible number of processes. Length was measured by elbows, feet, steps, wooden meter, platinum meter, and now they are guided by the wavelengths of electromagnetic waves in a vacuum. Time was measured by the movement of the stars, the Earth, the Moon, the pulse, pendulums. Now time is measured in accordance with the accepted standard of the second. One second is equal to 9,192,631,770 radiation periods of the corresponding transition between two specific levels of the hyperfine structure of the ground state of the cesium atom. Both in the case of measuring lengths and in the case of measuring physical time, electromagnetic oscillations were chosen as measurement standards. This choice is explained by the content of the theory, namely quantum electrodynamics. As you can see, the measurement is theoretically loaded. Measurement can only be done effectively once the meaning of what is measured and how is understood. To better explain the essence of the measurement process, consider the situation with the assessment of students' knowledge, for example, on a ten-point scale.

The teacher talks to many students and gives them marks - 5 points, 7 points, 10 points. Students answer different questions, but the teacher brings all the answers "under a common denominator". If the person who passed the exam informs someone about his grade, then from this brief information it is impossible to establish what was the subject of the conversation between the teacher and the student. Not interested in the specifics of the examination and scholarship committees. Measurement and assessment of students' knowledge is a special case of this process, fixes quantitative gradations only within the framework of a given quality. The teacher "brings" different answers of students under the same quality, and only then establishes the difference. 5 and 7 points as points are equivalent, in the first case these points are simply less than in the second. The teacher, evaluating the knowledge of students, proceeds from his ideas about the essence of this academic discipline. The student also knows how to generalize, he mentally counts his failures and successes. In the end, however, the teacher and the student may come to different conclusions. Why? First of all, due to the fact that the student and the teacher unequally understand the issue of assessing knowledge, they both generalize, but one of them is better at this mental operation. The measurement, as already noted, is theoretically loaded.

Let's summarize the above. Measuring A and B involves: a) establishing the qualitative identity of A and B; b) the introduction of a unit of magnitude (second, meter, kilogram, point); c) the interaction of A and B with a device that has the same qualitative characteristic as A and B; d) reading the instrument readings. These measurement rules are used in the study of physical, biological and social processes. In the case of physical processes, the measuring device is often a well-defined technical device. These are thermometers, voltmeters, quartz clocks. In the case of biological and social processes, the situation is more complicated - in accordance with their systemic-symbolic nature. Its supraphysical meaning means that the device must also have this meaning. But technical devices have only a physical, and not a system-symbolic nature. If so, then they are not suitable for the direct measurement of biological and social characteristics. But the latter are measurable, and they are actually measured. Along with the examples already cited, the commodity-money market mechanism, by means of which the value of commodities is measured, is highly indicative in this connection. There is no such technical device that would not measure the cost of goods directly, but indirectly, taking into account all the activities of buyers and sellers, this can be done.

After analyzing the empirical level of research, we have to consider the theoretical level of research organically associated with it.

The empirical level is a reflection of external signs, aspects of relationships. Obtaining empirical facts, their description and systematization

Based on experience as the only source of knowledge.

The main task of empirical knowledge is to collect, describe, accumulate facts, perform their primary processing, answer the questions: what is what? what happens and how?

This activity is provided by: observation, description, measurement, experiment.

Observation:

this is a deliberate and directed perception of the object of knowledge in order to obtain information about its form, properties and relationships.

The process of observation is not passive contemplation. This is an active, directed form of the epistemological relationship of the subject in relation to the object, enhanced by additional means of observation, fixing information and its translation.

Requirements: purpose of observation; choice of methodology; observation plan; control over the correctness and reliability of the results obtained; processing, comprehension and interpretation of the received information (requires special attention).

Description:

The description, as it were, continues the observation, it is a form of fixing the information of the observation, its final stage.

With the help of the description, the information of the sense organs is translated into the language of signs, concepts, diagrams, graphs, acquiring a form convenient for subsequent rational processing (systematization, classification, generalization, etc.).

The description is carried out not on the basis of a natural language, but on the basis of an artificial language, which is distinguished by logical rigor and unambiguity.

The description may be oriented towards qualitative or quantitative certainty.

A quantitative description requires fixed measuring procedures, which necessitates the expansion of the fact-fixing activity of the subject of cognition by including such a cognition operation as measurement.

Measurement:

The qualitative characteristics of an object, as a rule, are fixed by instruments, the quantitative specificity of an object is established by means of measurements.

a technique in cognition, with the help of which a quantitative comparison of quantities of the same quality is carried out.

it is a system of providing knowledge.

D. I. Mendeleev pointed out its significance: knowledge of measure and weight is the only way to discover laws.

reveals some common connections between objects.

Experiment:

Unlike ordinary observation, in an experiment, the researcher actively intervenes in the course of the process being studied in order to gain additional knowledge.

this is a special technique (method) of cognition, representing a systemic and repeatedly reproducible observation of an object in the process of deliberate and controlled trial effects of the subject on the object of study.

In the experiment, the subject of cognition studies the problem situation in order to obtain comprehensive information.

the object is controlled under specially specified conditions, which makes it possible to fix all properties, connections, relationships by changing the parameters of the conditions.

experiment is the most active form of epistemological relationship in the "subject-object" system at the level of sensory cognition.

