Annex I
Definitions of the axes of Nott y Wellington’s questionnaire (2000,
pp. 312-313) for determining the profile of the concept of the nature of science
[Free translation by the authors]
1. Relativism/positivism
Relativistic: You deny that things are true or false if you base your thinking
only on an independent reality. The “truth” of a theory depends on
the rules and rationality of a social group considered, as well as the experimental
techniques used to evaluate it. The perceptions and truth of scientific theories
vary from one individual to another and from one culture to another. Example:
truth is relative, not absolute.
Positivist: You really believe that scientific knowledge is more “valid”
than other forms of knowledge. The laws and theories generated by experiments
are the descriptions of the patterns we see in a real, objective, external world.
For the positivist, science is the primary source of truth. The positivist recognizes
empirical facts and observable phenomena as the raw material of science. The work
of the scientifist is to establish objective relationships between the laws that
govern facts, and what can be observed. The positivist rejects examining root
causes and fundamental origins.
2. Inductivism/deductivism
Inductivist: You believe that the work of the scientist is the interrogation of
Nature. Through observation of particular cases, one can infer `from the particular,
and then determine the basic laws and theories. According to Inductivism, scientists
generalize inductively from a set of observations to reach a universal
law. Scientific knowledge is built by induction based on a sure group of observations.
Deductivist: In our definition this means that you believe that scientists proceed
by means of the evaluation of ideas produced by a logical sequence of everyday
theories, or of their bold and imaginative ideas. According to deductivism (or
hypothetical-deductive reasoning), the scientist’s reasoning consists of
the formation of hypotheses not established by empirical data, but suggested by
them. Science, therefore, proceeds to evaluate the observable consequences of
those hypotheses; for example, the observations are directed or headed by hypotheses—they
are loaded theories.
3. Contextualism/decontextualismo
Contextualism: You hold the view that the truth of scientific knowledge and processes
is interdependent with the culture in which scientists live, and in which their
work is carried out.
Descontextualismo: You hold the view that scientific knowledge is independent
of its cultural location and its sociological structure.
4. Process/Content
Process: You see science as a distinct collection of identifiable methods/processes.
Learning is an essential part of education in science.
Content: You think science is characterized by facts and ideas that it has, and
that the essential part of science education is the acquisition and management
of “this body of knowledge.”
5. Instrumentalism/realism
Instrumentalism: You believe that scientific theories and ideas are good while
they work, that is, they allow correct predictions to be made. These are tools
we can use, but they tell us nothing about independent reality or truth itself.
Realism: You believe that scientific theories are statements about a world that
exists in a space and time independent of scientists’ perceptions. Correct
theories describe things that actually exist in a manner independent of the scientists—for
example, atoms and electrons.