Analysis as a method of scientific research. Classification of general scientific methods

Scientific research can be defined as purposeful knowledge. Conducting research means studying, cognizing patterns, systematizing facts.

Scientific research has a number of distinctive features: the presence of a clearly formulated goal; the desire to discover the unknown; systematic process and results; justification and verification of the obtained conclusions and generalizations.

It is necessary to distinguish between scientific and everyday knowledge. Scientific knowledge, unlike everyday knowledge, involves the use of special research methods. In this regard, there is a need to constantly search for new methods for studying unexplored objects.

What are research methods

Research methods are ways of achieving goals in scientific work. The science that studies these methods is called “Methodology”.

Any human activity depends not only on the object (what it is aimed at) and the actor (subject), but also on how it is carried out, what means and methods are used. This is the essence of the method.

Translated from Greek, “method” means “way of knowing.” A correctly chosen method contributes to faster and more accurate achievement of the goal and serves as a special compass that helps the researcher avoid most mistakes while making his way.

The difference between method and technique and methodology

Very often there is confusion in the concepts of method and methodology. A methodology is a system of ways of knowing. For example, when conducting sociological research, quantitative and qualitative methods can be combined. The entire set of these methods will constitute a research methodology.

The concept of methodology is close in meaning to the research procedure, its sequence, and algorithm. Without a high-quality methodology, even a correctly selected method will not give a good result.

If methodology is a way of implementing a method, then methodology is the study of methods. IN in a broad sense methodology is

Classification of scientific research methods

All methods scientific research are divided into several levels.

Philosophical methods

The most famous among them are ancient methods: dialectical and metaphysical. In addition to them, philosophical methods include phenomenological, hermeneutic, intuitive, analytical, eclectic, dogmatic, sophistic and others.

General scientific methods

Analysis of the process of cognition allows us to identify the methods on which not only scientific, but also any everyday life is based. human cognition. These include theoretical level methods:

1. Analysis is the division of a single whole into separate parts, sides and properties for their further detailed study.
2. Synthesis is the combination of individual parts into a single whole.
3. Abstraction is the mental selection of any essential properties of the subject under consideration while simultaneously abstracting from a number of other inherent features.
4. Generalization is the establishment of a unifying property of objects.
5. Induction is a method of constructing a general conclusion based on known individual facts.

Examples of research methods

For example, by studying the properties of certain liquids, it is revealed that they have the property of elasticity. Based on the fact that water and alcohol are liquids, they conclude that all liquids have the property of elasticity.

Deduction– a way of constructing a particular conclusion based on a general judgment.

For example, two facts are known: 1) all metals have the property of electrical conductivity; 2) copper is a metal. We can conclude that copper has the property of electrical conductivity.

Analogy- a method of cognition in which knowledge of a number of common features for objects allows one to draw a conclusion about their similarity based on other characteristics.

For example, science knows that light has properties such as interference and diffraction. In addition, it was previously established that sound has the same properties and this is due to its wave nature. Based on this analogy, it was concluded that wave nature light (similar to sound).

Modeling– creation of a model (copy) of the object of study for the purpose of its research.

In addition to methods at the theoretical level, there are methods at the empirical level.

Classification of general scientific methods

Empirical Methods

Method	Definition	Example
Observation	Research based on the senses; perception of phenomena	In order to study one of the stages of children's development, J. Piaget observed children's manipulative games with certain toys. Based on observation, he concluded that the child’s ability to put objects together appears later than the motor skills necessary for this.
Description	Recording information	The anthropologist records all the facts of the life of the tribe without exerting any influence on it
Measurement	Comparison based on general characteristics	Determining body temperature using a thermometer; determining weight by balancing weights on lever scales; determining distance using radar
Experiment	Research based on observation in conditions created specifically for this purpose	On a busy city street, groups of people in various numbers (2,3,4,5,6, etc. people) stopped and looked up. Passers-by stopped nearby and also began to look up. It turned out that the percentage of those who joined increased significantly when the experimental group reached 5 people.
Comparison	Research based on the study of similarities and differences between objects; comparison of one object with another	Comparison of economic indicators of the base year with the past, on the basis of which a conclusion is drawn about economic trends

Theoretical level methods

Method	Definition	Example
Formalization	Revealing the essence of processes by displaying them in a symbolic form	Flight simulation based on knowledge of the main characteristics of the aircraft
Axiomatization	Application of axioms to construct theories	Euclid's geometry
Hypothetico-deductive	Creating a system of hypotheses and drawing conclusions from this	The discovery of the planet Neptune was based on several hypotheses. As a result of their analysis, it was concluded that Uranus is not the last planet solar system. The theoretical justification for finding a new planet in a certain place was then confirmed empirically

Specific scientific (special) methods

Any scientific discipline uses a set of specific methods that belong to different “levels” of methodology. It is quite difficult to tie any method to a specific discipline. However, each discipline relies on a number of methods. Let's list some of them.

Biology:

• genealogical - the study of heredity, compilation of pedigrees;
• historical - determining the relationship between phenomena that took place over a long period of time (billions of years);
• biochemical – the study of the chemical processes of the body, etc.

Jurisprudence:

• historical and legal – gaining knowledge about legal practice, legislation in different periods of time;
• comparative legal – search and study of similarities and differences between state legal institutions of countries;
• legal socio logical method– research of reality in the field of state and law using questionnaires, surveys, etc.

In medicine, there are three main groups of methods for studying the body:

• laboratory diagnostics – study of the properties and composition of biological fluids;
• functional diagnostics – study of organs according to their manifestations (mechanical, electrical, sound);
• structural diagnostics – identifying changes in the structure of the body.

Economy:

• economic analysis - the study of the components of the whole being studied;
• statistical-economic method – analysis and processing of statistical indicators;
• sociological method - questionnaires, surveys, interviews, etc.
• design and calculation, economic modeling, etc.

Psychology:

• experimental method - creating circumstances that provoke the manifestation of any mental phenomenon;
• observation method - a mental phenomenon is explained through organized perception of a phenomenon;
• biographical method, comparative genetic method, etc.

Analysis of empirical research data

Empirical research is aimed at obtaining empirical data - data obtained through experience and practice.

The analysis of such data occurs in several stages:

1. Description of the data. At this stage, summarized results are described using indicators and graphs.
2. Comparison. Similarities and differences between the two samples are identified.
3. Studying dependencies. Establishing interdependencies (correlation, regression analysis).
4. Reducing volume. Studying all variables if there are a large number of them, identifying the most informative ones.
5. Grouping.

The results of any research conducted - analysis and interpretation of data - are drawn up on paper. The range of such research works is quite wide: test papers, abstracts, reports, term papers, theses, dissertations, dissertations, monographs, textbooks, etc. Only after a comprehensive study and evaluation of the findings are the research results used in practice.

Instead of a conclusion

A. M. Novikov and D. A. Novikova in the book “” in methods of theoretical and empirical research also distinguishes methods-operations (a way to achieve a goal) and methods-actions (solving a specific problem). This specification is not accidental. More stringent systematization scientific knowledge increases its effectiveness.

Research methods as they are updated: February 15, 2019 by: Scientific Articles.Ru

The method of scientific research is a way of understanding objective reality. A method is a certain sequence of actions, techniques, and operations.

Depending on the content of the objects being studied, methods of natural science and methods of social and humanitarian research are distinguished.

Research methods are classified according to branches of science: mathematical, biological, medical, socio-economic, legal, etc.

Depending on the level of knowledge, methods of empirical, theoretical and metatheoretical levels are distinguished.

To methods empirical level include observation, description, comparison, counting, measurement, questionnaire, interview, testing, experiment, modeling, etc.

TO theoretical level methods include axiomatic, hypothetical (hypothetico-deductive), formalization, abstraction, general logical methods (analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, analogy), etc.

Methods at the metatheoretical level are dialectical, metaphysical, hermeneutic, etc. Some scientists attribute the method of system analysis to this level, while others include it among general logical methods.

Depending on the scope and degree of generality, methods are distinguished:

a) universal (philosophical), operating in all sciences and at all stages of knowledge;

b) general scientific ones, which can be used in the humanities, natural and technical sciences;

c) private - for related sciences;

d) special - for a specific science, field of scientific knowledge.

The concepts of technology, procedure and methodology of scientific research should be distinguished from the concept of method under consideration.

Research technique is understood as a set of special techniques for using a particular method, and research procedure is a certain sequence of actions, a way of organizing research.

Methodology is a set of methods and techniques of cognition.

Any scientific research is carried out using certain techniques and methods, according to certain rules. The study of the system of these techniques, methods and rules is called methodology. However, the concept of “methodology” in the literature is used in two meanings:

a set of methods used in any field of activity (science, politics, etc.);

the doctrine of the scientific method of knowledge.

Each science has its own methodology.

There are the following levels of methodology:

1. General methodology, which is universal in relation to all sciences and the content of which includes philosophical and general scientific methods of cognition.

2. Private methodology of scientific research, for example, for a group of related legal sciences, which is formed by philosophical, general scientific and private methods of cognition, for example, of state legal phenomena.

3. Methodology of scientific research of a specific science, the content of which includes philosophical, general scientific, private and special methods of cognition.

Among universal (philosophical) methods the most famous are dialectical and metaphysical. These methods can be associated with various philosophical systems. Thus, the dialectical method in K. Marx was combined with materialism, and in G.V.F. Hegel - with idealism.

Russian legal scholars use the dialectical method to study state and legal phenomena, because the laws of dialectics have universal significance and are inherent in the development of nature, society and thinking.

When studying objects and phenomena, dialectics recommends proceeding from the following principles:

1. Consider the objects under study in the light of dialectical laws:

a) unity and struggle of opposites,

b) transition quantitative changes in quality,

c) negation of negation.

2. Describe, explain and predict the phenomena and processes being studied, based on philosophical categories: general, special and individual; content and form; entities and phenomena; possibilities and reality; necessary and accidental; causes and consequences.

3. Treat the object of research as an objective reality.

4. Consider the objects and phenomena being studied:

Comprehensively,

in universal connection and interdependence,

in continuous change, development,

specifically historically.

5. Test the acquired knowledge in practice.

All general scientific methods For analysis, it is advisable to divide them into three groups: general logical, theoretical and empirical.

By general logical methods are analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, analogy.

Analysis– this is the dismemberment, decomposition of the object of study into its component parts. It underlies the analytical research method. Types of analysis are classification and periodization.

Synthesis– this is the connection of individual sides, parts of the object of study into a single whole.

Induction- this is the movement of thought (cognition) from facts, individual cases to the general situation. Inductive inferences “suggest” an idea, a general idea.

Deduction – this is the derivation of an individual, particular from any general position, the movement of thought (cognition) from general statements to statements about individual objects or phenomena. Through deductive reasoning, a certain thought is “derived” from other thoughts.

Analogy- this is a way of obtaining knowledge about objects and phenomena on the basis of the fact that they have similarities with others, reasoning in which, from the similarity of the objects being studied in some characteristics, a conclusion is made about their similarity in other characteristics.

To methods theoretical level include axiomatic, hypothetical, formalization, abstraction, generalization, ascent from the abstract to the concrete, historical, method of system analysis.

Axiomatic method – a method of research that consists in the fact that some statements are accepted without evidence and then, according to certain logical rules, the rest of the knowledge is deduced from them.

Hypothetical method – a method of research using a scientific hypothesis, i.e. assumptions about the cause that causes a given effect, or about the existence of some phenomenon or object.

A variation of this method is the hypothetico-deductive method of research, the essence of which is to create a system of deductively interconnected hypotheses from which statements about empirical facts are derived.

The structure of the hypothetico-deductive method includes:

a) making conjectures (assumptions) about the causes and patterns of the phenomena and objects being studied,

b) selection from a variety of guesses the most probable, plausible,

c) deducing a consequence (conclusion) from a selected assumption (premise) using deduction,

d) experimental verification of the consequences derived from the hypothesis.

Formalization– display of a phenomenon or object in the symbolic form of any artificial language (for example, logic, mathematics, chemistry) and the study of this phenomenon or object through operations with the corresponding signs. The use of artificial formalized language in scientific research allows us to eliminate such shortcomings of natural language as ambiguity, inaccuracy, and uncertainty.

When formalizing, instead of reasoning about the objects of research, they operate with signs (formulas). By operations with formulas of artificial languages, one can obtain new formulas and prove the truth of any proposition.

