The empirical method is based on sensory perception and measurements with complex instruments. Empirical methods are an important part of scientific research, along with theoretical ones. Without these techniques, not a single science, be it chemistry, physics, mathematics, biology, could develop.

What does empirical method mean?

The empirical or sensory method is the scientific knowledge of the surrounding reality by experience, involving interaction with the subject under study through experiments and observations. Empirical research methods help to reveal the objective laws by which the development of certain phenomena takes place. These are complex and complex steps, and as a result of them new scientific discoveries occur.

Types of Empirical Methods

Empirical knowledge of any science, subject is based on standard methods that have proven themselves over time, are the same for all disciplines, but in each specific area have their own specifics characteristic of science. Empirical methods, types:

• observation:
• experiment;
• measurement;
• conversation;
• questioning;
• poll;
• conversation.

Empirical methods - advantages and disadvantages

Methods of empirical knowledge, unlike theoretical ones, have a minimal possibility of errors, shortcomings, provided that the experiment was repeated many times and gave similar results. Any empirical method involves the human senses, which are a reliable tool for understanding the world around us - and this is the main advantage of this method.

Empirical level methods

Empirical methods of scientific knowledge are no less important for science than theoretical premises. Patterns are built empirically, hypotheses are confirmed or denied, therefore, the empirical method as a set of methods based on sensory perception and data obtained by measuring instruments helps to expand the horizons of science and obtain new results.

Empirical research methods in pedagogy

Empirical methods of pedagogical research are based on the same main components:

• pedagogical observation - a specific task is taken, a condition in which it is necessary to observe the students and register the results of the observation;
• surveys (questionnaires, conversations, interviews) - help to obtain information on a specific topic, personal characteristics of students;
• the study of students' works (graphic, written in various disciplines, creative) - provide information about the student's individuality, his inclination to a particular subject, success in mastering knowledge;
• the study of school documentation (diaries, class journals, personal files) - allows you to assess the success of the pedagogical process as a whole.

Empirical Methods in Psychology

Psychological science developed from philosophy, and the most basic tools for cognizing someone else's psychic reality were adopted methods with which you can visually see the manifestations of the psyche outside - these are experiments. Physiological psychology, thanks to which psychology as a whole advanced as a science, was founded by the psychologist, physiologist W. Wundt. His laboratory of experimental psychology was opened in 1832. The empirical methods of research in psychology used by Wundt are applied in classical experimental psychology:

1. Observation method. The study of behavioral reactions and actions of a person in natural conditions and in experimental conditions with given variables. Two types of observation: introspection (self-observation, looking inside) - a necessary element of self-knowledge and tracking changes in oneself, and objective observation - an observer (psychologist) monitors and registers reactions, emotions, actions of an observed person or group of people.
2. Experiment Method. In the laboratory (laboratory experiment) - special conditions are created that are necessary to confirm a psychological hypothesis or reject it. With the help of special equipment, sensors, various physiological parameters are recorded (pulse, respiration, brain activity, pupil reactions, changes in behavior). A natural (natural experiment) is carried out in conditions familiar to a person with the creation of the desired situation.
3. Poll The provision of information by a person by answering a series of questions.
4. Conversation- an empirical method based on verbal communication, during which the psychologist notes the psychological characteristics of the individual.
5. Tests- specially developed techniques, including a number of questions, unfinished sentences, work with images. Testing on specific topics helps psychologists to identify personality traits.

Empirical method in economics

The empirical or experimental method in economics involves the knowledge of the reality of the economic situation in the world, this is done with the help of tools:

1. economic observation- carried out by economists for the purposeful perception of economic (economic) facts, while there is no active influence on these facts, observation is important for building theoretical models of the economy.
2. economic experiment- here an active influence on the economic phenomenon is already included, different conditions are modeled within the framework of the experiment and the influence is studied.

If we take a separate segment of the economy - commodity turnover, then the empirical methods of commodity science will be as follows:

• measurements with the help of technical devices or sense organs (method-operations measuring, organoleptic;
• survey and monitoring of the market (methods-actions).

observation. Observation is a descriptive psychological research method, which consists in purposeful and organized perception and registration of the behavior of the object under study. Together with introspection, observation is considered the oldest psychological method. Scientific observation was also widely used in those areas of scientific knowledge where the fixation of the characteristics of human behavior in various conditions is of particular importance. Also, when it is either impossible or not permissible to interfere with the natural course of the process.

