Nature Of Science Research Articles

Political endorsement by Nature and trust in scientific expertise during COVID-19

High-profile political endorsements by scientific publications have become common in recent years, raising concerns about backlash against the endorsing organizations and scientific expertise. In a preregistered large-sample controlled experiment, I randomly assigned participants to receive information about the endorsement of Joe Biden by the scientific journal Nature during the COVID-19 pandemic. The endorsement message caused large reductions in stated trust in Nature among Trump supporters. This distrust lowered the demand for COVID-related information provided by Nature, as evidenced by substantially reduced requests for Nature articles on vaccine efficacy when offered. The endorsement also reduced Trump supporters’ trust in scientists in general. The estimated effects on Biden supporters’ trust in Nature and scientists were positive, small and mostly statistically insignificant. I found little evidence that the endorsement changed views about Biden and Trump. These results suggest that political endorsement by scientific journals can undermine and polarize public confidence in the endorsing journals and the scientific community.

A direct proof of the non-existence of a MOL(6)

It is well known that a Latin Square of order 6 has no orthogonal mate. Many proofs are known, some of which are very short, see for instance (Betten in Unterricht 36:449–453, 1983; Beth et al. in Design theory, Bibliographisches Institut Mannheim Wien, Zürich, 1985; Tarry in Comptes Rendus Ass Franc Sci Nat 1900(2), 170–203, 1901; Stinson in J Comb Theory A 36:373–376, 1984). This paper provides a short proof of this fact which avoids a case distinction on the isomorphism types of the Latin Square. We observe that any Latin Square of order 6 falls within exactly one of three categories. Either it has two rows which form a permutation whose cycle type is three transpositions. Or it has no subsquare of order 2, or it is a single Latin Square with symmetry group the rotation group of the cube of order 24. In each case, the nonexistence of an orthogonal mate can be seen quickly.

Using the History of the Super-Organismic-Plant-Community Concept To Help Students Understand the Nature of Science

Although formulating a broadly accepted definition of scientific literacy may be challenging, it is widely recognized that Nature of Science (NOS) is an essential component of it. There are different ways to define NOS. In some cases, NOS can be conceptualized through a number of general NOS aspects like for instance science’s empirical basis or tentativeness. This approach in NOS teaching and learning is considered to be helpful for advancing students’ understanding about NOS. Moreover, it has been suggested that history of science, and more specifically narratives informed by the history of science, can be very well used to explicitly and systematically highlight general NOS aspects. Thus, this paper reports on two “fiction talk stories” that we created considering the history of the super-organismic-plant-community concept and the critique against it. Our stories, “Inspiration cannot wait” and “Panta rhei,” set focus on the creativity involved in scientists’ work, the distinction between observation and inference, and the tentativeness of science. In this paper, we (a) discuss fiction talk stories as a type of narratives used in educational contexts, (b) highlight the historical background of “Inspiration cannot wait” and “Panta rhei” and present the narratives themselves, (c) discuss them in terms of their essential features and the strategies we considered, and (d) we make some final remarks.

Library and information science and the positivist paradigm: Some critical reflections

The employment of the positivist paradigm in Library and Information Science (LIS) research is commonplace, by at least those who have cared to declare their research paradigms, especially at masters and doctoral levels of their studies. Inspired by such widespread use of positivism in LIS, this paper interrogates the applicability and appropriateness of this paradigm as a philosophical bearing for LIS researchers. Although the thrust of the paper is to critique the applicability of positivism to LIS research, it is itself not a lampoon on the scientific nature of LIS, neither is it in the interest of the paper to challenge any researchers who have employed positivism in the conduct of their research in the area of LIS. Instead, it is a critical reflection on some of the glaring challenges of employing positivism in LIS research, and warns against falling into the trap of what the author calls “positivist paradigmatic sophistry.” The paper is not prescriptive or conclusive, but opens new opportunities for critically reflecting on the utility of positivism in LIS research, and a more careful use of this paradigm by LIS scholars and researchers. The discussion unfolds by first putting LIS into perspective by way of briefly tracing the development of the sciences through the lens of Comte. It proceeds by way of explaining the nature of LIS in order to put it into perspective and goes on to unpack the concept of a paradigm before zeroing in on positivism as a paradigm of research. The paper finally presents some challenges that are associated with the application of positivism to LIS research. It argues that positivism is largely incompatible with LIS as a social science and concludes by imploring LIS researchers to engage in a deliberative and progressive discourse on whether positivism is appropriate for LIS research.

