STS200 Exam 1

Which of the following disciplines are key contributors to Science and Technology Studies?

• Philosphy

• marketing

• math

• sociology

• history

Karl Popper's falsification principle is best understood as a principle to determine

• what theories are meaningful

• are false

• are sceientific

• are true

Popper felt that natural sciences should use inductive methods

• True

• False

Which of the following are reasons why it is difficult in practice to falsify theories on the basis of a single experiment?

• Experiments are based on inductive reasoning

• One can never be sure that one's equipment is sufficiently accurate to provide clear and correct observations

• The expected experimental result depends not just on the hypothesis, but on many auxilliary assumptions and calculations that may be wrong

The experimenter's regress is best understood as the problem that

• Scientists will never agree on whether an experiment is correctly conducted

• One does not know whether one's experiment is working unless you already know the outcome that should occur

• Every experiment inevitably depends upon other experiments

Kuhn's theory of scientific revolutions has consequences for our views of scientific progress. Which of the following statements best characterizes Kuhn's view about progress?

• While there is progress in solving puzzles and resolving anomolies, there is not progress towards some ultimate truth

• Scientific progress is an illusion

• Science has setbacks, but overall it gives us a more and more correct account of nature

Which of the following are characteristics of normal science?

• Normal science has a set of standard techniques and exemplars

• Normal science does not question principles of a paradigm

• Normal science is typically government funded

• Normal science is concerned with solving puzzles

• Normal science is applied science

Scientific findings should be assessed by shared standards and not be affected by the identity or origin of the scientist

• Universalism

• communalism

• organized specptism

• disinterestedness

Scientific knowledge is the product of a collective process that should be shared throughout the community

• Universalism

• communalism

• organized specptizm

• disinterestedness

The scientist takes nothing for granted and assumes that all knowledge claims should be subject to empirical test

• universilism

• communalism

• orgainized spectizm

• disinterestedness