UNIT 2 SCIENTIFIC METHOD AND ITS                                                   Epistemology and
                                                                                            Gender-Based Analysis
                           CRITIQUE
                                                                       Renu Addlakha
             Structure
             2.1  Introduction
             2.2  Objectives
             2.3  The Classical Scientific Method
             2.4  Brief History of the Classical Scientific Method
             2.5  Basic Steps in the Classical Scientific Method
             2.6  Classical Scientific Method and Social Science Research
             2.7  Critique of the Scientific Method
             2.8  Feminist Critique of the Scientific Method
             2.9  Let Us Sum Up
             2.10 Glossary
             2.11 Unit End Questions
             2.12 References
             2.13 Suggested Readings
             2.1 INTRODUCTION
             After reading about what is feminist and gender based research in the
             previous unit,  let us read about another associated aspect of conventional
             research that is scientific method. The units looks into what is meant by
             this term and how  method qualified to named be named as scientific method
             evolved with the passage of time. The unit then dwells upon the steps of
             scientific method followed by it’s critique from a feminist perspective too.
             Before moving ahead, lets glance through the objectives of reading this unit.
             2.2 OBJECTIVES
             At the end of this unit, you will be able to:
             ·   Describe the classical scientific method;
             ·   Apply the classical scientific method in women and gender studies
                 research;
             ·   Explain feminist critique of the scientific method; and
             ·   Use the basic steps of the scientific method in conceptualising a research
                 problem in women and gender studies.
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          Feminist and Gender         2.3 THE CLASSICAL SCIENTIFIC METHOD
          Based Research
                                      Do you have answers to questions like:
                                      ·   How is the world understood?
                                      ·   How is reality gauged?
                                      ·   How is knowledge gained?
                                      Over the past three hundred years since the Enlightenment (go to glossary
                                      to know more about it), the ‘scientific method’ has emerged as the
                                      predominant, universally accepted approach to acquiring knowledge. As
                                      against religious faith, magic and superstition, the scientific method is a
                                      way of arriving at an empirical, impartial and reliable representation of the
                                      world. The basic assumptions of the scientific method are that reality is
                                      objective and consistent, that human beings have the capacity to perceive
                                      reality accurately and that rational explanations exist for understanding
                                      this reality. Essentially, it involves the application of a set of standardised
                                      procedures for asking questions, gathering information or ‘data’ to answer
                                      the questions and testing the validity, reliability and consistency of the
                                      results. Different modes of logical reasoning, existing theories and laws,
                                      classification and statistical procedures are used in combination to
                                      operationalise the scientific method with the aim of arriving at ‘truth’. In
                                      this Unit you will read a detailed description of this method, including a
                                      critique, to enable you to drawn upon it for your research.
                                      The classical scientific method broadly refers to a set of procedures and
                                      techniques for acquiring knowledge. Historically, the foundations of this
                                      method were laid during the Enlightenment when European thought moved
                                      from a magico-religious understanding of reality to one dominated by reason
                                      and science. It involves positing logical connections between phenomena,
                                      gathering empirical and measurable evidence, confirming or refuting the
                                      proposed connections. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the scientific
                                      method as ‘as a method or procedure that has characterised natural science
                                      since the 17th century, consisting in systematic observation, measurement
                                      and experiment, and the formulation, testing and modification of
                                      hypotheses’.
                                      Generality, scientific method should give results that are not only capable
                                      of verification by others, but also that have universal applicability under
                                      similar conditions. Science is not concerned with individual cases or instances
                                      but with classes and groups of objects and events of which the individual
                                      is only a specimen.
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                           Box No. 2.1                   Scientific Method and Its
                                                                 Critique
          ‘Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating a
          phenomenon, acquiring new knowledge or correcting and integrating
          previous knowledge’  (Goldhaber and Nieto 2010: 940).
          The Italian scientist Galileo (1564-1642) is considered the founder of
          the scientific method.
        Let us now read the historical background of emergence of scientific method
        in the realm of research.
        2.4 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CLASSICAL SCIENTIFIC
             METHOD
        The scientific method is not a purely modern invention because ancient
        Egyptian documents describe application of empirical methods in astronomy,
        mathematics and medicine. Greek philosopher Thales (624 BC–546 BC)
        rejected religious, magical and supernatural explanations. He proclaimed
        that every event has a natural cause. Another Greek philosopher Aristotle
        (384-322 BC) is regarded as the inventor of the scientific method because of
        his detailed study of logic. Experimental methods were developed by Islamic
        scholars like Alhazen (965 -1040 AD) who worked on optics and physiology.
        The development of the scientific method as the principal mode of acquiring
        knowledge emerged during the Renaissance through the works of numerous
        pioneering scientists and philosophers  such as Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-
        1543) who showed that it was not the earth but the sun which was the
        centre of the solar system; William Harvey (1578-1657) who described in
        accurate detail the functioning of the human circulatory system, Robert
        Boyle (1627-1691) regarded by many as the ‘Father of Modern Chemistry’
        and many others who performed controlled experiments providing elaborate
        details concerning procedure, apparatus and observations. Perhaps, the
        most well known of these great scientists is without doubt Isaac Newton
        (1942-1727). Francis Bacons’s Novum Organum (1620) and Rene Descartes
        (1637) Discourse on Method provided the theoretical foundation of the
        classical scientific method.
        In contrast to faith, dogma and tradition embodied in religious belief and
        superstition, these thinkers advocated what would today be called the
        ‘scientific temper’. The basic features of the scientific temper are
        ·  A belief in an underlying order in nature that is knowable through reason.
        ·  The idea that every natural phenomenon has a cause which can be known.
        ·  The universal accessibility to understanding nature through a set of
           methodological procedures based on observation, measurement,
           classification, experimentation, verification and prediction.
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          Feminist and Gender         Truth is not based on blind faith in the word of God found in the scriptures
          Based Research              but available to anyone following the method(s) of science. For example,
                                      the geocentric model of the solar system was replaced by the heliocentric
                                      model proposed by Copernicus which was based on observation of planetary
                                      motions through telescopes, while the earlier theory was based on religious
                                      faith not backed by actual observation. Science is conceptualized as an
                                      objective enterprise and the scientific approach aims to minimize the
                                      influence of bias of the individual scientist on the results of the research.
                                      Before proceeding ahead, take up the following exercise.
                                        Check Your Progress:
                                        i)  What is understood by scientific method and scientific temper ?
                                        ii) What are  the main features of the scientific method and its approach
                                            to knowledge.
                                      In the next section, you will read about the basic steps that need to be
                                      carried out in conducting research in the classical scientific method.
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