Observation can be carried out both directly by the researcher, and by means of observation devices and fixing its results. These include audio, photo, video equipment, including surveillance cards.

Has several options.
External observation is a way of collecting data about the psychology and Introduction of a person by direct observation of him from the outside.
Internal observation, or self-observation, is used when a research psychologist sets himself the task of studying a phenomenon of interest to him in the form in which it is directly represented in his mind. Internally perceiving the corresponding phenomenon, the psychologist, as it were, observes it (for example, his images, feelings, thoughts, experiences) or uses similar data communicated to him by other people who themselves conduct introspection on his instructions.

Free observation does not have a predetermined framework, program, procedure for its implementation. It can change the subject or object of observation, its nature in the course of the observation itself, depending on the wishes of the observer.

Standardized observation, in contrast, is predetermined and clearly limited in terms of what is observed. It is carried out according to a certain pre-thought-out program and strictly follows it, regardless of what happens in the process of observation with the object or the observer himself.

With the included observation, the researcher acts as a direct participant in the process, the course of which he is observing. Another variant of participant observation: when investigating people's relationships, the experimenter can engage himself in communication with the observed people, without stopping at the same time to observe the relationships that develop between them and these people.

Third-party observation, unlike included observation, does not imply the observer's personal participation in the process he is studying.

Each of these types of observation has its own characteristics and is used where it can give the most reliable results. External observation, for example, is less subjective than self-observation, and is usually used where the features to be observed can be easily isolated and evaluated from the outside. Internal observation is indispensable and often acts as the only available method for collecting psychological data in cases where there are no reliable external signs of the phenomenon of interest to the researcher.

Free observation is advisable to carry out in those cases when it is impossible to determine exactly what should be observed, when the signs of the phenomenon under study and its probable course are not known in advance to the researcher. Standardized observation, on the other hand, is best used when the researcher has an accurate and fairly complete list of features related to the phenomenon under study.

Involved observation is useful in the case when a psychologist can give a correct assessment of a phenomenon only by experiencing it for himself. However, if, under the influence of the researcher's personal participation, his perception and understanding of the event can be distorted, then it is better to turn to third-party observation, the use of which allows you to more objectively judge what is being observed.

Systematic observation is divided into:
- Non-systematic observation, in which it is necessary to create a generalized picture of the behavior of an individual or a group of individuals under certain conditions and does not aim to fix causal dependencies and give strict descriptions of phenomena.
- (Systematic observation, carried out according to a certain plan and in which the researcher registers the features of the appearance and classifies the conditions of the external environment.

Systematic observation is carried out during the field study. Result: creation of a generalized picture of the behavior of an Individual or a group under certain conditions. Systematic monitoring is carried out according to a specific plan. Result: registration of behavioral features (variables) and classification of environmental conditions.

For fixed objects, observation happens:
- Total observation. The researcher tries to fix all the features of behavior.
- Selective observation. The researcher fixes only certain types of behavioral acts or parameters of behavior.

Observation has a number of advantages:
- Observation allows you to directly capture and fix the acts of behavior.
- Observation allows you to simultaneously capture the behavior of a number of people in relation to each other or to certain tasks, objects, etc.
- Observation allows you to conduct a study regardless of the readiness of the observed subjects.
- Observation allows you to achieve multidimensional coverage, that is, fixation on several parameters at once - for example, verbal and non-verbal behavior.
- Efficiency of obtaining information.
- Relative cheapness of the method.

However, at the same time, there are also disadvantages. The disadvantages of observation include:
- Numerous irrelevant, interfering factors, the results of observation can affect:
- mood of the observer;
- the social position of the observer in relation to the observed;
- observer bias;
- complexity of observed situations;
- effect of the first impression;
- fatigue of the observer and the observed;
- estimation errors (“halo effect”, “leniency effect”, averaging error, modeling errors, contrast error).
- The one-time occurrence of the observed circumstances, leading to the impossibility of making a generalizing conclusion based on single observed facts.
- The need to classify the results of observation.
- Small representativeness for large populations.
- Difficulty in maintaining operational validity.

Questioning. Questioning, like observation, is one of the most common research methods in psychology. Questionnaires are usually conducted using observational data, which (along with data obtained using other research methods) are used in the design of questionnaires.

There are three main types of questionnaires used in psychology:
- composed of direct questions and aimed at identifying the perceived qualities of the subjects.
- questionnaires of a selective type, where the subjects are offered several ready-made answers for each question of the questionnaire; The subject's task is to choose the most appropriate answer.
- questionnaires-scales; when answering the questions of questionnaires-scales, the subject must not only choose the most correct of the ready-made answers, but analyze (evaluate in points) the correctness of the proposed answers.