HEALTH CARE IN THE SURGICAL CENTER

The surgical center being a propitious sector to develop different types of bacteria, makes the nurse in constant improvement based always on scientific nature, the continuing education as a practice of prevention must be developed by the CCIH in a strategic way, a set of actions between the entire team decreases in this control of infections, including the length of stay for this patient, as well as hospital costs increase with the length of stay.

Students’ Views on the Nature of Science in an Interdisciplinary First-Year Science Program: Content Analysis of a Weekly Reflection Activity

A primary aim of science education is to teach students how to interpret and engage with scientific information. To do so effectively requires an adequate understanding of the nature of science (NOS)—in other words, what science is and how it works. There is a long history of evidence to suggest that many undergraduate students struggle to properly understand NOS. While the specific factors contributing to misinformed views on NOS may be difficult to tease apart, the way in which students learn about science at the undergraduate level is a significant contributor. We implemented a reflection activity in a unique first-year program at a large Canadian university in order to promote student learning of NOS. Through the students’ reflections, we identified how certain pedagogical approaches, many of which deviate from traditional teaching methods used throughout undergraduate science education, can positively impact student comprehension of NOS. Our experiences support the use of reflective practices in promoting critical thinking and the development of more nuanced student views of NOS.

Let them research with

The French natural philosopher Henri Victor Regnault (1810–1878) was one of many researchers who contributed to the development of the thermometer in the 19th century. In this paper, we use an example from Regnault’s work to explore how the history of thermometry can provide a context for teaching upper-secondary chemistry students about the nature of science (NOS), particularly its aims and values. The study takes form as a hermeneutical spiral, wherein literature on the history and philosophy of science, NOS, the family resemblance approach (FRA), NOS teaching, characteristics of narratives, and the new performative paradigm feed into the spiral, along with input from an empirical study. A teaching unit (n = 21, duration = 90 min) was developed and tested on Norwegian students aged 17–18 years, and a thematic analysis of students’ statements (n = 13) was carried out. The students identified “being first,” “usefulness,” “accuracy,” and “minimalism” as values and aims that guided Regnault’s work. We argue that the use of this particular historical episode framed within FRA (1) invited students to identify with the human actor—Regnault, (2) invited students into the historical context of the development of the thermometer, and (3) demonstrated complexity and provided context to support students’ own construction of their understanding of NOS. To summarize, by deriving the term “research with” from the performative paradigm and using the context of the historical episode related to the thermometer within the FRA framework students were invited to research with Henri Regnault.

Does analytic theology belong in the public university?

AbstractAn overarching question in William Wood'sAnalytic Theology and the Academic Study of Religionconcerns the conditions under which theology belongs in the public university. On this question, many or most academics today are methodological naturalists, and they would not accept explanations that appeal to supernatural entities. Wood devotes a chapter to arguing against that position. Nevertheless, Wood is not a ‘sectarian’ who argues that Christian theology should only answer to its own, tradition-specific norms, and so it is important to see how close his proposal and methodological naturalism (MN) actually are. In this response, I seek to clarify both MN and Wood's proposal regarding the proper norms for academic inquiry. Key to my argument is a distinction between a MN based on strict or scientific naturalism and a MN based on liberal or expansive naturalism. Analytic theologians and expansive naturalists can agree both that a theology that operates according to proper norms for academic inquiry belongs in the public university and that strict naturalism is not the norm that we want.

Reconstruction of The Principle of Legal Certainty Fair Auction For Joint Assets After Divorce Decision

Introduction: This article is about analyzing the implementation of joint property auctions after a divorce decision that has not yet received fair legal certainty. The number of cases after the divorce decision results in the distribution of joint assets between the parties submitted to the Court after not getting peace in the distribution of joint assets, the Court can take over the matter by way of auction.Purposes of the Research: To analyze the principle of legal certainty in auctions in the implementation of auctions after divorce decisions in laws and regulations. Explain the legal problems in applying the legal principle of joint property auctions after the divorce decision. Finding reconstruction as the basis for setting up a bill on joint property auction laws after divorce decisions in the future.Methods of the Research: Based on hermeneutic paradigmatic which is based on philosophy and the scientific nature of law. This hermeneutic paradigm is carried out through a methodological strategy approach to learn from people, namely studying law by exploring and researching the meanings of law from the perspective of users or seekers of justice in the Religious Courts.Results of the Research: In the reconstruction of the principle of legal certainty in an equitable auction of joint assets after the divorce decision in future laws and regulations in legal considerations regarding joint assets that must be auctioned, through an auction procedure in accordance with applicable regulations.