Formalization is the basis for algorithmization and programming, without which computerization of knowledge and the research process cannot do.

Abstraction– mental abstraction from some properties and relationships of the subject being studied and highlighting the properties and relationships that interest the researcher. Usually, when abstracting, the secondary properties and connections of the object under study are separated from the essential properties and connections.

Types of abstraction: identification, i.e. highlighting the common properties and relationships of the objects being studied, establishing what is identical in them, abstracting from the differences between them, combining objects into a special class; isolation, i.e. highlighting some properties and relationships that are considered as independent subjects of research. The theory also distinguishes other types of abstraction: potential feasibility, actual infinity.

Generalization– establishment of general properties and relationships of objects and phenomena; definition of a general concept that reflects the essential, basic characteristics of objects or phenomena of a given class. At the same time, generalization can be expressed in highlighting not essential, but any characteristics of an object or phenomenon. This method of scientific research is based on the philosophical categories of the general, the particular and the individual.

Historical method consists in identifying historical facts and, on this basis, in such a mental reconstruction of the historical process in which the logic of its movement is revealed. It involves studying the emergence and development of research objects in chronological order.

Ascent from abstract to concrete as a method of scientific knowledge is that the researcher first finds the main connection of the subject (phenomenon) being studied, then, tracing how it changes under different conditions, discovers new connections and in this way reflects its essence in its entirety.

System method consists in the study of a system (i.e. a certain set of material or ideal objects), the connections of its components and their connections with the external environment. At the same time, it turns out that these relationships and interactions lead to the emergence of new properties of the system that are absent in its constituent objects.

TO empirical methods include: observation, description, counting, measurement, comparison, experiment, modeling.

Observation is a way of cognition based on the direct perception of the properties of objects and phenomena using the senses. As a result of observation, the researcher gains knowledge about the external properties and relationships of objects and phenomena.

Depending on the position of the researcher in relation to the object of study, simple and participant observation are distinguished. The first consists of observation from the outside, when the researcher is an outsider in relation to the object who is not a participant in the activities of the observed. The second is characterized by the fact that the researcher openly or incognito is included in the group, its activities as a participant.

If the observation was carried out in a natural setting, then it is called field, and if the environmental conditions and the situation were specially created by the researcher, then it will be considered laboratory. The results of observation can be recorded in protocols, diaries, cards, on film and in other ways.

Description– this is the recording of signs of the object under study, which are established, for example, by observation or measurement. Description happens:

direct, when the researcher directly perceives and indicates the characteristics of the object;

indirect, when the researcher notes the signs of an object that were perceived by other persons.

Check– this is the determination of quantitative relationships between objects of study or parameters characterizing their properties. The quantitative method is widely used in statistics.

Measurement- this is the determination of the numerical value of a certain quantity by comparing it with a standard. In forensics, measurement is used to determine: the distance between objects; speed of movement of vehicles, people or other objects; the duration of certain phenomena and processes, temperature, size, weight, etc.

Comparison- this is a comparison of features inherent in two or more objects, establishing differences between them or finding commonality in them.

In scientific research, this method is used, for example, to compare state legal institutions of different states. This method is based on the study, comparison of similar objects, identifying similarities and differences in them, advantages and disadvantages.

Experiment– this is an artificial reproduction of a phenomenon, a process under given conditions, during which the put forward hypothesis is tested.

Experiments can be classified on various grounds:

by branches of scientific research - physical, biological, chemical, social, etc.;

according to the nature of the interaction of the research tool with the object - conventional (experimental tools directly interact with the object under study) and model (the model replaces the research object). The latter are divided into mental (mental, imaginary) and material (real).

The above classification is not exhaustive.

Modeling- this is gaining knowledge about the object of research with the help of its substitutes - an analogue, a model. A model is understood as a mentally represented or materially existing analogue of an object.

Based on the similarity between the model and the simulated object, conclusions about it are transferred by analogy to this object.

In modeling theory there are:

1) ideal (mental, symbolic) models, for example, in the form of drawings, notes, signs, mathematical interpretation;

2) material (natural, real- physical) models, for example, models, dummies, analogue objects for experiments during examinations, reconstruction of a person’s external appearance using the method of M.M. Gerasimova.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Concept of method and methodology

Scientific activity, like any other, is carried out using certain means, as well as special techniques and methods, i.e. methods, the correct use of which largely determines success in implementing the research task.

Method it is a set of techniques and operations for the practical and theoretical development of reality. The main function of the method is the internal organization and regulation of the process of cognition or practical transformation of an object.

At the level of everyday practical activity, the method is formed spontaneously and only later is it realized by people. In the field of science, the method is formed consciously and purposefully.The scientific method only corresponds to its status when it provides an adequate reflection of the properties and patterns of objects in the external world.

Scientific method this is a system of rules and techniques with the help of which objective knowledge of reality is achieved.

The scientific method has the following characteristics:

1) clarity or accessibility;

2) lack of spontaneity in application;

4) fruitfulness or the ability to achieve not only the intended, but also no less significant side results;

5) reliability or the ability to provide the desired result with a high degree of reliability;

6) efficiency or the ability to produce results with the least amount of money and time.

The nature of the method is significantly determined by:

Subject of research;

The degree of generality of the tasks assigned;

Accumulated experience and other factors.

Methods that are suitable for one area of ​​scientific research are not suitable for achieving goals in other areas. At the same time, we are witnessing many outstanding achievements as a consequence of the transfer of methods that have proven themselves in some sciences to other sciences to solve their specific problems. Thus, opposing trends in the differentiation and integration of sciences based on the methods used are observed.

Any scientific method is developed on the basis of a certain theory, which, thus, acts as its prerequisite. The effectiveness and strength of a particular method is determined by the content and depth of the theory on the basis of which it is formed. In turn, the method is used to deepen and expand theoretical knowledge as a system. Thus, theory and method are closely interrelated: theory, reflecting reality, is transformed into a method through the development of rules, techniques, and operations arising from it; methods contribute to the formation, development, clarification of the theory, and its practical verification.

The scientific method contains a number of aspects:

1) objective-substantive (expresses the conditionality of the method by the subject of knowledge through theory);

2) operational (fixes the dependence of the content of the method not so much on the object, but on the subject of cognition, his competence and ability to translate the corresponding theory into a system of rules and techniques that together constitute the method);

3) praxeological (properties of reliability, efficiency, clarity).

Main functions of the method:

Integrative;

Epistemological;

Systematizing.

Rules occupy a central place in the structure of the method. Rule this is a prescription that establishes the procedure for achieving a certain goal. A rule is a provision that reflects a pattern in some subject area. This pattern forms basic knowledge rules. In addition, the rule includes some system of operational norms that ensure the connection of means and conditions with human activities. In addition, the structure of the method includes some techniques , carried out on the basis of operational norms.

Concept of methodology.

In the most general sense, methodology is understood as a system of methods used in a certain field of activity. But in the context of philosophical research, methodology is, first of all, the doctrine of methods of scientific activity, the general theory of the scientific method. Its objectives are to study the possibilities and prospects for the development of appropriate methods in the course of scientific knowledge. The methodology of science seeks to streamline, systematize methods, and establish the suitability of their application in various fields.

Methodology of scienceis a theory of scientific knowledge that studies the cognitive processes occurring in science, the forms and methods of scientific knowledge. In this sense, it acts as metascientific knowledge of a philosophical nature.

Methodology as a general theory of method was formed in connection with the need to generalize and develop those methods that arose in philosophy and science. Historically, the problems of the methodology of science were initially developed within the framework of philosophy (the dialectical method of Socrates and Plato, the inductive method of Bacon, the dialectical method of Hegel, the phenomenological method of Husserl, etc.). Therefore, the methodology of science is very closely connected with philosophy, especially with such a discipline as the theory of knowledge.

In addition, the methodology of science is closely related to such a discipline as the logic of science, which developed in the second half of the 19th century. Logic of science a discipline that applies the concepts and technical apparatus of modern logic to the analysis of systems scientific knowledge.

The main problems of the logic of science:

1) study of the logical structures of scientific theories;

2) study of the construction of artificial languages ​​of science;

3) study of various types of deductive and inductive inferences used in the natural, social and technical sciences;

4) analysis of the formal structures of fundamental and derivative scientific concepts and definitions;

5) consideration and improvement of the logical structure of research procedures and operations and the development of logical criteria for their heuristic effectiveness.

Since the 17th-18th centuries. methodological ideas are developed within the framework of special sciences. Each science has its own methodological arsenal.

In the system of methodological knowledge, main groups can be distinguished, taking into account the degree of generality and breadth of application of those included in them individual methods. These include:

1) philosophical methods (set the most general regulations of research - dialectical, metaphysical, phenomenological, hermeneutic, etc.);

2) general scientific methods (typical for a number of branches of scientific knowledge; they depend little on the specifics of the object of research and the type of problems, but at the same time depend on the level and depth of the research);

3) private scientific methods (used within certain special scientific disciplines; distinctive feature of these methods is their dependence on the nature of the object of study and the specifics of the problems being solved).

In this regard, within the framework of the methodology of science, philosophical and methodological analysis of science, general scientific and specific scientific methodology are distinguished.

Specifics of philosophical and methodological analysis of science

Essentially, every philosophical system has a methodological function. Examples: dialectical, metaphysical, phenomenological, analytical, hermeneutic, etc.

The specificity of philosophical methods is that it is not a set of strictly fixed regulations, but a system of rules, operations, and techniques that are general and universal in nature. Philosophical methods are not described in strict terms of logic and experiment, and are not amenable to formalization and mathematization. They set only the most general regulations of research, its general strategy, but do not replace special methods and do not directly and directly determine the final result of knowledge. Figuratively speaking, philosophy is a compass that helps determine the right path, but not a map on which the path to the final goal is outlined in advance.

Philosophical methods play a big role in scientific knowledge, setting a predetermined view of the essence of an object. All other methodological guidelines originate here, and critical situations in the development of a particular fundamental discipline are comprehended.

The set of philosophical regulations acts as an effective means if it is mediated by other, more specific methods. It is absurd to assert that, knowing only the principles of dialectics, one can create new types of machines. The philosophical method is not a “universal master key”; from it it is impossible to directly obtain answers to certain problems of particular sciences through a simple logical development of general truths. It cannot be a “discovery algorithm”, but gives the scientist only the most general orientation for research. As an example, the application of the dialectical method in science scientists are not interested in the categories “development”, “causality”, etc. themselves, but in the regulatory principles formulated on their basis and how they can help in real scientific research.

The influence of philosophical methods on the process of scientific knowledge is always carried out not directly and directly, but in a complex, indirect way. Philosophical regulations are translated into scientific research through general scientific and specific scientific regulations. Philosophical methods do not always make themselves felt explicitly during the research process. They can be taken into account and applied either spontaneously or consciously. But in any science there are elements of universal significance (laws, principles, concepts, categories), where philosophy is manifested.

General scientific and specific scientific methodology.

General scientific methodologyrepresents the body of knowledge about the principles and methods used in any scientific discipline. It acts as a kind of “intermediate methodology” between philosophy and the fundamental theoretical and methodological provisions of the special sciences. General scientific concepts include such concepts as “system”, “structure”, “element”, “function”, etc. Based on general scientific concepts and categories, appropriate methods of cognition are formulated, which ensure optimal interaction of philosophy with specific scientific knowledge and its methods.

General scientific methods are divided into:

1) general logical, applied in any act of cognition and at any level. These are analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, generalization, analogy, abstraction;

2) methods of empirical research used at the empirical level of research (observation, experiment, description, measurement, comparison);

3) methods of theoretical research used at the theoretical level of research (idealization, formalization, axiomatic, hypothetico-deductive, etc.);

4) methods of systematization of scientific knowledge (typologization, classification).

Characteristic features of general scientific concepts and methods:

The combination in their content of elements of philosophical categories and concepts of a number of special sciences;

Possibility of formalization and clarification by mathematical means.

At the level of general scientific methodology, a general scientific picture of the world is formed.

Private scientific methodologyis a body of knowledge about the principles and methods used in a particular scientific discipline. Within its framework, special scientific pictures of the world are formed. Each science has its own specific set of methodological tools. At the same time, the methods of some sciences can be translated into other sciences. Interdisciplinary scientific methods are emerging.

