yes Ken
On 09/11/2012, at 5:03 PM, Ken Friedman wrote:
> Dear Teena,
>
> You wrote, “what I meant is that from a social science
> epistemological position, rather than a natural sciences-based
> epistemology, methodology is not seen as a rigid recipe.”
>
> This is not an accurate representation of either the natural
> sciences or the social sciences.
>
> Before stating that the epistemology of the natural sciences is
> rigid, you might want to read a bit in the philosophy of science
> and in the history of science.
>
> The natural sciences use a wide array of methods. These methods are
> rigorous, but there is a difference between rigor and rigidity.
>
> Methodology – the critical study of method – is in many respects
> similar in both the natural and social sciences. Both aspire to
> rigor, both seek to understand the appropriate application of
> research methods to research problems, and both seek to understand
> and expand the repertoire of viable research methods. There is a
> rich tradition of serious and lively debates across the sciences on
> these issues, both natural and social.
>
> If you’d like to get a glimpse of how deep this kind of debate
> goes, have a look at LawrenceKrauss’s (2012) scientific biography
> of Richard Feynman – or, for that matter, you might want to read
> Feynman (2001, ) himself to get a sense of how scientists think
> about method.
>
> Natural scientists debate these issues deeply among their own
> groups and subgroups. For example, a recent issue of The Scientist
> had an article by biology professor Neil Greenspan (2012) urging
> biomedical research to expand its repertoire of logically rigorous,
> deductive research approaches.
>
> So, too, one of the best social scientists I know began in
> mathematical physics, and some of the research methods he has
> developed involving conjoint analysis bring valuable rigor to
> understanding products and services.
>
> As for rigorous research, some of the most detailed and rigorous
> occurs in the social sciences and humanities. You won’t find a
> physicist or a mathematician more careful and rigorous than Henri
> de Lubac (1998, 2000, 2009).
>
> The art of methodological awareness is to recognize what sorts of
> methods one must use to answer whatsorts of questions – and it
> involves knowing how and when to triangulate or to use mixed methods.
>
> It is not helpful to suggest that the natural sciences are
> methodologically rigid. Rigidity and flexibility are qualities of
> mind and behavior – we see both in the social sciences as well as
> in the natural sciences. And we see both in the design field.
>
> Yours,
>
> Ken
>
> Professor Ken Friedman, PhD, DSc (hc), FDRS | University
> Distinguished Professor | Swinburne University of Technology |
> Melbourne, Australia | [log in to unmask] | Phone +61 3 9214
> 6102 | http://www.swinburne.edu.au/design
>
> --
>
> References
>
> Feynman, Richard P. 1997. Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!
> (Adventures of a Curious Character). New York: W. W. Norton.
>
> Feynman, Richard P. 2001. What Do You Care What Other People
> Think?: Further Adventures of aCurious Character. New York: W. W.
> Norton.
>
> Greenspan, Neil. 2012. “Opinion: Think Like Turing.” The Scientist.
> October 22, 2012. http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/
> articleNo/32942/title/Opinion--Think-Like-Turing/
>
> Krauss, Lawrence M. 2012. Quantum Man. Richard Feynman’s Life in
> Science. New York: W. W. Norton.
>
> Lubac, Henri de. 1998. Medieval Exegesis. The Four Senses of
> Scripture. Volume 1. Translated by Mark Sebanc. Grand Rapids,
> Michigan: Eerdmans.
>
> Lubac, Henri de. 2000. Medieval Exegesis. The Four Senses of
> Scripture. Volume 2. Translated by E. M. Macierowksi. Grand Rapids,
> Michigan: Eerdmans.
>
> Lubac, Henri de. 2009. Medieval Exegesis. The Four Senses of
> Scripture. Volume 3. Translated by E. M. Macierowksi. Grand Rapids,
> Michigan: Eerdmans.
>
>
>
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