Scientific Knowledge

• “Science” cannot be easily defined.

-the difficulty arises due to tendency to confuse the
content of science with it methodology.
• Scholars in science and social sciences defined
the term science in different ways and employed
it in different contexts.
• Science has no special subject matter of its own
• The word science derived from the Latin word
scientia-to know
• In general science is a knowledge about the
nature of natural and social phenomena
 Scientific Knowledge
• Development of Science
Physics Metaphysics Art and
Humanities
-natural sciences -Philosophy
-chemistry -logic
-physics -moral
-biology -epistemology
-others -social sciences -social sciences
 Scientific Knowledge
• Scientific knowledge
-not necessarily every science about a particular subject
matters is considered as scientific knowledge.
-scientific knowledge is knowledge that has been
systematically gathered, classified, related, and
interpreted.
-scientific knowledge is all knowledge collected by the
means of the scientific methodology.
-It is concerned with learning the concepts and applying
those concepts to particular, rather than just learning a
vast amount of information (Elgin F.H & David C.C. 2011)
 Scientific Knowledge
• Four factors are essential to the classification
of an item of information as scientific
knowledge:
(1) independent and rigorous testing,
(2) peer review and publication,
(3) measurement of actual or
potential rate of error, and
(4) degree of acceptance within
the scientific community.
 Scientific Knowledge
Tutorial topics/questions
1. Why science has no special subject matter of it owned? Discuss
2. Science is not easy to be define. Discuss the reasons.
Why the following four characters are most important to the classification of
an item of information as scientific knowledge? Discuss your reasons.
(3) independent and rigorous testing,
(4) peer review and publication,
(5) measurement of actual or potential rate of error, and
(6) degree of acceptance within the scientific community.
7. With referring to the development history of knowledge, discuss your
opinion about its reason.
Scientific knowledge is knowledge that has been systematically gathered,
classified, related, and interpreted. Explain the meaning of systematically:
8. Gathered,
9. Classified,
10. Related, and
11. Interpreted