Scientific Research Methodology.

The main attention within the methodology of science is directed to scientific research as a type of activity in which the application of various scientific methods is embodied.Scientific researchactivities aimed at obtaining true knowledge about objective reality.

Knowledge applied at the objective-sensory level of some scientific research forms the basis of its techniques . In an empirical study, the methodology ensures the collection and primary processing experimental data, regulates the practice of research work experimental and production activities. Theoretical work also requires its own methodology. Here its prescriptions relate to activities with objects expressed in symbolic form. For example, there are methods for various types of calculations, decoding texts, conducting thought experiments, etc.At the present stage of development of science, both in its empirical andand on a theoretical level, computer technology plays an extremely important role. Without it, modern experimentation, situation modeling, and various computational procedures are unthinkable.

Any technique is created on the basis of higher levels of knowledge, but is a set of highly specialized installations, which includes fairly strict restrictions - instructions, projects, standards, technical conditions, etc. At the level of methodology, installations that exist ideally, in a person’s thoughts, seem to merge with practical operations, completing the formation of the method. Without them, the method is something speculative and does not receive access to the outside world. In turn, the practice of research is impossible without control from ideal settings. Good command of the methodology is an indicator of the high professionalism of the scientist.

Structure of scientific research

Scientific research contains a number of elements in its structure.

Object of studya fragment of reality to which the cognitive activity of the subject is directed, and which exists outside and independently of the consciousness of the knowing subject. Objects of research can be both material and intangible in nature. Their independence from consciousness lies in the fact that they exist regardless of whether people know or don’t know anything about them.

Subject of researchis a part of the object directly involved in the study; these are the main, most significant features of an object from the point of view of a particular study. The specificity of the subject of scientific research is that at first it is defined in general, vague terms, anticipated and predicted to an insignificant extent. It finally “emerges” at the end of the study. When approaching it, the scientist cannot imagine it indrawings and calculations. What needs to be “torn out” from an object and synthesized in a research product? The researcher has superficial, one-sided, incomplete knowledge about this. Therefore, the form of fixing the subject of research is a question, a problem.

Gradually transforming into a product of research, the subject is enriched and developed due to initially unknown signs and conditions of its existence. Outwardly, this is expressed in a change in questions that additionally confront the researcher, are consistently resolved by him and are subordinate to the general goal of the study.

We can say that individual scientific disciplines are engaged in the study of individual “slices” of the objects under study. The variety of possible “slices” of studying objects gives rise to a multi-subject nature of scientific knowledge. Each of the subjects creates its own conceptual apparatus, its own specific research methods, and its own language.

Purpose of the study ideal, mental anticipation of the result for the sake of which scientific and cognitive actions are taken.

The characteristics of the subject of research directly affect its purpose. The latter, concludingthe image of the subject of research is distinguished by the inherent uncertainty of the subject at the beginning of the research process. It becomes more specific as we get closer to the final result.

Research objectivesformulate questions that must be answered to achieve the goals of the study.

The goals and objectives of the study form interconnected chains in which each link serves as a means of holding other links. The final goal of the study can be called its general task, and particular tasks that act as means of solving the main one can be called intermediate goals, or second-order goals.

The main and additional objectives of the study are also identified: The main objectives correspond to its target setting, additional ones are set to prepare future studies, test side (possibly very relevant) hypotheses not related to this problem, to solve some methodological issues and so on.

Ways to achieve the goal:

If the main goal is formulated as theoretical, then when developing the program, the main attention is paid to the study of scientific literature on this issue, a clear interpretation of the initial concepts, the construction of a hypothetical general concept of the subject of research, the identification of a scientific problem and the logical analysis of working hypotheses.

A different logic governs the actions of the researcher if he sets himself a directly practical goal. He begins work based on the specifics of the given object and an understanding of the practical problems to be solved. Only after this does he turn to the literature in search of an answer to the question: is there a “standard” solution to the problems that have arisen, i.e. special theory, related to the subject? If there is no “standard” solution, further work is carried out according to the scheme of theoretical research. If such a solution exists, the hypotheses applied research are constructed as different options for “reading” standard solutions in relation to specific conditions.

It is very important to keep in mind that any solution-oriented research theoretical problems, you can continue as applied. At the first stage, we obtain some standard solution to the problem, and then translate it into specific conditions.

Also an element of the structure of scientific research aremeans of scientific and educational activities. These include:

Material resources;

Theoretical objects (ideal constructs);

Research methods and other ideal regulations of research: norms, samples, ideals of scientific activity.

The means of scientific research are in constant change and development. The fact that some of them are successfully used at one stage of the development of science is not a sufficient guarantee of their agreement with new spheres of reality and therefore require improvement or replacement.

Systematic approach as a general scientific methodological program and its essence.

Working with complex research problems involves using not only various methods, but also various strategies of scientific research. The most important of them, playing the role of a general scientific methodological program of scientific knowledge, is systems approach. Systems approachis a set of general scientific methodological principles based on the consideration of objects as systems. System a set of elements that are in relationships and connections with each other, forming something whole.

The philosophical aspects of the systems approach are expressed in the principle of systematicity, the content of which is revealed in the concepts of integrity, structure, interdependence of the system and environment, hierarchy, and multiplicity of descriptions of each system.

The concept of integrity reflects the fundamental irreducibility of the properties of a system to the sum of the properties of its constituent elements and the irreducibility of the properties of the whole from the properties of the parts and, at the same time, the dependence of each element, property and relationship of the system on its place and functions within the whole.

The concept of structurality captures the fact that the behavior of a system is determined not so much by the behavior of its individual elements as by the properties of its structure, and that it is possible to describe the system by establishing its structure.

The interdependence of the system and the environment means that the system forms and manifests its properties in constant interaction with the environment, while remaining the leading active component of the interaction.

The concept of hierarchy focuses on the fact that each element of the system can be considered as a system, and the system being studied in this case is one of the elements of a broader system.

The possibility of multiple descriptions of a system exists due to the fundamental complexity of each system, as a result of which its adequate knowledge requires the construction of many different models, each of which describes only a certain aspect of the system.

The specificity of the systems approach is determined by the fact that it orients the research towards revealing the integrity of the developing object and the mechanisms that provide it, identifying the diverse types of connections of a complex object and bringing them together into a single one. theoretical system. Widespread use of a systems approach in modern research practice due to a number of circumstances and, above all, the intensive development in modern scientific knowledge of complex objects, the composition, configuration and principles of operation of which are far from obvious and require special analysis.

One of the most striking embodiments of systems methodology issystem analysis , which is a special branch of applied knowledge applicable to systems of any nature.

Recently, a nonlinear methodology of knowledge has been emerging, associated with the development of interdisciplinary scientific concepts of the dynamics of nonequilibrium states and synergetics. Within the framework of these concepts, new guidelines for cognitive activity are emerging, which set the consideration of the object under study as a complex self-organizing and, thereby, historically self-developing system.

The systems approach as a general scientific methodological program is also closely related tostructural-functional approach, which is a variation of it. It is built on the basis of identifying in integral systems their structure a set of stable relationships and interconnections between its elements and their roles (functions) relative to each other.

Structure is understood as something unchanged under certain transformations, and function as the purpose of each of the elements of a given system.

Basic requirements of the structural-functional approach:

Study of the structure, structure of the object being studied;

Study of its elements and their functional characteristics;

Consideration of the history of the functioning and development of the object as a whole.

The guidelines for cognitive activity, concentrated in the content of general scientific methods, are detailed, systematically organized complexes that differ complex structure. In addition, the methods themselves are in a complex relationship with each other. In the actual practice of scientific research, cognitive methods are used in combination, setting a strategy for solving assigned problems. At the same time, the specificity of any of the methods allows for a meaningful consideration of each of them separately, taking into account their belonging to a certain level of scientific research.

General scientific methods of scientific research.

Analysis division of an integral object into its component parts (signs, properties, relationships) for the purpose of their comprehensive study.

Synthesis combination of previously identified parts (sides, characteristics, properties, relationships) of an object into a single whole.

Abstractionmental abstraction from a number of signs, properties and relationships of the object being studied while simultaneously highlighting for consideration those of them that interest the researcher. As a result, “abstract objects” appear, which are both individual concepts and categories, and their systems.

Generalization establishing general properties and characteristics of objects. General philosophical category that reflects similar, repeating characteristics, features that belong to individual phenomena or all objects of a given class. There are two types of general:

Abstract general (simple sameness, external similarity, similarity of a number of individual objects);

Specific-general (internal, deep, repeating basis essence in a group of similar phenomena).

In accordance with this, two types of generalizations are distinguished:

Identification of any features and properties of objects;

Identification of essential features and properties of objects.

On another basis, generalizations are divided into:

Inductive (from individual facts and events to their expression in thoughts);

Logical (from one thought to another, more general).

Method opposite to generalization limitation (change from more general concept to the less general).

Induction a research method in which the general conclusion is based on particular premises.

Deduction a research method through which a particular conclusion follows from general premises.

Analogy a method of cognition in which, based on the similarity of objects in some characteristics, they conclude that they are similar in other characteristics.

Modeling study of an object by creating and studying its copy (model), replacing the original from certain aspects of interest to knowledge.

Methods of empirical research

At the empirical level, methods such asobservation, description, comparison, measurement, experiment.

Observation this is a systematic and purposeful perception of phenomena, during which we gain knowledge about external sides, properties and relationships of the objects being studied. Observation is always not contemplative, but active, active in nature. It is subject to the decision of a specific scientific problem and therefore is focused, selective and systematic.

Basic requirements for scientific observation: unambiguous design, the presence of strictly defined means (in technical sciences - instruments), objectivity of the results. Objectivity is ensured by the possibility of control through either repeated observation or the use of other research methods, in particular experiment. Observation is usually included as part of the experimental procedure. An important point observation is the interpretation of its results deciphering instrument readings, etc.

Scientific observation is always mediated by theoretical knowledge, since it is the latter that determines the object and subject of observation, the purpose of observation and the method of its implementation. During observation, the researcher is always guided by a specific idea, concept or hypothesis. He does not simply register any facts, but deliberately selects those that either confirm or refute his ideas. In this case, it is very important to select the most representative group of facts in their interrelation. The interpretation of observation is also always carried out with the help of certain theoretical principles.

The implementation of developed forms of observation involves the use of special means and, first of all, instruments, the development and implementation of which also requires the use of theoretical concepts of science. In the social sciences, the form of observation is the survey; to create survey tools (questioning, interviewing) also requires special theoretical knowledge.

Description recording by means of natural or artificial language the results of an experiment (observation or experiment data) using certain notation systems accepted in science (schemes, graphs, drawings, tables, diagrams, etc.).

During the description, phenomena are compared and measured.

Comparison a method that reveals the similarity or difference of objects (or stages of development of the same object), i.e. their identity and differences. But this method makes sense only in a collection of homogeneous objects that form a class. Comparison of objects in a class is carried out according to characteristics that are essential for this consideration. At the same time, characteristics that are compared on one basis may not be comparable on another.

Measurement a research method in which the relationship of one quantity to another, which serves as a standard, is established. Measurement is most widely used in the natural and technical sciences, but since the 20s and 30s of the 20th century. it also comes into use in social research. Measurement presupposes the presence of: an object on which some operation is performed; properties of this object, which can be perceived, and the value of which is established using this operation; the instrument by which this operation is performed. Common goal Any measurement is to obtain numerical data that allows us to judge not so much the quality as the quantity of certain states. In this case, the value of the resulting value should be so close to the true one that for this purpose it can be used instead of the true one. Errors in measurement results (systematic and random) are possible.

There are direct and indirect measurement procedures. The latter include measurements of objects that are distant from us or are not directly perceived. The value of the measured quantity is established indirectly. Indirect measurements are feasible when the general relationship between quantities is known, which allows one to derive the desired result from already known quantities.

Experiment a research method through which active and purposeful perception of a specific object occurs under controlled and controlled conditions.

Main features of the experiment:

1) an active attitude towards the object up to its change and transformation;

2) repeated reproducibility of the studied object at the request of the researcher;

3) the possibility of detecting properties of phenomena that are not observed in natural conditions;

4) the possibility of considering the phenomenon “in its pure form” by isolating it from external influences, or by changing the experimental conditions;

5) the ability to control the “behavior” of an object and check the results.