Nature and Agency: Towards a Post-Kantian Naturalism

We outline an alternative to both scientific and liberal naturalism which attempts to reconcile Sellars’ apparently conflicting commitments to the scientific accountability of human nature and the autonomy of the space of reasons. Scientific naturalism holds that agency and associated concepts are a mechanical product of the realm of laws, while liberal naturalism contends that the autonomy of the space of reason requires that we leave nature behind. The third way we present follows in the footsteps of German Idealism, which attempted to overcome the Kantian chasm between nature and agency, and is thus dubbed ‘post-Kantian.’ We point to an overlooked group of scholars in the naturalism debate who, along with recent work in biology and cognitive science, offer a path to overcome the reductive tendencies of empiricism while avoiding the dichotomy of logical spaces. We then bring together these different streams of research, by foregrounding and expanding on what they share: the idea of organisms as living agents and that of a continuity without identity between life and mind. We qualify this as a bottom-up transformative approach to rational agency, which grounds cognition in the intrinsically purposive nature of organisms, while emphasizing the distinction between biological agency and full-fledged mindedness.

A Positively Relaxed Take on Naturalism: Reasons to be Relaxed but not too Liberal

Relaxed naturalism and liberal naturalism both invite us to adopt a philosophy of nature that includes a range of non-scientific phenomena in its inventory while nevertheless keeping the supernatural at bay. This paper considers the question of how relaxed naturalism relates to liberal naturalism and what refinements are required if they are to succeed in their joint cause of developing a tenable alternative to scientific naturalism. Particular attention is given to what might be added to the naturalist’s toolbox when it comes to identifying and dealing with supernatural excesses and clarifying how philosophers can do positive metaphysical work in support of the naturalistic project.

Science communication in the media and human mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic: a time series and content analysis

ObjectivesThe relationship between human mobility and nature of science (NOS) salience in the UK news media was examined. Study designThis is a mixed-method study. MethodsA time series NOS salience data set was established from the content analysis of 1520 news articles related to non-pharmaceutical interventions of COVID-19. Data were taken from articles published between November 2021 and February 2022, which correlates with period of the change from pandemic to endemic status. Vector autoregressive model fitting with human mobility took place. ResultsThe findings suggest that it was not the number of COVID-19 news articles nor the actual number of cases/deaths, but the specific NOS content that was associated with mobility change during the pandemic. Data indicate a Granger causal negative direction (P < 0.1) for the effect of the NOS salience represented in the news media on mobility in parks, as well as the effect of scientific practice, scientific knowledge and professional activities communicated in news media on recreational activities and grocery shopping. NOS salience was not associated with the mobility for transit, work or residential locations (P > 0.1). ConclusionsThe findings of the study suggest that the ways in which the news media discuss epidemics can influence changes in human mobility. It is therefore essential that public health communicators emphasise the basis of scientific evidence to eliminate potential media bias in health and science communication for the promotion of public health policy. The present study approach, which combines time series and content analysis and uses an interdisciplinary lens from science communication, could also be adopted to other interdisciplinary health-related topics.

Beyond Biological Essentialism: White Nationalism, Health Disparities Data, and the Cultivation of Lay Agnotology

ABSTRACT Scholars and practitioners position health disparities research as an important tool for redressing race-based inequities and re-conceptualizing racialized health outcomes in non-essentialist terms. Given this context, we explore a peculiar phenomenon, which is the circulation of such research among white nationalists. We discover that white nationalists incorporate and respond to health disparities research not solely to defend racist and essentialist reasoning, but also to project a discourse that indicts the science establishment for ostensibly incorporating liberal politics, corrupting inquiry, and obfuscating understanding of biology in the name of anti-racism or social constructionism. We term this practice “lay agnotology,” as it involves white nationalists capitalizing on their role as non-specialists to charge the health disparities field and its expert contributors with an alleged set of institutionalized biases that produce ignorance about the “truth” of race. We connect this finding to the literature on racialized ignorance, as it demonstrates how stories about the institutional nature of science can be as central to myth-making about race as stories about the scientific nature of people.

