Special methods of scientific research are a way of knowing the objective reality. This method involves a certain sequence of techniques, actions, operations. Taking into account the content of the objects under consideration, methods of social and humanitarian research and natural science are distinguished.
Classification
Special research methods are divided into scientific fields:
- medical;
- math;
- socio-economic;
- biological;
- legal.
Taking into account the level of knowledge, theoretical, empirical, meta-subject levels are distinguished. Special methods of the empirical type are description, observation, measurement, counting, testing, questionnaire, modeling, experiment, interview.
Among the methods of the theoretical plan, abstraction, formalization, axiom, synthesis, analogy, deduction, induction are noted. Special methods of the metatheoretical level are metaphysics, dialectics.
Division by degree of generality
Staking into account the scope of use and the degree of generality, they distinguish:
- philosophical (general), which are applicable in any science, at all stages of knowledge;
- general scientific, used in the natural, humanitarian, technical fields;
- private, applied to related scientific fields;
- special, created for a specific area of scientific knowledge.
Important terms
Special research methods are associated with the procedure and methodology of scientific knowledge. Research technique is the sum of special techniques for applying a particular method. The research procedure is a sequence of actions, a variant of the organization of direct research. Methodology is the sum of techniques and methods of cognition. Any research in science is carried out in certain ways and techniques, taking into account specific rules.
Methodology
It consists of special methods, techniques. This concept is used in two meanings:
- the sum of methods that are applied in a certain field of activity: politics, science;
- the doctrine of the scientific version of knowledge.
Every science has its own methodology. In scientific research, it is a system of rules, principles, techniques that are intended for the qualitative solution of cognitive problems.
Methodology levels
There are different methods of special education that allow you to educate and develop the next generation. The following levels of methodology are distinguished:
- general part, which is universal for all sciences, the content of which includes general scientific and philosophical methods of cognition;
- private methodology is typical for general scientific variants of cognition, for example, for state-legal phenomena;
- methodology of scientific research of a certain science, which is based on general scientific, philosophical, special, private methods of cognition, for example, the theoretical basis of correctional pedagogy.
Philosophical methods
Special scientific methods of the philosophical plan are metaphysical and dialectical approaches. They are associated with different philosophical systems. For example, Goethe combined method with idealism, Marx with materialism.
Dialectics, when considering phenomena and objects, recommends proceeding from specific principles:
- study objects in the light of dialectical laws: the unity and struggle of opposites, the negation of negation, the transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones;
- explain, describe, predict the processes and phenomena under consideration, based on philosophical categories: special, general, single, phenomenon and essence, consequence and cause, accidental and necessary;
- treat the object under study as an objective reality;
- to consider phenomena and objects: in development, change;
- test in practice the acquired knowledge.
General scientific methods
General and special methods are divided into several groups. Among the general scientific aretheoretical, general logical, empirical. Synthesis, analysis, deduction, induction, analogy are considered general logical options. They are in demand in modern pedagogy. Analysis is a division into parts of the object of study. For example, special teaching methods are distinguished for each subject area considered in Russian pedagogy.
Classification and periodization are noted as varieties of analysis. They are widely used in the natural sciences. For example, when considering inorganic compounds, students get acquainted with individual classes, give each of them a description.
Synthesis is the union of separate sides, parts of the analyzed object into a single whole. Special methods are distinguished in each area, they depend on its specifics and purpose.
Induction and deduction
Among pedagogical techniques and methods, without which it is difficult to imagine education, we single out induction and deduction.
Induction is the derivation of the particular from the general theory, the movement in science from general provisions to specific phenomena and objects.
Methods of special psychology involve "deriving" some idea from other thoughts. The analogy, which involves obtaining information about phenomena and objects based on the fact that they have similarities with other objects, is used in the teaching of academic disciplines, as well as in educational activities.
Among the methods of the theoretical level that teachers use in their work, of interest arehypothetical, axiomatic types, as well as system analysis, generalization.
The axiomatic method is a variant of research, consisting in the fact that postulates are accepted without proof, then other knowledge is deduced from them according to specific logical rules.
A hypothetical method is a variant of research using a scientific hypothesis, the assumption of a cause that characterizes this effect or explains the existence of an object (phenomenon). The hypothetical-deductive method of research serves as a variation of the method, the essence of which is the formation of a system of deductively interconnected hypotheses, from which statements about empirical patterns are derived.
Structure of the hypothetical-deductive method
Since it is used in modern pedagogy, let's dwell on it in more detail. Its structure includes:
- proposing assumptions about the patterns and causes of the analyzed objects and methods;
- selection of the most likely versions from a variety of guesses;
- inferring by deduction from the assumption of the conclusion;
- experimental confirmation of the consequences derived from the hypothesis.
What other special pedagogical methods are currently used in domestic pedagogy?
Formalization is the display of an object or phenomenon in a symbolic form. This is relevant in chemistry, mathematics, logic when studying the topics of the school curriculum. The use of an artificial formalized language contributes to the eliminationdisadvantages of natural language: inaccuracies, vagueness, ambiguity.
Instead of reasoning about a specific object of study, formalization operates with formulas. For example, in chemistry, using equations, they determine the essence of the ongoing process, plan the synthesis of obtaining compounds with specified chemical and physical properties.
Formalization is the basis of programming and algorithmization. With the help of this method, information is computerized, the process of researching specific knowledge takes place.
Features of abstraction
Abstracting is a figurative abstraction from some properties and relations of the subject under consideration, highlighting the properties that interest the researcher.
Within the framework of abstraction, secondary connections and properties of the process (phenomenon) under consideration are separated from the main characteristics. There are several types of abstraction:
- identification, which implies the allocation of common relations and properties of the objects under consideration, the combination of objects into a separate class;
- isolation, concerning the selection of certain relationships and properties, considering them as independent subjects of study.
There are also other types of abstraction: actual infinity, potential feasibility.
Generalization is a way of establishing relationships and properties of phenomena and objects, revealing a general concept that can reflect the main features of the analyzed class. This research methodis based on the philosophical categories of the special, the general, the singular.
The historical method consists in identifying historical signs, recreating the process based on them, accompanied by the disclosure of the logic of research in chronological order.
The system method involves the analysis of the system, that is, the consideration of a certain amount of ideal or material objects, their connections with the outside world. These interactions and relationships contribute to the emergence of new system parameters that are absent from its objects.
Conclusion
Research methods are the basis for analysis, study, construction of patterns occurring in nature, technology, social life. For example, methods are of interest: measurement, observation, experiment, description, modeling, comparison. Observation involves a method of cognition based on the direct perception of phenomena and objects through sensory perception. As part of the observation, the researcher gets information about the external features of the object (phenomenon). The description is associated with their fixation, for example, in the process of measurement or observation. There are several types of description. With direct, the researcher indicates and perceives the signs of the object in question. In the mediated form, he notes signs that were perceived by other persons.
The experimental method deserves special attention. It involves the reproduction of a process, a phenomenon, accompanied by a hypothesis (assumption). Research activities are not limited to research laboratories and universities. As part of updating the content of domestic school education, this type of scientific activity has become widely used in the course of training and development of the younger generation. Young researchers learn how to independently conduct small experiments, document their results, and analyze them.
FGOS of the new generation, implemented in preschool and school Russian education, require the mandatory use of research methods in all subject areas. At present, there are many scientific methods, thanks to which the properties and characteristics of objects are explained in science and technology, new approaches are created in pedagogy, and methods of work in psychology are improved. It is difficult to imagine the full development of society, the formation of the younger generation without the use of various scientific methods in the educational process.