We can say that an experiment is an idealized experience. It makes it possible to monitor the progress of changes in a phenomenon, actively influence it, and recreate it, if necessary, before comparing the results obtained. Therefore, experiment is a stronger and more effective method than observation or measurement, where the phenomenon under study remains unchanged. This is the highest form of empirical research.

An experiment is used either to create a situation that allows one to study an object in its pure form, or to test existing hypotheses and theories, or to formulate new hypotheses and theoretical concepts. Every experiment is always guided by some theoretical idea, concept, hypothesis. Experimental data, as well as observations, are always theoretically loaded, from its setup to the interpretation of the results.

Stages of the experiment:

1) planning and construction (its purpose, type, means, etc.);

2) control;

3) interpretation of the results.

Experiment structure:

1) object of study;

2) creation of necessary conditions (material factors influencing the object of study, elimination of undesirable effects interference);

3) experimental methodology;

4) a hypothesis or theory that needs to be tested.

As a rule, experimentation involves the use of simpler practical methods of observation, comparison and measurement. Since an experiment is not carried out, as a rule, without observations and measurements, it must meet their methodological requirements. In particular, as with observations and measurements, an experiment can be considered demonstrative if it can be reproduced by any other person in another place in space and at another time and gives the same result.

Types of experiment:

Depending on the objectives of the experiment, there are research experiments (the task is the formation of new scientific theories), verification experiments (testing existing hypotheses and theories), decisive experiments (confirmation of one and refutation of another of the competing theories).

Depending on the nature of the objects, physical, chemical, biological, social and other experiments are distinguished.

There are also qualitative experiments aimed at establishing the presence or absence of an expected phenomenon, and measurement experiments that reveal the quantitative certainty of a certain property.

Methods of theoretical research.

At the theoretical stage, they are usedthought experiment, idealization, formalization,axiomatic, hypothetico-deductive methods, the method of ascent from the abstract to the concrete, as well as methods of historical and logical analysis.

Idealization a research method consisting in the mental construction of an idea of ​​an object by excluding the conditions necessary for its real existence. In essence, idealization is a type of abstraction procedure, specified taking into account the needs of theoretical research. The results of such construction are idealized objects.

The formation of idealizations can go in different ways:

Consistently carried out multi-stage abstraction (so, mathematical objects are obtained - a plane, a straight line, a point, etc.);

Isolation and fixation of a certain property of the object being studied in isolation from all others (ideal objects of natural sciences).

Idealized objects are much simpler than real objects, which makes it possible to apply mathematical methods of description to them. Thanks to idealization, processes are considered in their purest form, without accidental additions from the outside, which opens the way to identifying the laws according to which these processes occur. An idealized object, unlike a real one, is characterized not by an infinite, but by a very specific number of properties, and therefore the researcher gets the opportunity to have complete intellectual control over it. Idealized objects model the most essential relationships in real objects.

Since the provisions of the theory speak about the properties of ideal, and not real objects, there is a problem of testing and accepting these provisions based on correlation with the real world. Therefore, to take into account the introduced circumstances that influence the deviation of indicators inherent in the empirical data from the characteristics of an ideal object, rules of concretization are formulated: checking the law taking into account the specific conditions of its operation.

Modeling (a method closely related to idealization) is a method for studying theoretical models, i.e. analogues (schemes, structures, sign systems) of certain fragments of reality, which are called originals. The researcher, transforming these analogues and managing them, expands and deepens knowledge about the originals. Modeling is a method of indirectly operating an object, during which it is not the object itself that interests us that is directly studied, but some intermediate system (natural or artificial), which:

Is in some objective correspondence with the cognizable object (the model is, first of all, what is compared with - it is necessary that there be similarities in some respects between the model and the original physical characteristics ah, or in structure, or in functions);

In the course of cognition, at certain stages, it is capable of replacing in certain cases the object being studied (in the process of research, temporarily replacing the original with a model and working with it allows in many cases not only to discover, but also to predict its new properties);

In the process of its research, ultimately provide information about the object of interest to us.

The logical basis of the modeling method is conclusions by analogy.

There are different types of modeling. Basic:

Subject (direct) modeling, during which research is carried out on a model that reproduces certain physical, geometric, and other characteristics of the original. Subject modeling is used as practical method knowledge.

Sign modeling (models are diagrams, drawings, formulas, sentences of natural or artificial language, etc.). Since actions with signs are simultaneously actions with some thoughts, any sign modeling is inherently a mental modeling.

In historical research, reflective-measuring models (“as it was”) and simulation-prognostic models (“how it could have been”) are distinguished.

Thought experimenta research method based on a combination of images, the material implementation of which is impossible. This method is formed on the basis of idealization and modeling. In this case, the model turns out to be an imaginary object, transformed in accordance with the rules suitable for a given situation. States that are inaccessible to practical experiment are revealed with the help of its continuation - a thought experiment.

As an illustration, we can take the model built by K. Marx, which allowed him to thoroughly explore the capitalist mode of production of the mid-nineteenth century. The construction of this model was associated with a number of idealizing assumptions. In particular, it was assumed that there is no monopoly in the economy; all regulations that prevent the movement of labor from one place or from one sphere of production to another have been abolished; labor in all spheres of production is reduced to simple labor; the rate of surplus value is the same in all spheres of production; average organic structure capital in all branches of production equally; the demand for each product is equal to its supply; the length of the working day and the monetary price of labor power are constant; agriculture carries out production in the same way as any other branch of production; there is no trading and banking capital; exports and imports are balanced; there are only two classes - capitalists and wage workers; the capitalist constantly strives for maximum profit, while always acting rationally. The result was a model of a certain “ideal” capitalism. Mental experimentation with it made it possible to formulate the laws of capitalist society, in particular, the most important of them - the law of value, according to which the production and exchange of goods are carried out on the basis of the costs of socially necessary labor.

A thought experiment allows us to introduce new concepts into the context of a scientific theory and formulate the fundamental principles of a scientific concept.

Recently, to carry out modeling and conduct thought experiments, it has increasingly been used.computational experiment. The main advantage of a computer is that with its help, when studying very complex systems, it is possible to deeply analyze not only their current states, but also possible, including future states. The essence of a computational experiment is that an experiment is carried out on a certain mathematical model of an object using a computer. Based on some parameters of the model, its other characteristics are calculated and on this basis conclusions are drawn about the properties of the phenomena represented by the mathematical model. Main stages of the computational experiment:

1) construction of a mathematical model of the object being studied under certain conditions (as a rule, it is represented by a system of equations high order);

2) determination of a computational algorithm for solving the basic system of equations;

3) construction of a program for implementing the assigned task for a computer.

A computational experiment based on the accumulated experience of mathematical modeling, a bank of computational algorithms and software allows you to quickly and effectively solve problems in almost any area of ​​mathematical scientific knowledge. Turning to a computational experiment in a number of cases allows one to sharply reduce the cost of scientific developments and intensify the process of scientific research, which is ensured by the versatility of the calculations performed and the ease of modifications to simulate certain experimental conditions.

Formalization a research method based on the display of content knowledge in a sign-symbolic form (formalized language). The latter is created to accurately express thoughts in order to eliminate the possibility of ambiguous understanding. 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 use of special symbols allows us to eliminate ambiguity, inaccuracy, and figurativeness of words in natural language. In formalized reasoning, each symbol is strictly unambiguous. Formalization serves as the basis for the processes of algorithmization and programming of computing devices, and thereby the computerization of knowledge.

The main thing in the formalization process is that operations can be performed on the formulas of artificial languages, and new formulas and relationships can be obtained from them. Thus, operations with thoughts are replaced by actions with signs and symbols (the boundaries of the method).

The formalization method opens up opportunities for using more complex methods theoretical research, e.g.mathematical hypothesis method, where the hypothesis is some equations representing a modification of previously known and tested states. By changing the latter, they create a new equation expressing a hypothesis that relates to new phenomena.Often original mathematical formula is borrowed from an adjacent and even non-adjacent field of knowledge, values ​​of a different nature are substituted into it, and then the coincidence of the calculated and real behavior of the object is checked. Of course, the applicability of this method is limited to those disciplines that have already accumulated a fairly rich mathematical arsenal.

Axiomatic methoda method of constructing a scientific theory, in which certain provisions that do not require special proof (axioms or postulates) are taken as its basis, from which all other provisions are derived using formal logical proofs. The set of axioms and propositions derived on their basis forms an axiomatically constructed theory, which includes abstract sign models. Such a theory can be used to model not one, but several classes of phenomena, to characterize not one, but several subject areas. To derive provisions from axioms, special rules for deducing the provisions of mathematical logic are formulated. Finding the rules for correlating the axioms of a formally constructed knowledge system with a specific subject area is called interpretation. In modern natural science, examples of formal axiomatic theories are fundamental physical theories, which entails a number of specific problems of their interpretation and justification (especially for theoretical constructions of non-classical and post-non-classical science).

Due to the specificity of axiomatically constructed systems of theoretical knowledge, intra-theoretical criteria of truth become of particular importance for their substantiation: the requirement of consistency and completeness of the theory and the requirement of sufficient grounds for proving or refuting any position formulated within the framework of such a theory.

This method is widely used in mathematics, as well as in those natural sciences where the formalization method is used. (Limitations of the method).

Hypothetico-deductive methoda method of constructing a scientific theory, which is based on the creation of a system of interrelated hypotheses, from which a system of partial hypotheses, subject to experimental testing, is then derived through deductive development. Thus, this method is based on deduction (derivation) of conclusions from hypotheses and other premises, true meaning which are unknown. This means that the conclusion obtained on the basis this method, will inevitably be probabilistic in nature.

Structure of the hypothetico-deductive method:

1) putting forward a hypothesis about the causes and patterns of these phenomena using a variety of logical techniques;

2) assessment of the validity of hypotheses and selection of the most probable one from among them;

3) deriving consequences from the hypothesis deductively with clarification of its content;

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

Method of ascent from abstract to concretea method that consists in initially finding the original abstraction (the main connection (relation) of the object being studied), and then, step by step, through successive stages of deepening and expanding knowledge, tracing how it changes in different conditions, new connections are discovered, their interactions are established and, thus, the essence of the studied object is displayed in its entirety.

Method of historical and logical analysis. The historical method requires a description of the actual history of an object in all the diversity of its existence. Logical method is a mental reconstruction of the history of an object, cleared of everything random, unimportant and focused on identifying the essence. Unity of logical and historical analysis.

Logical procedures for substantiating scientific knowledge

All specific methods, both empirical and theoretical, are accompanied by logical procedures. The effectiveness of empirical and theoretical methods is directly dependent on how correctly the corresponding scientific reasoning is constructed from a logical point of view.

Rationale a logical procedure associated with the assessment of a certain product of knowledge as a component of a system of scientific knowledge from the point of view of its compliance with the functions, goals and objectives of this system.

Main types of justification:

Proof a logical procedure in which an expression with an as yet unknown meaning is derived from statements whose truth has already been established. This allows you to eliminate any doubts and recognize the truth of this expression.

Proof structure:

Thesis (expression, truth, which is established);

Arguments, arguments (statements with the help of which the truth of the thesis is established);

Additional assumptions (expressions of an auxiliary nature, introduced into the structure of the proof and eliminated when moving to the final result);

Demonstration (logical form of this procedure).

A typical example of a proof is any mathematical reasoning, the results of which lead to the adoption of a new theorem. In it, this theorem acts as a thesis, previously proven theorems and axioms as arguments, and the demonstration is a form of deduction.

Types of evidence:

Direct (the thesis directly follows from the arguments);

Indirect (the thesis is proven indirectly):

Apagogical (proof by contradiction establishing the falsity of the antithesis: it is assumed that the antithesis is true, and consequences are derived from it; if at least one of the resulting consequences contradicts existing true judgments, then the consequence is recognized as false, and after it the antithesis itself the truth of the thesis is recognized);

Dividing (the truth of a thesis is established by excluding all alternatives opposing it).

Closely related to proof is the logical procedure of refutation.

Refutation a logical procedure that establishes the falsity of the thesis of a logical statement.

Types of rebuttal:

Proof of antithesis (a statement that contradicts the thesis being refuted is independently proven);

Establishing the falsity of the consequences arising from the thesis (an assumption is made about the truth of the thesis being refuted and consequences are derived from it; if at least one consequence does not correspond to reality, i.e. is false, then the assumption the thesis being refuted will also be false).