Questionnaires-scales are the most formalized type of questionnaires, as they allow for a more accurate quantitative analysis of the survey data.

The indisputable advantage of the questionnaire method is the rapid receipt of mass material.

The disadvantage of the questionnaire method is that it allows, as a rule, to reveal only the topmost layer of factors: materials using questionnaires and questionnaires (composed of direct questions to the subjects) cannot give the researcher an idea of ​​many patterns and causal dependencies related to psychology. Questioning is a means of first orientation, a means of preliminary intelligence. To compensate for the noted shortcomings of the survey, the use of this method should be combined with the use of more meaningful research methods, as well as repeated surveys, masking the true objectives of the surveys from the subjects, etc.

Conversation is a method of studying human behavior that is specific to psychology, since in other natural sciences communication between the subject and the object of research is impossible.

The method of conversation is a dialogue between two people, during which one person reveals the psychological characteristics of the other.

The conversation is included as an additional method in the structure of the experiment at the first stage, when the researcher collects primary information about the subject, gives him instructions, motivates, etc., and at the last stage - in the form of a post-experimental interview.

Compliance with all the necessary conditions for conducting a conversation, including the collection of preliminary information about the subjects, makes this method a very effective means of psychological research. Therefore, it is desirable that the conversation be conducted taking into account the data obtained using methods such as observation and questionnaires. In this case, its purpose may include verification of preliminary conclusions arising from the results of psychological analysis and obtained using these methods of primary orientation in the studied psychological characteristics of the subjects.

A survey is a method in which a person answers a series of questions asked of him. There are several survey options and each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Oral questioning is used in cases where it is desirable to observe the behavior and reactions of the person answering the questions. This type of survey allows you to penetrate deeper into human psychology than a written one, but it requires special training, education and, as a rule, a large investment of time for research. The answers of the subjects obtained during an oral survey depend significantly on the personality of the person who conducts the survey, and on the individual characteristics of the one who answers the questions, and on the behavior of both persons in the survey situation.

A written survey allows you to reach a larger number of people. Its most common form is a questionnaire. But its disadvantage is that, using the questionnaire, it is impossible to take into account the reactions of the respondent to the content of its questions in advance and, based on this, change them.

Free survey - a kind of oral or written survey, in which the list of questions asked and possible answers to them is not limited in advance to a certain framework. A survey of this type allows you to flexibly change the tactics of research, the content of the questions asked, and receive non-standard answers to them.

Standardized survey - questions and the nature of possible answers to them are predetermined and usually limited to fairly narrow limits, which makes it more economical in time and material costs than a free survey.

Tests are specialized methods of psychodiagnostic examination, using which you can get an accurate quantitative or qualitative characteristic of the phenomenon under study. Tests differ from other research methods in that they imply a clear procedure for collecting and processing primary data, as well as the originality of their subsequent interpretation. Using tests, you can study and compare the psychology of different people, give differentiated and comparable assessments.

The test questionnaire is based on a system of pre-designed, carefully selected and tested questions in terms of their validity and reliability, the answers to which can be used to judge the psychological qualities of the subjects.

The test task involves assessing the psychology and behavior of a person based on what he does. In tests of this type, the subject is offered a series of special tasks, the results of which are used to judge the presence or absence and degree of development of the quality being studied.

The test questionnaire and test task are applicable to people of different ages, belonging to different cultures, having different levels of education, different professions and different life experiences. This is their positive side.

The disadvantage of tests is that when they are used and. The candidate can consciously influence the results at will, especially if he knows in advance how the test works and how psychology and behavior will be assessed based on its results. In addition, the test questionnaire and test task are not applicable in cases where psychological properties and characteristics are subject to study, the existence of which the subject cannot be, is completely sure, is not aware of, or consciously does not want to accept their presence in himself. Such characteristics are, for example, many negative personal qualities and behavioral motives. In these cases, the third type of tests is usually used - projective.

Projective tests. Projective tests are based on the projection mechanism, according to which a person tends to attribute unconscious personal qualities, especially shortcomings, to other people. Projective tests are designed to study the psychological and behavioral characteristics of people that cause a negative attitude. Using tests of this kind, the psychology of the subject is judged on the basis of how he perceives and evaluates situations, the psychology and behavior of people, what personal properties, motives of a positive or negative nature he ascribes to them.