Stock Selection and Analysis Based on Valuation, Growth, Profitability and Payout

Stock investing is an enduring topic in finance. Investors choose stocks in order to obtain expected investment returns, but this investment return comes at the expense of investors taking the corresponding risks. Carrying out stock investment analysis is beneficial to reduce the blindness of investment decisions, thereby improving the scientific nature of investment decisions. Investors choose different stock portfolios through stock investment analysis to help reduce investment risks. This article will take some perspectives from the fundamental analysis school and the technical analysis school to conduct investment analysis on some US stocks, and screen out the best stock. Primarily, this study will determine the principle of stock selection, which is to choose the optimal solution by integrating valuation, growth, profitability and dividend. Then, according to the above principles, different indicators will be chosen. By comparing the pros and cons of indicators, the best stock is identified in the selected sample, Meritage Home Corp. It has also performed as expected, maintaining a good upward trend in the context of the decline in the stock market. According to the analysis in the context of the raging new crown epidemic and the shrinking global economy, combining the theories of the fundamental analysis school and the technical analysis school can be regarded as a good method for stock investment analysis. These results shed light on the best principles of stock selection, which is beneficial to reduce investment risks, and improve the investment behavior of investors.

Using the Discovery of Penicillin Resistance to Teach Nature of Science &amp; Natural Selection

The discovery of and research into penicillin resistance by Sir Edward Abraham and Sir Ernst Chain can be used to teach the concept of natural selection and also multiple nature of science (NOS) objectives associated with Next Generation Science Standards, such as “scientific knowledge is based on empirical evidence” and “science is a human endeavor.” After a brief history of Abraham and Chain’s work, we share a detailed multiday lesson plan and rationale for use in an eighth-grade in-person life science classroom. The instructional strategies discussed include analysis of excerpts of Abraham and Chain’s published work through a case study jigsaw using an explicit and reflective approach to teaching NOS. The explicit approach used here is the direct instruction of NOS concepts, while the reflective approach allows students to think about and reflect on what they are learning. Instruction includes close reading, direct instruction, small and large group discussions, and writing. Students are asked to create a scavenger hunt map at the end of the multiday lesson and are assessed with an online five-question pre- and post-assessment.

Creationism USA: Bridging the Impasse on Teaching Evolution

Creationism USA: Bridging the Impasse on Teaching Evolution

Scrutinizing Integrative Learning in Arabic Instruction

This research aims to find new ideas in integrative Arabic learning. The research conducted in this article is qualitative. Extracting research sources takes one form, sources of bibliographical data in the form of authoritative books and journal articles related to integrative Arabic learning. In terms of approach, this study uses a qualitative approach and a philosophical approach. The qualitative approach is related to the quality, value, or meaning that is explained through language or words. While the philosophical approach to explaining the scientific basis and nature or wisdom of a formal object. This study confirms that integrative Arabic learning is learning Arabic that combines the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), elements of Arabic, language competence (competence linguistics, communicative competence, and cultural competence) and integrates all aspects of learning both academic and non-academic so that all Arabic learning programs are designed and implemented in an integrated and programmed manner in every student's daily life. Integrative Arabic learning is precisely in accordance with the character of the language itself which is an inseparable unit where the breadth of language must be treated as a whole and not narrowly. Several scholars who support the above opinion include Ibn Khaldun, Tamam Hassan, Ahmad Abduh Iwadh, Muhbib Abdul Wahab, Munther Younes, Farid Khalfawi, and Balqasim Malikiyah. The conclusion of this study is different from Noam Chomsky's opinion who concluded that language ability is a natural talent, not determined by the natural environment because language is not a habit.