Thus, with the help of refutation, a negative result is achieved. But it also has a positive effect: the circle of search for the true position is narrowed.

Confirmation partial justification for the truth of a certain statement. It plays special role in the presence of hypotheses and the absence of sufficient arguments for their acceptance. If during proof a complete justification for the truth of a certain statement is achieved, then during confirmation it is partial.

Statement B confirms hypothesis A if and only if statement B is a true consequence of A. This criterion is true in cases where what is confirmed and what confirms refers to the same level of knowledge. Therefore, it is reliable in mathematics or in testing elementary generalizations that can be reduced to observational results. However, there are significant reservations if the confirmed and the confirming are at different cognitive levels confirmation of theoretical positions by empirical data. The latter are formed under the influence of a variety of factors, including random ones. Only taking them into account and reducing them to zero can bring confirmation.

If a hypothesis is confirmed by facts, this does not mean that it should be immediately and unconditionally accepted. According to the rules of logic, the truth of consequence B does not mean the truth of reason A. Each new consequence makes a hypothesis more and more probable, but in order to become an element of the corresponding system of theoretical knowledge, it must go through a long path of testing for applicability in a given system and the ability to fulfill its defined requirements. the nature of the function.

Thus, when confirming the thesis:

Its consequences act as arguments;

The demonstration is not of a necessary (deductive) nature.

Objection a logical procedure opposite to confirmation. It is aimed at weakening a certain thesis (hypothesis).

Types of objections:

Direct (direct examination of the shortcomings of the thesis; as a rule, by citing a true antithesis, or by using an antithesis that is not sufficiently substantiated and has a certain degree of probability);

Indirect (directed not against the thesis itself, but against the arguments given to support it or the logical form of its connection with the arguments (demonstration).

Explanation a logical procedure that reveals essential characteristics, causal relationships or functional relationships some object.

Types of explanation:

1) Object (depending on the nature of the object):

Essential (aimed at revealing the essential characteristics of some object). Scientific theories and laws serve as arguments;

Causal (the arguments are statements about the causes of certain phenomena;

Functional (the role performed by some element in the system is considered)

2) Subjective (depends on the orientation of the subject, historical context one and the same fact can receive different explanations depending on the specific conditions and orientation of the subject). Used in non-classical and post-non-classical science the requirement to clearly record the features of observation means, etc. Not only the presentation, but also the selection of facts bears traces of subjective activity.

Objectivism and subjectivism.

The difference between explanation and evidence: evidence establishes the truth of the thesis; when explaining, some thesis has already been proven (depending on the direction, the same syllogism can be both a proof and an explanation).

Interpretation a logical procedure that assigns some meaningful meaning or meaning to the symbols or formulas of a formal system. As a result, the formal system turns into a language that describes a particular subject area. This subject area itself, like the meanings assigned to formulas and signs, is also called interpretation. A formal theory is not justified until it has an interpretation. A previously developed substantive theory may also be endowed with new meaning and interpreted in a new way.

A classic example of interpretation is the discovery of a fragment of reality, the properties of which were described by Lobachevsky’s geometry (surfaces of negative curvature). Interpretation is used primarily in the most abstract sciences (logic, mathematics).

Methods for systematizing scientific knowledge

Classification a method of dividing a set of studied objects into subsets based on strictly recorded similarities and differences. Classification a way of organizing an empirical body of information. The purpose of classification is to determine the place in the system of any object, and thereby establish the presence of certain connections between objects. A subject who masters the classification criterion gets the opportunity to navigate the variety of concepts and/or objects. Classification always reflects the level of knowledge available at a given time and summarizes it. On the other hand, classification makes it possible to detect gaps in existing knowledge and serve as the basis for diagnostic and prognostic procedures. In the so-called descriptive science, it was the result (goal) of knowledge (systematics in biology, attempts to classify sciences on various grounds, etc.), and further development was presented as its improvement or the proposal of a new classification.

There are natural and artificial classifications depending on the significance of the attribute that is used as its basis. Natural classifications involve finding a meaningful discrimination criterion; artificial ones can, in principle, be built on the basis of any characteristic. Variant of art c The main classifications are various auxiliary classifications such as alphabetical indexes, etc. In addition, there are theoretical (in particular, genetic) and empirical classifications(within the latter, the establishment of classification criteria is largely problematic).

Typology a method of dividing a certain set of objects under study into ordered and systematized groups with certain properties using an idealized model or type (ideal or constructive). Typology is based on the concept of fuzzy sets, i.e. sets that do not have clear boundaries, when the transition from elements belonging to the set to not belonging to the set occurs gradually, not abruptly, i.e. elements of a certain subject area relate to it only with to a certain extent accessories.

Typology is carried out according to a selected and conceptually justified criterion(s), or according to an empirically discovered and theoretically interpreted basis(s), which makes it possible to distinguish between theoretical and empirical typologizations, respectively. It is assumed that the differences between the units forming the type in the relation of interest to the researcher are random in nature (due to factors that cannot be taken into account) and are insignificant in comparison with similar differences between objects classified as different types.

The result of typologization is a typology that is justified within it. The latter can be considered in a number of sciences as a form of knowledge representation, or as a precursor to the construction of a theory of any subject area, or as a final one when it is impossible (or the scientific community is not ready) to formulate a theory adequate to the field of study.

Connection and difference between classification and typologization:

Classification involves finding a clear place for each element (object) in a group (class) or row (sequence), with clear boundaries between classes or rows (one individual element cannot simultaneously belong to different classes (rows), or not be included in any or none of them at all). In addition, it is believed that the classification criterion can be random, and the typologization criterion is always essential. The typology identifies homogeneous sets, each of which is a modification of the same quality (an essential, “root” feature, or rather the “idea” of this set). Naturally, in contrast to the sign of classification, the “idea” of typologization is far from being visual, externally manifested and detectable. Classification is less closely related to content than typology

At the same time, some classifications, especially empirical ones, can be interpreted as preliminary (primary) typologizations, or as a transitional procedure for ordering elements (objects) on the way to typologization.

The language of science. Specifics of scientific terminology

In both empirical and theoretical research, the language of science plays a special role, revealing a number of features in comparison with the language of everyday knowledge. There are several reasons why ordinary language is insufficient to describe the objects of scientific research:

His vocabulary does not allow him to record information about objects that go beyond the sphere of direct practical activity of a person and his everyday knowledge;

The concepts of everyday language are vague and ambiguous;

The grammatical structures of everyday language develop spontaneously, contain historical layers, are often cumbersome in nature and do not allow one to clearly express the structure of thought and the logic of mental activity.

Due to these features, scientific knowledge involves the development and use of specialized, artificial languages. Their number is constantly increasing as science develops. The first example of the creation of special linguistic means is the introduction of symbolic notation into logic by Aristotle.

The need for an accurate and adequate language led, in the course of the development of science, to the creation of special terminology. Along with this, the need to improve linguistic means in scientific knowledge led to the emergence of formalized languages ​​of science.

Features of the language of science:

Clarity and unambiguity of concepts;

The presence of clear rules defining the meaning of the original terms;

Lack of cultural and historical layers.

In the language of science, a distinction is made between object language and metalanguage.

Object (subject) languagea language whose expressions relate to a certain area of ​​objects, their properties and relationships. For example, the language of mechanics describes the properties mechanical movement material bodies and interactions between them; the language of arithmetic speaks about numbers, their properties, operations on numbers; the language of chemistry about chemical substances and reactions, etc. In general, any language is usually used, first of all, to talk about some extra-linguistic objects, and in this sense, every language is objective.

Metalanguage is a language used to express judgments about another language, an object language. With the help of mathematics, they study the structure of expressions of an object language, its expressive properties, its relationship to other languages, etc. Example: in a textbook in English For Russians, Russian is a metalanguage, and English is an object language.Along with this, the need to improve linguistic means in scientific knowledge led to the emergence of formalized languages ​​of science.

Of course, in a natural language, the object language and metalanguage are combined: we speak in this language both about objects and about the language expressions themselves. Such a language is called semantically closed. Linguistic intuition usually helps us avoid the paradoxes that the semantic closure of natural language leads to. But when constructing formalized languages, care is taken to ensure that the object language is clearly separated from the metalanguage.

Scientific terminologya set of words with an exact, unique meaning within a given scientific discipline.

The basis of scientific terminology is scientific definitions

There are two meanings of the term “definition”:

1) definition an operation that allows you to distinguish an object from other objects, to clearly distinguish it from them; this is achieved by indicating a feature inherent in this, and only this, object (distinctive feature) (for example, to distinguish a square from the class of rectangles, one points to a feature that is inherent in squares and not inherent in other rectangles, such as equality of sides);

2) definition a logical operation that makes it possible to reveal, clarify or form the meaning of some linguistic expressions with the help of other linguistic expressions (for example, a tithe is an area equal to 1.09 hectares since a person understands the meaning of the expression “1.09 hectares”, for The meaning of the word “tithe” becomes clear to him.

A definition that gives a distinctive characteristic of a certain object is called real. A definition that reveals, clarifies or forms the meaning of some linguistic expressions with the help of others is called nominal. These two concepts are not mutually exclusive. The definition of an expression can simultaneously be a definition of the corresponding subject.

Nominal:

Explicit (classical and genetic or inductive);

Contextual.

In science, definitions play a role significant role. By giving a definition, we get the opportunity to solve a number of cognitive tasks, associated, firstly, with naming and recognition procedures. These tasks include:

Establishing the meaning of an unfamiliar linguistic expression using expressions that are familiar and already meaningful (registering definitions);

Clarification of terms and, at the same time, development of an unambiguous characteristic of the subject under consideration (clarifying definitions);

Introduction into scientific circulation of new terms or concepts (postulating definitions).

Secondly, definitions allow the construction of inferential procedures. Thanks to definitions, words acquire precision, clarity and unambiguity.

However, the meaning of definitions should not be exaggerated. It must be borne in mind that they do not reflect the entire content of the subject in question. The actual study of scientific theory is not limited to mastering the sum of definitions that are contained in them. Question about the accuracy of terms.

Empirical (what is perceived by the senses) cognition is carried out in the process of experience, understood in the broadest sense, that is, as the interaction of a subject with an object, in which the subject not only passively reflects the object, but also actively changes and transforms it.

The empirical method consists of sequentially performing the following five operations: observation, measurement, modeling, forecasting, checking the forecast.

In science, the main forms of empirical research are observation and experiment. In addition, they also include numerous measurement procedures, which, although closer to theory, are still carried out precisely within the framework empirical knowledge and especially experiment.

The initial empirical procedure is observation, since it is included in both the experiment and the measurements, while the observations themselves can be carried out outside the experiment and do not involve measurements.

1. Observation - a purposeful study of objects, based mainly on data from the senses (sensation, perception, ideas). During observation, the knowledge gained is not only about the external aspects of the object of knowledge, but - as the ultimate goal - about its essential properties and relationships.

The concepts of methods and techniques are often used as synonyms, but they often differ when methods refer to more complex cognitive procedures that include a whole set of different research techniques.

Observation can be direct and indirect with various instruments and technical devices (microscope, telescope, photo and film cameras, etc.) With the development of science, observation becomes more complex and indirect.

Basic requirements for scientific observation: unambiguous design; the presence of a system of methods and techniques; objectivity, i.e. the possibility of control through either repeated observation or using other methods (for example, experiment).

Observation is usually included as part of the experimental procedure. An important point in observation is the interpretation of its results - deciphering instrument readings, a curve on an oscilloscope, an electrocardiogram, etc.

The cognitive result of observation is a description - recording, using natural and artificial language, initial information about the object being studied: diagrams, graphs, diagrams, tables, drawings, etc. Observation is closely related to measurement, which is the process of finding the ratio of a given quantity to another homogeneous quantity, taken as a unit of measurement. The measurement result is expressed as a number.

Observation is particularly difficult in the social sciences and humanities, where its results largely depend on the personality of the observer, his life attitudes and principles, and his interested attitude towards the subject being studied.

During observation, the researcher is always guided by a specific idea, concept or hypothesis. He does not simply register any facts, but deliberately selects those that either confirm or refute his ideas.

In this case, it is very important to select the most representative, i.e., the most representative group of facts in their interrelation. Interpretation of an observation is always carried out using certain theoretical principles.

