2111MUE03

Philosophy of Science -

Foundations and Implications for Research Designs and Research Methods

Philosophy of science analysis is a basis for evaluating one's own and others' research contributions. However, while reading a scientific paper or monograph requires documenting the methods used, such as a questionnaire to collect data or a regression analysis to evaluate data, the underlying philosophy of science position is often not even mentioned. However, anyone who wants to deal with justification claims of scientific research and its methods cannot avoid dealing with these very positions. Especially in the case of mixed-method studies, such explanations are increasingly demanded by reviewers and journal editors.

The aim of the seminar is therefore to familiarize the participants with the main streams in the philosophy of science and their ontological and epistemological positions that are essential for research. The introduction to the topic will be based on three guiding questions in the context of a "World Café", which will structure the course. The basics of the philosophy of science will be presented by a lecturer and serve as a common basis for discussion of the different positions. Subsequently, the different streams of philosophy of science and their main implications for research methods and research design are presented by the participants, each forming thematic foci. The individual presentations then serve as a basis for the subsequent joint discussion and, if necessary, thematic expansion by the lecturers.

A major objective of the course is to sensitize students to the various streams in the philosophy of science and to provide basic knowledge about different strategies of justification in the philosophy of science in order to enable critical reflection on one's own scientific research. Although the focus of the course is on the discussion of philosophical (philosophy of science) positions, another concern of the course is to address their relevance for scientific practice and to analyze them by means of practical examples.