8. Levels of scientific knowledge: theoretical level.

The theoretical level of scientific knowledge is characterized by the predominance of the rational moment - concepts, theories, laws and other forms of thinking and "mental operations". Living contemplation, sensory cognition is not eliminated here, but becomes a subordinate (but very important) aspect of the cognitive process. Theoretical knowledge reflects phenomena and processes from the point of view of their universal internal connections and patterns, comprehended by rational processing of empirical knowledge data.

A characteristic feature of theoretical knowledge is its focus on itself, intrascientific reflection, i.e., the study of the process of cognition itself, its forms, techniques, methods, conceptual apparatus, etc. On the basis of a theoretical explanation and learned laws, prediction, scientific prediction of the future is carried out.

1. Formalization - displaying meaningful knowledge in a sign-symbolic form (formalized language). When formalizing, reasoning about objects is transferred to the plane of operating with signs (formulas), which is associated with the construction of artificial languages ​​(the language of mathematics, logic, chemistry, etc.).

It is the use of special symbols that makes it possible to eliminate the ambiguity of words in ordinary, natural language. In formalized reasoning, each symbol is strictly unambiguous.

Formalization, therefore, is a generalization of the forms of processes that differ in content, the abstraction of these forms from their content. It clarifies the content by identifying its form and can be carried out with varying degrees of completeness. But, as the Austrian logician and mathematician Godel showed, in a theory there always remains an unrevealed, non-formalizable remainder. The ever deeper formalization of the content of knowledge will never reach absolute completeness. This means that formalization is internally limited in its capabilities. It is proved that there is no general method that allows any reasoning to be replaced by a calculation. Gödel's theorems gave a fairly rigorous substantiation of the fundamental impossibility of complete formalization of scientific reasoning and scientific knowledge in general.

2. Axiomatic method - a method of constructing a scientific theory, in which it is based on some initial provisions - axioms (postulates), from which all other statements of this theory are derived from them in a purely logical way, ü through proof.

3. Hypothetical-deductive method - a method of scientific knowledge, the essence of which is to create a system of deductively interconnected hypotheses, from which statements about empirical facts are ultimately derived. The conclusion obtained on the basis of this method will inevitably have a probabilistic character.

The general structure of the hypothetical-deductive method:

a) familiarization with factual material that requires a theoretical explanation and an attempt to do so with the help of already existing theories and laws. If not, then:

b) putting forward guesses (hypotheses, assumptions) about the causes and patterns of these phenomena using a variety of logical techniques;

c) an assessment of the solidity and seriousness of the assumptions and the selection of the most probable from the set of them;

d) deduction from the hypothesis (usually by deductive means) of consequences with specification of its content;

e) experimental verification of the consequences derived from the hypothesis. Here the hypothesis either receives experimental confirmation or is refuted. However, the confirmation of individual consequences does not guarantee its truth (or falsity) as a whole. The hypothesis that is best based on the test results goes into theory.

4. Climbing from the abstract to the concrete - a method of theoretical research and presentation, consisting in the movement of scientific thought from the original abstraction through successive stages of deepening and expanding knowledge to the result - a holistic reproduction of the theory of the subject under study. As its prerequisite, this method includes the ascent from the sensory-concrete to the abstract, to the separation in thinking of individual aspects of the subject and their “fixing” in the corresponding abstract definitions. The movement of knowledge from the sensory-concrete to the abstract is precisely the movement from the individual to the general; such logical methods as analysis and induction prevail here. The ascent from the abstract to the mentally concrete is the process of moving from individual general abstractions to their unity, the concrete-universal, here the methods of synthesis and deduction dominate.

The essence of theoretical knowledge is not only the description and explanation of the variety of facts and patterns identified in the process of empirical research in a particular subject area, based on a small number of laws and principles, it is also expressed in the desire of scientists to reveal the harmony of the universe.

Theories can be stated in a variety of ways. Not infrequently we encounter the tendency of scientists to build theories axiomatically, which imitates the pattern of organization of knowledge created in geometry by Euclid. However, most often theories are stated genetically, gradually introducing into the subject and revealing it sequentially from the simplest to more and more complex aspects.

Regardless of the accepted form of presentation of the theory, its content, of course, is determined by the basic principles that underlie it.

It is aimed at explaining objective reality, it does not directly describe the surrounding reality, but ideal objects that are characterized not by an infinite, but by a well-defined number of properties:

fundamental theories

specific theories

Methods of the theoretical level of knowledge:

Idealization is a special epistemological relation, where the subject mentally constructs an object, the prototype of which is in the real world.

Axiomatic method - This is a way of producing new knowledge, when it is based on axioms, from which all other statements are derived in a purely logical way, followed by a description of this conclusion.

Hypothetical-deductive method - This is a special technique for the production of new, but probable knowledge.

Formalization - This technique consists in the construction of abstract models, with the help of which real objects are examined.

The unity of the historical and the logical - Any process of reality breaks down into a phenomenon and essence, into its empirical history and the main line of development.

Thought experiment method. A thought experiment is a system of mental procedures carried out on idealized objects.