2. Experiment - active and purposeful intervention in the course of the process under study, a corresponding change in the object or its reproduction in specially created and controlled conditions.

Thus, in an experiment, an object is either reproduced artificially or placed in a certain way specified conditions that meet the goals of the study. During the experiment, the object being studied is isolated from the influence of side circumstances that obscure its essence and is presented in its pure form. In this case, specific experimental conditions are not only set, but also controlled, modernized, and reproduced many times.

Every scientific experiment is always guided by some idea, concept, hypothesis. The data of an experiment are always theoretically loaded in one way or another - from its setup to the interpretation of its results.

Main features of the experiment:

a) a more active (than during observation) attitude towards the object, up to its change and transformation;

b) repeated reproducibility of the studied object at the request of the researcher;

c) the possibility of detecting properties of phenomena that are not observed in natural conditions;

d) the possibility of considering a phenomenon in its “pure” form by isolating it from circumstances that complicate and mask its course or by changing, varying the experimental conditions;

e) the ability to control the behavior of the research object and verify the results.

The main stages of the experiment: planning and construction (its purpose, type, means, methods of implementation); control; interpretation of results.

An experiment has two interrelated functions: experimental testing of hypotheses and theories, as well as the formation of new scientific concepts. Depending on these functions, experiments are distinguished: research (search), testing (control), reproducing, isolating.

Based on the nature of the objects, physical, chemical, biological, and social experiments are distinguished. Important in modern science has a decisive experiment, the purpose of which is to refute one and confirm the other of two (or more) concepts that compete.

This difference is relative: an experiment designed to be confirmatory may turn out to be disconfirming in its results, and vice versa. But in any case, the experiment consists of posing specific questions to nature, the answers to which should provide information about its patterns.

One of the simple types of scientific experiment is a qualitative experiment, which aims to establish the presence or absence of a phenomenon assumed by a hypothesis or theory. A more complex quantitative experiment that reveals the quantitative certainty of any property of the phenomenon being studied.

A thought experiment, a system of mental procedures carried out on idealized objects, has become widespread in modern science. A thought experiment is a theoretical model of real experimental situations. Here the scientist operates not with real objects and the conditions of their existence, but with their conceptual images.

Social experiments are increasingly developing, which contribute to the introduction of new forms of social organization and optimization of society management. The object of a social experiment, in the role of a certain group of people, is one of the participants in the experiment, whose interests have to be taken into account, and the researcher himself is included in the situation he is studying.

3. Comparison is a cognitive operation that underlies judgments about the similarity or difference of objects. Using comparison, the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of objects are revealed.

To compare is to compare one thing with another in order to identify their relationship. The simplest and most important type of relationship revealed through comparison is the relationship of identity and difference.

It should be borne in mind that comparison makes sense only in the aggregate of homogeneous objects that form a class. Comparison of objects in a class is carried out according to characteristics that are essential for this consideration, while objects compared on one basis may be incomparable on another.

Comparison is the basis of such a logical device as analogy, and serves as the starting point of the comparative-historical method.

This is the method with the help of which, through comparison, the general and special in historical and other phenomena are revealed, knowledge of the various stages of development of the same phenomenon or different coexisting phenomena is achieved.

This method allows us to identify and compare levels in the development of the phenomenon being studied, changes that have occurred, and determine development trends. Scientific methods of theoretical research

1. Formalization - display of content knowledge in a sign-symbolic form. Formalization is based on the distinction between natural and artificial languages. Expressing thinking in natural language can be considered the first step of formalization. Natural languages ​​as a means of communication are characterized by polysemy, versatility, flexibility, imprecision, figurativeness, etc. It is an open, continuously changing system that constantly acquires new meaning and significance.

Further deepening of formalization is associated with the construction of artificial (formalized) languages, designed for a more accurate and rigorous expression of knowledge than natural language, in order to eliminate the possibility of ambiguous understanding - which is typical for natural language (the language of mathematics, logic, chemistry, etc.)

The symbolic languages ​​of mathematics and other exact sciences have more than just the purpose of shortening writing - this can be done using shorthand. The language of artificial language formulas becomes a tool of cognition. He plays the same role in theoretical knowledge, like a microscope and telescope in empirical knowledge.

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

How universal remedy For communication and exchange of thoughts and information, language performs many functions.

An important task of logic and methodology is to convey and transform existing information as accurately as possible and thereby eliminate some of the shortcomings of natural language. This is why artificial formalized languages ​​are created. Such languages ​​are used primarily in scientific knowledge, and in last years they are widely used in programming and algorithmization of various processes using computers.

The advantage of artificial languages ​​lies primarily in their accuracy, unambiguousness, and most importantly, in the ability to represent ordinary meaningful reasoning through calculation.

The meaning of formalization in scientific knowledge is as follows.

o It makes it possible to analyze, clarify, define and clarify (explicate) concepts. Everyday ideas (expressed in spoken language), although they seem clearer and more obvious from the point of view of common sense, turn out to be unsuitable for scientific knowledge due to their uncertainty, ambiguity and imprecision.

o It acquires a special role in the analysis of evidence. Presenting the proof in the form of a sequence of formulas obtained from the original ones using precisely specified transformation rules gives them the necessary rigor and accuracy.

o It serves as the basis for the processes of algorithmization and programming of computing devices, and thereby the computerization of not only scientific and technical, but also other forms of knowledge.

When formalizing, reasoning about objects is transferred to the plane of operating with signs (formulas). Relationships of signs replace statements about the properties and relationships of objects.

In this way, a generalized sign model of a certain subject area is created, which makes it possible to detect the structure of various phenomena and processes while abstracting from the qualitative, substantive characteristics of the latter.

The main thing in the formalization process is that operations can be performed on the formulas of artificial languages, and new formulas and relationships can be obtained from them.

Thus, operations with thoughts about objects are replaced by actions with signs and symbols. Formalization in this sense is a logical method of clarifying the content of a thought by clarifying its logical form. But it has nothing to do with the absolutization of logical form in relation to content.

Formalization, therefore, is a generalization of the forms of processes that differ in content, and 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.

2. The axiomatic method is one of the ways of deductively constructing scientific theories, in which:

a) a system of basic terms of science is formulated;

b) from these terms a certain set of axioms (postulates) is formed - provisions that do not require proof and are the initial ones, from which all other statements of this theory are derived according to certain rules;

c) a system of inference rules is formulated, which allows one to transform initial provisions and move from one position to another, as well as introduce new terms (concepts) into the theory;

d) the transformation of postulates is carried out according to rules that make it possible to obtain from a limited number of axioms a set of provable provisions - theorems.

Thus, to derive theorems from axioms, special rules of inference are formulated.

All concepts of the theory, except primitive ones, are introduced through definitions that express them through previously introduced concepts.

Consequently, a proof in the axiomatic method is a certain sequence of formulas, each of which is either an axiom or is obtained from previous formulas according to some rule of inference.

The axiomatic method is only one of the methods for constructing scientific knowledge. It has limited application, since it requires a high level of development of an axiomatized substantive theory.

3. Hypothetico-deductive method. Its essence lies in the creation of a system of deductively interconnected hypotheses, from which statements about empirical facts are ultimately derived.

This method is thus based on the deduction of conclusions from hypotheses and other premises, the true meaning of which is unknown. Therefore, the conclusions here are probabilistic in nature.

This nature of the conclusion is also due to the fact that guesswork, intuition, imagination, and inductive generalization are involved in the formation of a hypothesis, not to mention the experience, qualifications and talent of the scientist. And all these factors are almost impossible to strictly logically analyze.

Initial concepts: hypothesis (assumption) - a position put forward at the beginning of a preliminary conditional explanation of a certain phenomenon or group of phenomena; assumption about the existence of some phenomenon. The truth of this assumption is uncertain and problematic.

Deduction (inference): a) in the most general sense - this is a transition in the process of cognition from the general to the particular (individual), the derivation of the latter from the first; b) in a special sense - the process of logical inference, i.e., a transition according to certain rules of logic from certain given assumptions (premises) to their consequences (conclusions).

The general structure of the hypothetico-deductive method (or hypothesis method):

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:

Making conjectures (assumptions) about the causes and patterns of these phenomena using many logical techniques.

Assessing the severity of assumptions and selecting the most probable from among many guesses.

In this case, the hypothesis is checked for: a) logical consistency; b) compatibility with the fundamental theoretical principles of a given science (for example, with the law of conservation and transformation of energy).

However, it should be borne in mind that during periods of scientific revolutions, it is the fundamental principles that collapse and crazy ideas that cannot be deduced from these principles arise.

o Deriving consequences from a hypothesis (usually deductively) with clarification of its content.

o Experimental verification of the consequences derived from the hypothesis. Here the hypothesis either receives experimental confirmation or is refuted. However, confirmation does not guarantee its overall truth (or falsity).

From a logical point of view, the hypothetico-deductive method is a hierarchy of hypotheses, the degree of abstraction and generality of which increases with distance from the empirical basis.

At the very top are the hypotheses that are most general in nature and therefore have the greatest logical power. From these, as premises, lower-level hypotheses are derived. Actually lowest level hypotheses are found that can be compared with empirical reality.

A mathematical hypothesis can be considered a type of hypothetico-deductive method, where some equations representing a modification of previously known and tested relationships act as hypotheses. By changing these relationships, a new equation is created that expresses a hypothesis that relates to unexplored phenomena.

The hypothetico-deductive method is not so much a method of discovery as a way of constructing and justifying scientific knowledge, since it shows exactly how one can arrive at a new hypothesis. Already in the early stages of the development of science, this method was especially widely used by Galileo and Newton.

Zagalological methods and techniques of cognition

1. Analysis - dividing an object into its component parts for the purpose of studying them independently. It is used both in real (practice) and in mental activity.

Types of analysis: mechanical dissection; determination of dynamic composition; identifying forms of interaction between elements of the whole; finding the causes of phenomena; identifying levels of knowledge and its structure, etc.

The analysis should not overlook the quality of the items. Each area of ​​knowledge has, as it were, its own limit of division of an object, beyond which we move into another world of properties and patterns (atom, molecule, etc.). A type of analysis is also the division of classes (sets) of objects into subclasses - classification and periodization.

2. Synthesis - unification - real or mental - of various aspects, parts of an object into a single whole.

The result of the synthesis is a completely new formation, the properties of which are not only an external combination of the properties of the components, but also the result of their internal relationship and interdependence.

Analysis and synthesis are dialectically interrelated, but some activities are primarily analytical (for example, analytical chemistry) or synthetic (for example, synergetics).

3. Abstraction. Abstraction:

a) side, moment, part of the whole, fragment of reality, something undeveloped, one-sided, fragmentary (abstract);

b) the process of mental abstraction from a number of properties and relationships of the phenomenon being studied with the simultaneous identification of properties that are of interest to the cognizing subject at the moment (abstraction);

c) a result that abstracts the activities of thinking (abstraction in the narrow sense).

These are various kinds of abstract subjects, which are both individual concepts and categories, and their systems (the most developed of them are mathematics, logic and philosophy).

Finding out which of the properties under consideration are essential and which are secondary is the main question of abstraction.

The question of what in objective reality is distinguished by the abstract work of thinking, from which thinking is distracted, is decided in each specific case depending, first of all, on the nature of the subject being studied, as well as on the tasks of cognition.

In the course of its historical development, science ascends from one level of abstraction to another, higher one.

There are different types of abstractions:

Abstraction of identification, as a result of which the general properties and relationships of the objects under study are highlighted. Here, corresponding classes are formed on the basis of establishing the equality of objects in given properties or relationships, taking into account what is identical in objects and abstracting from all the differences between them.

Isolating abstraction - certain properties and relationships are highlighted, which begin to be considered as independent individual objects.

Abstraction of actual infinity in mathematics - when infinite sets are considered as finite. Here the researcher is distracted from the fundamental impossibility of recording and describing each element infinite number, accepting such a problem as solved.

Abstraction of potential feasibility - based on the fact that anything can be realized, but final number operations in the process of mathematical activity.

Abstractions also differ in levels (orders). Abstractions from real objects are called first-order abstractions. Abstractions from first-level abstractions are called second-order abstractions, etc. The highest level of abstraction is characterized by philosophical categories.

4. Idealization is most often considered as a specific type of abstraction. Idealization is the mental construction of concepts about objects that do not exist and cannot be realized in reality, but those for which there are prototypes in the real world.