God, Human, Animal, Machine: Technology, Metaphor, and the Search for Meaning

God, Human, Animal, Machine: Technology, Metaphor, and the Search for Meaning

Scientia propter quid nobis—The Epistemic Independence of Metaphysics and Theology in the Quaestio de cognitione Dei attributed to Duns Scotus by Wouter Goris

Reviewed by: Scientia propter quid nobis—The Epistemic Independence of Metaphysics and Theology in the Quaestio de cognitione Dei attributed to Duns Scotus by Wouter Goris Claus A. Andersen GORIS, Wouter. Scientia propter quid nobis—The Epistemic Independence of Metaphysics and Theology in the Quaestio de cognitione Dei attributed to Duns Scotus. Münster: Aschendorff, 2022. viii + 296 pp. Paper, € 49.00 The central claim of Wouter Goris's new book is that the Quaestio de cognitione Dei traditionally (both in one late medieval manuscript and in some modern scholarship) attributed to John Duns Scotus not only is inauthentic but in fact represents an early reaction against Scotus's teaching on the scientific nature of metaphysics. The Quaestio in particular explores Scotus's distinction between a science "in itself" and one "for us" and, going beyond Scotus's own doctrine, shows how this distinction is applicable to metaphysics. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 offers a critical edition of the Quaestio de cognitione Dei, which has hitherto been available in a plain transcription published by C. R. S. Harris in 1927. Harris's text was based on a single manuscript from the fifteenth century (Oxford, Merton College, Ms. 90); Goris bases his edition on a manuscript from the early fourteenth century (Assisi, Biblioteca Comunale, Ms. 172), one that does not attribute the text to Scotus. Goris highlights that the text has significant parallels in the prologue of John of Reading's Scriptum on the first book of the Sentences; there is presently not sufficient evidence for claiming that Reading is the author of the De cognitione Dei, but it does seem clear that either Reading or some other Franciscan friar relying on Reading's Scriptum authored the text between 1316 and 1325. The Quaestio itself consists of two articles. Two appendices to the edition document longer passages from Reading's Scriptum. Part 2 investigates the use of the distinction between a science in itself and one for us in Duns Scotus and some of the early Scotists. Scotus's doctrine developed over time. At Oxford Scotus taught that theology in se is about the divine essence in its particularity; theology for us is about the most perfect concept of God attainable for human beings by natural means, that is, the concept "infinite being." It falls to metaphysics to prove that there is such a kind of being. At Paris Scotus rather taught that both theology in se and theology for us are about the divine essence in its [End Page 549] particularity. The implication is that a strictly demonstrative science about God is possible for human beings in this present life, a knowledge of God that is completely independent of metaphysics. Goris argues that this shift in the view of theology explains the absence of Scotus's famous "twin doctrines" of the univocal concept of being and of being as the first adequate object of the intellect from his theological epistemology of the Parisian period. Not too surprisingly, in the wake of Scotus we find several authors grappling with the relationship between theology and metaphysics. The positions investigated by Goris vary considerably. Richard of Conington distinguishes between human metaphysical knowledge of being and God's own metaphysical knowledge of being; the latter represents a more perfect knowledge of both God himself and creatures as included under the concept of being. Francis of Marchia employs a distinction between a general metaphysics (about being as being) and a special metaphysics (about divine being), but on the level of science for us the special part of metaphysics is subordinated to the general one. Nicolas Bonetus, by contrast, advocates a sharp distinction between metaphysical knowledge of being and natural theology; he structures his metaphysics as a purely ontological discipline and treats natural theology as a separate science; Goris sees this reorganization as Bonetus's most decisive contribution to the history of metaphysics. Part 3 analyzes the fundamental doctrines defended in the Quaestio de cognitione Dei and compares them with those of Scotus and John of Reading. The first article of the Quaestio introduces two important distinctions, the first of which is between metaphysics in itself and metaphysics for us; these two...

Pre-service Primary School Teachers’ View of Nature of Science Helps Decision-making on Socio-scientific Issues

Since the 20th century, science and technology have developed rapidly, and the industrialization and modernization of countries around the world have been in full swing. In this context, the education of Socio-scientific issues (SSI) in classroom teaching in primary and secondary schools becomes particularly important. SSIs can serve as an important carrier for scientific, ethical, and moral education, an important path to develop the core competencies of individuals in the 21st century. As future teachers, pre-service primary school teachers receive good science education in the university, develop fundamental scientific literacy, and obtain a basic understanding of nature of science (NOS). Their mastery of NOS has a significant impact on their decision-making skills on SSIs. In science education for pre-service primary school teachers, more attention should be paid to improving their comprehension of NOS and critical thinking ability.