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PubMed1994

Feminist empiricism as a method for inquiry in nursing.

Feminist empiricism may provide a valuable approach for the acquisition, evaluation, and integration of biological knowledge in nursing epistemologies. This article discusses feminist empiricism as a method for inquiry in nursing. Proponents of feminist empiricism strive to work within the current political, social, and scientific structures while acknowledging that all three of these structures must change if less distorted epistemologies are to emerge. Hypertension in women is used to illustrate how feminist empiricism could be used to modify the traditional scientific approach. The argument is made that the androcentricism of the traditional scientific approach must be changed in order to include the problematics of women. Moreover, women must have a central role in determining the problematics of both health and illness in women. A philosophical stance embracing holism cannot deny biological phenomena or preclude research on these phenomena. Theorists and scientists in nursing have a unique opportunity to reconceptualize biological phenomena, from a holistic perspective, in the development of epistemologies for nursing. An argument for the use of basic research as a quantitative methodology, from a feminist perspective, is made. The appropriateness, for nursing, of basic research methodologies to generate knowledge about biological processes, which are within nursing's scientific domain, are discussed.

Female↗

PubMed2002

Fight the power: the limits of empiricism and the costs of positivistic rigor.

A summary of the influence of positivistic philosophy and empiricism on the field of psychology is followed by a critique of the empirical method. The dialectic process is advocated as an alternative method of inquiry. The main advantage of the dialectic method is that it is open to any logical argument, including empirical hypotheses, but unlike empiricism, it does not automatically reject arguments that are not based on observable data. Evolutionary and moral psychology are discussed as examples of important fields of study that could benefit from types of arguments that frequently do not conform to the empirical standards of systematic observation and falsifiability of hypotheses. A dialectic method is shown to be a suitable perspective for those fields of research, because it allows for logical arguments that are not empirical and because it fosters a functionalist perspective, which is indispensable for both evolutionary and moral theories. It is suggested that all psychologists may gain from adopting a dialectic approach, rather than restricting themselves to empirical arguments alone.

Biological Evolution↗

PubMed1998

Two dogmas of conceptual empiricism: implications for hybrid models of the structure of knowledge.

Concepts seem to consist of both an associative component based on tabulations of feature typicality and similarity judgments and an explanatory component based on rules and causal principles. However, there is much controversy about how each component functions in concept acquisition and use. Here we consider two assumptions, or dogmas, that embody this controversy and underlie much of the current cognitive science research on concepts. Dogma 1: Novel information is first processed via similarity judgments and only later is influenced by explanatory components. Dogma 2: Children initially have only a similarity-based component for learning concepts; the explanatory component develops on the foundation of this earlier component. We present both empirical and theoretical arguments that these dogmas are unfounded, particularly with respect to real world concepts; we contend that the dogmas arise from a particular species of empiricism that inhibits progress in the study of conceptual structure; and finally, we advocate the retention of a hybrid model of the structure of knowledge despite our rejection of these dogmas.

Association Learning↗

PubMed1994

Empiricism versus science in the teaching of nephrology.

Recent changes in medical courses in Italy reflect a recognition that both theoretical education and clinical practice are essential components of a doctor's training. These two parallel branches of medical education find their origins in the beliefs of Galen, mentor of medicine as a pure science, and of Alexander of Aphrodisias, promoter of the predominant role of empiricism. Neither a dogmatic nor an empiric approach to the study of medicine, however, is sufficient on its own.

Education, Medical↗

PubMed1985

Logic and empiricism in the selection of antiarrhythmic agents. The role of drug combinations.

Advances in investigative techniques of cardiac arrhythmias through invasive procedures (clinical electrophysiology) or through ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring provide a better understanding of the mechanism responsible for these disturbances and a better assessment of therapeutic efficacy. Yet, it cannot be inferred that the selection of antiarrhythmic agents is orientated in all cases by logical reasoning. Too many factors are unknown, especially those regarding the spontaneous mechanism of initiation of clinical arrhythmias. Patient management very often remains mainly empirical. The problem becomes even more complex when dealing with arrhythmias resistant to single-agent therapy. Drug combinations are then used, often successfully, particularly those combining membrane-stabilising agents with amiodarone or beta-adrenergic blocking agents or combining amiodarone with verapamil. Explanations of the efficacy of these combinations at reduced doses become less certain, but it is more important to achieve efficacy than to understand its mechanism, which does not always amount to a simple increase in plasma drug levels. When attempting to determine the reasons behind the theoretically logical selection of an antiarrhythmic agent, it appears that, in spite of advances in electrophysiology and pharmacology, the logic of this selection owes more to chance than to reason. The problem becomes further complicated when drug combinations are to be used which, in clinical practice, are often the therapeutic solution in difficult cases. Advances made in recent years bring up the question of knowing whether or not logic is near to replacing empiricism.

Anti-Arrhythmia Agents↗

PubMed1992

Freeze-drying: from empiricism to predictability. The significance of glass transitions.

The physical and chemical principles which govern the behaviour of aqueous solutions during freezing and subsequent drying are discussed. They include undercooling, nucleation and growth of ice, the concomitant freeze concentration of the residual solution and its secondary effects, the role of water as plasticizer in amorphous organic materials, the removal of such water, and the over-riding importance of the glass/rubber transition. An understanding of the basic principles can remove most of the empiricism from freeze-drying and lead to more efficient process cycles and to products of superior quality and stability.

Biological Products↗

PubMed1991

[Physical medicine--a field between empiricism and science].

Physical Medicine is more deeply rooted in empiricism than most other medical fields. This causes problems and the demand for scientific testing of its methods. Selected examples are given relating to prevention, therapy and rehabilitation. They show that scientific testing is possible also in Physical Medicine and can lead to positive results.

Arterial Occlusive Diseases↗

PubMed1997

Emotion and empiricism: research on childhood trauma and adult psychopathology.

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Adult↗

PubMed2003

[Research on violence against women in Latin America: from blind empiricism to theory without data].

Research on violence against women in Latin America presents an interesting paradox: while the number of studies is quite small, there also appears to be a sense that research on this topic has been exhausted, despite the lack of any definitive responses to the nature and causes of the problem. This results from the boom in studies with a strong empirical focus, lacking any basis in more general sociological theory. On the other hand, research using social theory tends to ignore the existing mediations between structural arrangements and any individual specific behavior, as well as the interactive nature of domestic violence. Meanwhile, empirical research presents inconsistent results and tends to run into methodological problems such as operational confusion, contradictory findings, and results and recommendations that are too obvious. New research designs must be developed to enrich the field and which are solidly based on the body of conceptual knowledge in social sciences, abandoning designs without theory and those which are merely statistical. Only then will it be possible to imagine the new research questions that the problem of violence requires.

Domestic Violence↗

PubMed2000