In the process of idealization, there is an extreme abstraction from all the real properties of an object with the simultaneous introduction into the content of the concepts being formed of features that are not realized in reality. As a result, a so-called idealized object is formed, with which theoretical thinking can operate when reflecting real objects.

As a result of idealization, a theoretical model is formed in which the characteristics and aspects of the cognizable object are not only abstracted from the actual empirical material, but through mental construction appear in a more sharply and fully expressed form than in reality itself.

The idealized object ultimately acts as a reflection of real objects and processes.

Having formed theoretical constructs using the idealization of objects of this kind, you can further operate with them in reasoning as in reality existing thing and build abstract diagrams of real processes that serve for a deeper understanding.

Thus, idealized objects are not pure fictions unrelated to real reality, but are the result of a very complex and indirect reflection of it.

An idealized object represents real objects in cognition, but not according to all, but only according to some, strictly fixed characteristics. It is a simplified and schematized image of a real object.

Theoretical statements, as a rule, directly relate not to real objects, but to idealized objects, cognitive activity with which makes it possible to establish significant connections and patterns that are not available when studying real objects, taken in all the diversity of their empirical properties and relationships.

Idealized objects are the result of various thought experiments that are aimed at realizing some case that has not been realized in reality. In developed scientific theories Usually, not individual idealized objects and their properties are considered, but integral systems of idealized objects and their structures.

5. Generalization is the process of establishing the general properties and characteristics of objects. Closely related to abstraction. The epistemological basis of generalization is the categories of the general and the individual.

It is necessary to distinguish between two types of generalities:

a) abstractly general as simple sameness, external similarity, superficial similarity of a number of individual objects (the so-called abstractly general feature). This type the general, identified through comparison, plays an important but limited role in cognition;

b) concretely general as the law of existence and development of a number of individual phenomena in their interaction as part of the whole, as unity in diversity. This type of generality expresses the internal, deep, recurring basis of a group of similar phenomena - the essence in its developed form, that is, the law.

The general is inseparable from the individual (separate) as its opposite, and their unity is special. Single (individual, separate) is a philosophical category that expresses the specificity, originality of a given phenomenon (or group of phenomena of the same quality), its difference from others.

In accordance with the two types of generalities, two types of scientific generalizations are distinguished: the identification of any characteristics (abstract general) or essential (concrete general, law).

On another basis, generalizations can be distinguished:

a) from individual facts, events to their expression in thoughts (inductive generalization);

b) from one thought to another, more general thought (logical generalization). The mental transition from the more general to the less general is a process of limitation.

Generalization cannot be limitless. Its limit is philosophical categories that do not have a generic concept and therefore cannot be generalized.

6. Induction is a logical research technique associated with generalizing the results of observations and experiments and the movement of thought from the individual to the general.

In induction, the data of experience lead to the general, induce it. Since experience is always infinite and incomplete, inductive conclusions are always problematic. Inductive generalizations are usually regarded as empirical truths or empirical laws. The following types of inductive generalizations are distinguished: A. Popular induction, when regularly repeated properties observed in some representatives of the studied set and fixed in the premises of inductive inference are transferred to all representatives of the studied set - including its unstudied parts.

B. Induction is incomplete, where it is concluded that all representatives of the set under study belong to a property on the grounds that this property belongs to some representatives of this set.

Induction is complete, in which the conclusion is made that all representatives of the set under study belong to the property based on the information obtained during the study that each representative of the set under study belongs to this property.

When considering complete induction, it is necessary to keep in mind that:

D. Scientific induction, in which, in addition to the formal substantiation of the generalization obtained inductively, an additional substantive substantiation of its truth is given, including with the help of deduction (theories, laws). Scientific induction provides a reliable conclusion due to the fact that the emphasis is on necessary, natural and causal relationships.

D. Mathematical induction - used as a specific mathematical proof, where induction and deduction, assumption and proof are organically combined.

The considered methods for establishing causal relationships are most often used not in isolation, but in conjunction, complementing each other. In this case, one should not make the mistake: “after this, because of this.”

7. Deduction:

a) transition in the process of cognition from the general to the individual (particular); deducing the individual from the general;

b) the process of logical inference, i.e., transition according to certain rules of logic from certain given sentences - premises to their consequences (conclusions).

As one of the methods of scientific knowledge, it is closely related to induction; these are dialectically interconnected ways of moving thought.

Analogy does not provide reliable knowledge: if the premises of reasoning by analogy are true, this does not mean that its conclusion will be true.

To increase the likelihood of drawing conclusions by analogy, it is necessary to strive to:

a) the internal, rather than external, properties of the objects that are compared were captured;

b) these objects were similar in the most important and essential characteristics, and not in random and secondary ones;

c) the range of matching features was as wide as possible;

d) not only similarities were taken into account, but also differences - so that the latter were not transferred to another object.

8. Modeling. Inferences by analogy, understood extremely broadly, as the transfer of information from one object to another, form the epistemological basis of modeling - a method of studying objects using their models.

A model is an analogue of a certain fragment of reality, a product of human culture, conceptual and theoretical images, that is, the original of the model.

This analogue is a representative of the original in knowledge and practice. It serves to store and expand knowledge (information) about the original, construct the original, transform or manage it.

There must be a certain similarity (relationship of similarity) between the model and the original: physical characteristics, functions; behavior of the object being studied and its mathematical description; structures, etc. It is this similarity that allows the information obtained as a result of studying the model to be transferred to the original.

The forms of modeling are varied and depend on the models used and the scope of application of the modeling.

According to the nature of the models, material and ideal modeling are distinguished, expressed in the appropriate symbolic form.

Material models are natural objects, which obey in their functioning natural laws - physics, mechanics. In the physical (subject-specific) modeling of a specific object, its study is replaced by the study of a certain model that has the same physical nature as the original (models of airplanes, ships).

With ideal (sign) modeling, models appear in the form of diagrams, graphs, drawings, formulas, systems of equations, and proposals.

9. The systems approach is a set of general scientific methodological principles (requirements), which are based on the consideration of objects as systems.

A system is a general scientific concept that expresses a set of elements that are in relationships and connections with each other and with the environment, forming a certain integrity, unity.

The types of systems are very diverse: material and spiritual, inorganic and living, mechanical and organic, biological and social, static and dynamic, open and closed.

Any system consists of many different elements that have structure and organization.

Structure: a) a set of stable connections of an object that ensure its integrity and identity with itself; b) a relatively stable way of connecting the elements of a complex whole.

The specificity of the systems approach is determined by the fact that it focuses research on revealing the integrity of the object and the mechanisms that provide it, identifying the diverse types of connections of a complex object and bringing them together into a single theoretical picture.

The main requirements of the systems approach include the following:

a) identifying the dependence of each element on its place and functions in the system, taking into account the fact that the properties of the whole are irreducible to the sum of the properties of its elements;

b) analysis of the extent to which the behavior of the system is determined both by the characteristics of its individual elements and the properties of its structure;

c) research into the mechanism of interdependence, interaction between the system and the environment;

d) studying the nature of the hierarchy inherent in a given system;

e) ensuring a plurality of descriptions for the purpose of multidimensional coverage of the system;

f) consideration of the dynamism of the system, its presentation as an integrity that develops.

An important concept of the systems approach is the concept of self-organization. This concept characterizes the process of creating, reproducing or improving the organization of a complex, open, dynamic, self-developing system, the connections between the elements of which are not rigid, but probabilistic.

10. Probabilistic (statistical) methods - based on taking into account the action of many random factors, which are characterized by a stable frequency. This makes it possible to reveal the necessity that “breaks through” through the combined action of many accidents.

Probabilistic methods are based on the theory of probability, which is often called the science of chance, and in the minds of many scientists, probability and chance are practically inseparable.

There is even a statement that today randomness appears as self-start the world, its structure and evolution. The categories of necessity and chance are by no means outdated; on the contrary, their role in modern science has increased significantly.

To understand these methods, it is necessary to consider the concepts of dynamic patterns, statistical patterns and probability.

In dynamic type laws, predictions have a precisely defined, unambiguous character. Dynamic laws characterize the behavior of relatively isolated objects, consisting of a small number of elements, in which one can abstract from a number of random factors.

In statistical laws, predictions are not reliable, but only probabilistic. This nature of predictions is due to the action of many random factors.

A statistical pattern arises as a result of the interaction of a large number of elements that make up a team, and therefore characterizes not so much the behavior of an individual element, but rather the behavior of the team as a whole.

The necessity manifested in statistical laws arises as a result of mutual compensation and balancing of many random factors.

Statistical laws, although they do not give unambiguous and reliable predictions, are nevertheless the only ones possible when studying mass phenomena of a random nature. Behind the cumulative action various factors random nature, which are almost impossible to cover, statistical laws reveal something stable, necessary, repeatable.

They serve as confirmation of the dialectic of transforming the accidental into the necessary. Dynamic laws turn out to be a limiting case of statistical ones, when probability becomes practically certainty.

Probability is a concept that characterizes a quantitative measure of the possibility of the occurrence of some random event under certain conditions that can be repeated many times. One of the main tasks of probability theory is to clarify the patterns that arise from the interaction of a large number of random factors.

Probabilistic statistical methods are widely used in the study of mass phenomena - especially in such scientific disciplines as math statistics, statistical physics, quantum mechanics, cybernetics, synergetics.

The concept of “method” means a method of research, a way of understanding reality, a form of theoretical and practical development of it. The right method plays a decisive role in cognitive processes, since the results and successes of the study depend on it.

The universal method of understanding reality is materialist dialectics. It forms the main core of the general methodology of knowledge. Its principles and concepts are developed based on the study of the most general laws of nature, society and thinking. Exploring various shapes movements of matter, materialist dialectics recognizes their qualitative and quantitative certainty, considers the phenomena around us in interconnection and interdependence, in movement and development.

Each science has its own methods of searching and substantiating scientific truth Scientific research method is a system of mental and (or) practical operations (procedures) that are aimed at solving certain cognitive problems, taking into account a certain cognitive goal.

Method function is that with its help they receive new information about the surrounding reality, delve into the essence of phenomena and processes, reveal the laws and patterns of development, formation and functioning of the objects that are being studied.

The truth of the knowledge gained depends on the quality of the method and the correctness of its use.

The scientific method of research is characterized by the following features:

· clarity;

· focus to achieve a specific goal, solve specific problems;

· determinism– strict consistency of using the method (maximum algorithmization);

· effectiveness– the ability to ensure the achievement of a specific goal;

· reliability– the ability to achieve the desired result with a high probability;

· efficiency– the possibility of receiving certain results with the least amount of time and money.

An important requirement to the method of cognition is its compliance with the object of research and the level of cognition.

One of the provisions of the methodology is that each research method itself must be theoretically justified.

Method is a way to achieve a goal in the theory that is being developed. It must be objective, as it reflects reality in its interconnection. At the same time, the method is also subjective, since it is used by a specific researcher with his subjective characteristics.

The differentiation of sciences occurs not only by the nature of the objects of study, but also by the methods that are used in them. On the other hand, individual sciences, regardless of their differences, have much in common, primarily due to the fact that they consider the laws of the material and spiritual world on the basis of their study, and use the same laws of thinking and research methods.

Scientific knowledge can be presented in the form of the following diagram: facts - relationships between them - experiments - initial hypotheses - theory - plausible assumptions - again hypotheses - experiment - clarification - testing of an already applied theory - the emergence of paradoxes - theory - situation - insight - new theory, new hypotheses - experiment and the next cycle.

Methods of scientific knowledge are divided into philosophical, general scientific ( those. for all sciences) and specifically scientific (for individual sciences). Their classification (according to A. Chablius) is shown in Fig. 3.1, but it is to a certain extent conditional, since as knowledge develops, one scientific method can move from one category to another.

Philosophical methods are based on the use of categories, provisions, principles and laws of a certain philosophical system in scientific research. Such systems today are positivism, neopositivism, postmodernism, etc.

The most important principles of materialist dialectics are the principles of movement and development, abstraction and concretization, historicism, interconnection and interdependence, and causality.

Abstraction- this is a method of scientific knowledge, the essence of which is to identify several signs or features of the object that is being studied, with a certain mental exclusion of other features, connections and relationships of the subject. It allows you to replace a complex process in the human mind with a simpler one, which characterizes the most important features of an object or phenomenon, which is important for the creation of many concepts.

