2nd or 3rd year of Arts and interested in:

Building 16-months of paid experience before you graduate? Clarifying career goals and interests? Gaining job search skills?

Apply to Arts Co-opLearn more at an Information Session (50 mins):

Wed, Sep 17 4:00 pm Buch A205Thur, Sep 18 12:30 pm Geog 100Mon, Sep 22 12:00 pm Biol 2449Tues, Sep 23 3:00 pm Wesb 201Wed, Sep 24 5:00 pm Buch A202Tues, Sep 30 4:00 pm Buch A104

Application Deadline: Monday, October 6th @ 4:00 pm

http://co-op.arts.ubc.ca

Breakthrough ResearchBreakthrough Research

• Science does not conform to the “Ah-Ha!” model• Again – portrayed in the media

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Most science

Most science

The Connectivity ModelThe Connectivity Model

• The Connectivity Model = a new theory must make contact with previously established empirical facts

• It must explain old AND new facts

• It can explain old facts in a new way

• Incorporation of old and new information ensures the cumulative progress of science

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The Connectivity ModelThe Connectivity Model

• Theories are connected

• Theories will compete for superiority until any unexplained data is accounted for

• No one ‘Ah-ha’ experiment, but the accumulation of many

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Connectivity & Pseudo-scienceConnectivity & Pseudo-science

• Beware! Pseudo-scientific claims ignore the connectivity model!• Newness factor

• Pseudo-scientopia

Converging EvidenceConverging Evidence

• If data used to back up claims – where is it coming from?• Pseudo-science uses their own data• Science uses data from many areas –

converging evidence• Ex: Pseudo-science Science

special reader physics

own scales anatomy

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Converging EvidenceConverging Evidence

• No experiment is perfect• Always some ambiguity when interpreting any

one experiment• There are many ways to confound an

experiment

• To find the truth we look at many slightly flawed experiments (assuming they are flawed in different ways)• Look for trends in large set of experiments

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Converging EvidenceConverging Evidence

• Principle of convergence provides strong evidence from many partially flawed experiments

• Just as theories are “proven” using converging evidence, so are theories disconfirmed• Theories are not abandoned based on one

piece of contradictory data (usually)

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Converging EvidenceConverging Evidence

• If police find your fingerprints at the scene of a murder, you may or may not be guilty

• If they also find your wallet, shoe print, tire tracks, and DNA at the scene and the victim’s prized Picasso painting is now hanging in your living room, well you might be in trouble…

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HYPOTHESES AND HYPOTHESES AND PREDICTIONSPREDICTIONS

Hypothesis: A tentative idea or question that is waiting for evidence to support or refute it

Prediction: A statement that makes an assertion concerning what will occur in a particular research investigation

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Theories, Hypotheses, & Theories, Hypotheses, & PredictionsPredictions

• It is possible to prove that a theory & a hypothesis are false, but it is impossible to prove that they are true• We don’t prove theories or hypotheses,

we support or confirm them

• Predictions can be incorrect

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WHO WE STUDY: A NOTE WHO WE STUDY: A NOTE ON TERMINOLOGYON TERMINOLOGY

Participants (APA preferred)SubjectsRespondents Informants

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SOURCES OF IDEASSOURCES OF IDEAS

Common Sense / IntuitionObservation of the World Around UsTheories

Organize and explainGenerate new knowledgeModified by new research

Past ResearchPractical Problems

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