The abstraction process consists of two techniques: highlighting the most important in the objects being studied and establishing missing facts, as well as implementing abstraction capabilities by replacing the real object with a model.

Historicism– requires considering each system as one that in its development goes through a number of stages (stages) of emergence (origin), formation, developed functioning, transformation into another qualitative state.

According to the principle causality Some phenomena determine the emergence, development or functioning of others.

General scientific methods are used in the predominant number of sciences, scientific disciplines and areas. They are conventionally divided into traditional and modern.

TO traditional methods include:

· observation– a way of knowing the objective world based on the direct perception of objects and phenomena using the senses. It is carried out according to a plan and is subject to certain tactics;

· analysis– a method of scientific research in which a process (phenomenon) is decomposed into components for the purpose of their comprehensive study. A special place in it is occupied by system analysis, which consists of four stages:

Definition of the object, goals and objectives of the study, criteria for studying and managing the object;

Determining the boundaries of the system, its structure, objects and processes that are relevant to the goal;

Drawing up a mathematical model of the topic under study;

Analysis of the mathematical model and the results obtained;

· synthesis– study of a phenomenon (process) as a whole based on the combination of one element after another into a single whole. Synthesis allows you to generalize concepts, laws and theory. In theoretical sciences, it acts as a uniter of competing, to a certain extent, opposing theories into the forms of constructing deductive theories;

· induction- a method in which specific facts and phenomena are used to establish general principles and laws;

· deduction– a research method in which specific provisions are derived from general ones;

· comparison(according to Hegel) is a way to show the general in the different and the different in the general;

· analogy- a method of cognition in which, on the basis of the similarity of objects according to one characteristics, a conclusion is made about their similarity in other characteristics. The existence of an analogy of phenomena constitutes the epistemological basis of modeling;

· generalization– a method of thinking, as a result of which the general properties and characteristics of objects are identified. Generalization operations can be repeated several times sequentially, leading to new concepts.

TO modern include methods of modeling, systemic, formalization, idealization, axiomatic-deductive.

Modeling– the study of an object (original) by creating and using its copy (model), which has common features with the original

PHILOSOPHICAL METHODS

SPECIFIC SCIENTIFIC METHODS

Fig.3.1. Classification of research methods

properties of interest to the researcher. A model may correspond to the original in terms of the characteristics being studied, but differ significantly in other properties. Models can be subject and symbolic.

Algorithm modeling method includes: problem statement; creating or selecting a model; researching it; transfer of values ​​(extrapolation) from the model to the object of study.

Math modeling is the creation of a mathematical model and experimenting with it in order to obtain a resulting indicator when changing the parameters that affect this indicator.

Economic model is an image, image, copy, plan, map, formula, graph, table, etc., displaying an object of study, the study of which provides new information about this object.

Formalization method– the study of objects by displaying their content, structure, form or functioning in a symbolic form using artificial languages: mathematical and logical-mathematical modeling, the language of chemical symbols and operations with them.

Idealization method involves the creation of ideal models and comparative situations that are studied in an ideal version. In this case, specific features of some other methods are used - analogy modeling, abstraction, etc. Ideal models are built in two ways. The first is abstraction from all but one of the most important features (features) in a given aspect, which is brought to absolutism. The second method is to give the model all possible features and characteristics (functions, relationships) that real objects have.

Axiomatic-deductive method is used, as a rule, in the exact sciences (mathematics, physics) and is based on establishing an initial set of concepts, formulating several axioms, i.e. truths that do not require proof and from which various consequences are then deduced in a strictly logical way.

Specific scientific research methods are used in individual or several related scientific disciplines. These methods are divided into interdisciplinary and special.

TO interdisciplinary methods include:

· field research(in geology, geography, biology, ecology, etc.) is used for direct study of an object in nature by observing it, instrumental measurements of parameters, studying functioning or development.

Exist various ways of these studies - general, selective, route. They provide stages: preparatory (studying sources of information about the object under study and forming initial ideas, problems, hypotheses), direct (collecting materials and primary information, clarifying existing data) and desk (processing, analysis, comparison, development of conclusions, etc. .). In economics these include marketing research sales of products and services;

· economic zoning– the main method of justifying the territorially integrated development and placement of the country’s productive forces and its economic regions for the development of so-called territorial schemes. These are pre-planned (predictive) scientific studies economic development individual territorial units for 15 or more years;

· method of analyzing analog objects– the study of similar objects by comparing them, if knowledge about one of them is reliable. There are two stages in this:

Establishment common features between objects that are being studied and an already known object;

Study of economic features between these objects;

· balance– a group of calculation techniques for analyzing forecasting and planning the development of dynamic systems with the establishment of flows of resources and products (“costs - output”, “production - consumption”, “profit - costs”). In the economy, balances of labor resources, migration processes, production and consumption of various types of products, fuel, electricity, etc. are compiled;

· cartographic– compilation of individual maps, their series and atlases to obtain new knowledge through their analysis and transformation. Map is a carrier of spatial information, its keeper and transmitter.

Special methods research is justified by a separate science and is used mainly in it. These include calculation-constructive, economic-statistical, probability theory, methods business games and expert assessments.

Particular attention should be paid to the methods of socio-economic
and social and humanitarian research. They cover the study of economic relations between people in social production, individual facts and processes public life, the carrier of which is not an individual, but society, which is a group, collective or society as a whole, also the study of human spiritual activity.

In material production, certain phenomena and processes occur that are constantly repeated in the production, exchange and distribution of material goods. Economic phenomena are one of the forms of manifestation of human actions in this process.

The economic process is a natural, constant change in phenomena from simple to complex. Its characteristic features are the death of the old and the emergence of a new phenomenon. Moreover, each phenomenon and process contains a set of deep phenomena, relationships, patterns and laws that determine the trend of their development.

Knowledge of economic phenomena and processes is a complex element of reflecting the essence of laws and patterns, their development for use in practical activities.

To understand economic phenomena and processes, special research is carried out. They include: choosing a topic, forming a research goal, hypotheses, drawing up a program, collecting facts, their systematization, theoretical generalization, testing theoretical conclusions, developing recommendations for using them in practice.

In their organic unity, these components constitute a cycle of economic research, which is based on the following principles:

· the study of phenomena and processes in social production not in isolation from each other, but in their interrelation (system approach);

· the study of phenomena and processes not in a static state, but in historical development (the principle of historicism);

· consideration of phenomena and processes in development as the transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones (unity of opposites);

· search for something new, progressive in the existing process (epistemological principle).

An important place in economic research is occupied by abstraction to simplify the situation and study the process in a “pure” form, in which the economic system is divided into subsystems, parts, and constituent elements. This is the analytical stage. Then they move on to synthetically combining them into a single system of theoretical economic knowledge.

Economic research is based on facts that are classified according to certain groups, and then systematized based on the logical relationship between them. Facts are summarized, and on their basis, economic hypotheses and models are developed, economic laws and theories are established. Among the economic theories it should be noted:

· classical theory of labor value. Its main ideas were formulated by Adam Smith and developed in the works of David Ricardo and John St. Mill and are that the value of a product is determined by the socially necessary labor expended on its production. Developing this theory, K. Marx showed that with the advent of machine production, labor also creates surplus value, which serves as a source of exploitation of hired workers;

· the economic theory of John Maynard Keynes, which rejects the self-regulation of a market economy. Therefore, the state must play an active role in regulating the economy through fiscal and monetary policies that would mitigate periodic sharp declines in production by reducing taxes and increasing government orders, and would maintain the unemployment rate at a non-critical level. D.M. Keynes laid the foundations of macroeconomics, defined its basic concepts and formulated the most important laws;

· monitarist theory, which opposes government intervention in market regulation. At the same time, it is assumed that correct monetary policy, free from arbitrary changes in the exchange rate and incompetent government intervention, is most effective in combating inflation. In this theory, the main role is given to self-organization processes economic system in general and the market mechanism in particular;

· theories or concepts characterizing the dynamics and evolution of economic systems.

Along with fundamental economic theories, there are also many private ones that consider the problems of the development of individual sectors of the economy: production and exchange, consumption and distribution. Within these sectors, theories of pricing and consumer demand operate within the framework of theories of distribution and consumption.

In economic research, all special methods are used (Fig. 2.1), which have two inseparable sides: formal-logical and content-genetic.

Formal-logical side includes methods and techniques for organizing and conducting research, collecting and processing information characterizing the activity being studied.

When studying social, socio-economic phenomena and processes, the following methods are used:

· historical – periodization of processes and phenomena, analysis of the internal structure and sources of development, activity of actions;

· statistical-economic– the study of mass phenomena and processes of social life based on a set of factors that form a given phenomenon or process;

· monographic– generalization of individual typical social phenomena and experience of leading domestic and foreign enterprises;

· experimental– study of the organization and management of production, organization and activities of free economic zones;

· abstract-logical– purposeful, planned and systematic study of phenomena and on this basis the identification of the main category (concept), which contains all the important features of the phenomenon;

· economic and mathematical programming– establishing optimal options for using resources and organizing production.

Methods of social research were systematized in the process of development sociology, studying society and social activities of people.

The founder of sociology is considered to be the French scientist Auguste Comte (1798-1857), who in 1838 proposed not to build a system of ideal social order, but to study scientific methods society that actually exists.

A number of researchers believe that social phenomena are things that obey laws. Others, on the contrary, note that social facts can only be explained on the basis of general psychological laws. Defenders of a subjective view of the method of sociology claim that since society consists of individuals, the principles of individual psychology should become the primary source for explaining sociological facts.

At the same time, the determining cause of a given social fact should be sought among previous social facts, and not in states of individual consciousness. This idea is more general form received further development in the functional-structural approach to sociology. It is necessary to combine an objective approach, taking into account the expedient activities of participants in social actions and processes, their goals, interests and motives of behavior. These requirements are implemented in the theoretical and empirical methods of modern sociology.

Currently, in theoretical studies of sociology, three main ones have emerged: belief systems(research concepts):

· structural-functional, in which society is viewed as an integral system of interconnected and interacting social structures, each of which performs its own function in it. Moreover, each society, in order to exist and develop, must satisfy four functional requirements:

Adapt to environment, to survive;

Implement further goals and prioritize them after satisfying the most pressing material needs of members of society;

To achieve further integration of society;

Support certain forms or structures of action;

· social conflict, in which society is viewed as a system with inherent social inequality and conflicts arising from it (economic, class, racial, national, religious, etc.).

According to a number of scientists, post-industrial society, in contrast to feudal society, which relied mainly on traditions, is distinguished by rationalism in assessing the means of achieving personal and social goals;

· symbolic-interactive, in which social relations are studied on micro level, in contrast to those discussed above, where processes on macro level, i.e. society as a whole is studied.

This belief system is called symbolic, because it considers the relationships of people in small groups along with the symbolic and semantic meanings that they attach to their actions.

Interactivity characterizes direct interactions between people in small groups in various circumstances. Each person perceives precisely the direct actions of the people in contact with him, and not such an abstract object as society as a whole.

In addition, empirical and humanitarian methods are highlighted.

Empirical are distinguished by great diversity, since sociology studies the most diverse aspects of social life, starting from social relations that develop within the family, as a unit of society, and ending with the study of the structures of such institutions of society as the state, political parties, classes, education systems, health care, pensions, etc.

The main empirical method of sociology is the analysis of the results of a survey of a representative sample. To increase the objectivity of the results of such research, a social experiment is conducted, the main purpose of which is to test hypotheses, which gives the work a targeted and systematic character. The advantage of this method is the reproducibility of the results by other researchers.

TO humanitarian include methods for studying human spiritual activity. In this case, the main object of study becomes the text, which in the broad sense of the word refers to any associated sign complex. In public form, it is a recording of a material or scientific work, a sculpture or painting created by an artist, a film, a radio or television broadcast, etc.

Humanitarian research methods are based on the concepts of hermeneutics - the general theory of linguistic understanding of any texts, regardless of their specific content. Its principle is quite simple and boils down to the fact that any understanding begins with comprehension of the whole, based on which they move on to knowledge of its parts, and then, based on knowledge of the parts, they receive a more complete understanding of the whole. This creates a continuously expanding hermeneutic circle . This is a regularity of the process of understanding, a transition from one level to another, which no longer corresponds to a circle, but to a hermeneutic spiral of understanding.