Using the projective test, the psychologist introduces the subject into an imaginary, plot-indefinite situation that is subject to arbitrary interpretation.

Projective type tests impose increased requirements on the level of education and intellectual maturity of the subjects, and this is the main practical limitation of their applicability. In addition, such tests require a lot of special training and high professional qualifications on the part of the psychologist himself.

Experiment. The specificity of the experiment as a method of psychological research lies in the fact that it purposefully and thoughtfully creates an artificial situation in which the studied property is distinguished, manifested and evaluated in the best way. The main advantage of the experiment is that it allows more reliable than all other methods to draw conclusions about the cause-and-effect relationships of the phenomenon under study with other phenomena, to scientifically explain the origin of the phenomenon and its development.

There are two main types of experiment: natural and laboratory.

A natural experiment is organized and carried out in ordinary life conditions, where the experimenter practically does not interfere in the course of events, fixing them in the form in which they unfold on their own.

A laboratory experiment involves creating some artificial situation in which the property under study can best be studied.

The data obtained in a natural experiment best of all correspond to the typical life behavior of an individual, the real psychology of people, but are not always accurate due to the experimenter's lack of the ability to strictly control the influence of various factors on the property being studied. The results of a laboratory experiment, on the contrary, win in accuracy, but they are inferior in the degree of naturalness - correspondence to life.

Modeling as a method is used when the study of a phenomenon of interest to a scientist through simple observation, questioning, test or experiment is difficult or impossible due to complexity or inaccessibility. Then they resort to the creation of an artificial model of the phenomenon under study, repeating its main parameters and expected properties. On this model, this phenomenon is studied in detail and conclusions about nature are drawn.

Models can be technical, logical, mathematical, cybernetic.

A mathematical model is an expression or formula that includes variables and relationships between them, reproducing elements and relationships in the phenomenon under study.

Technical modeling involves the creation of a device or device that, in its action, resembles what is being studied.

Cybernetic modeling is based on the use of concepts from the field of informatics and cybernetics as elements of the model.

Logic modeling is based on the ideas and symbolism used in mathematical logic. The most famous examples of mathematical modeling in psychology are formulas that express the laws of Bouguer - Weber, Weber - Fechner and Stevens. Logic modeling is widely used in the study of human thinking and its comparison with the solution of problems by a computer.

In addition to the above methods intended for collecting primary information, psychology widely uses various methods and techniques for processing this data, their logical and mathematical analysis to obtain secondary results, i.e. facts and conclusions arising from the interpretation of the processed primary information. For this purpose, in particular, various methods of mathematical statistics are used, without which it is often impossible to obtain reliable information about the phenomena under study, as well as methods of qualitative analysis.

Empirical Research Methods- these are practical actions to collect pedagogical facts and transform them (empiricism - experience, practice, translated from Greek). They are used most often when studying the practice of education, reality, but they can also be used when studying theory - for example, written texts.

In modern science, thanks to the informational approach to cognition, the term is increasingly used text in a broader sense. The text in the study is any source that can provide the necessary information to the researcher and is amenable to the methods of study used. In this sense, any study of the object by the practitioner of education or its study by the theoretician is text activity. The text can be called a children's game and a scientific article, a child's story and his craft, an act and its explanation. So the application of empirical methods does not depend on the nature of the text, but only on the nature of the action of the cognizer himself. It is possible that the concepts of pedagogical fact and text are identical.

Empirical methods include primarily the method of observation. Observation - this is a deliberately undertaken action to perceive, fix an action actually performed by a person. At the same time, the observer does not interfere in the course of events, but sees it, as it were, “from the outside”. Observation can be direct, open, as, for example, teachers do when attending an “open lesson”, and indirect, hidden behind another action. Researchers often do this when they get to know the children or the state of the school or kindergarten. They are as if aimlessly walking around the building as if aimlessly talks with randomly caught pupils and educators. But at the same time, they notice all the facts and fix them in their minds and memory for further analysis.

Supervision can also be external and included. External - this is when the observer is not the organizer or accomplice of the observed activity. Mom can clean the apartment and at the same time watch what the children are doing in the play corner. External surveillance can be both open, ie declared, and covert, invisible. Each of us has come across situations when no one seems to be watching you, but sees what and how you are doing. Then the child asks his mother: "Mommy, how do you know what I'm doing, are you washing the window?" Participant observation is when the observer participates in the activity along with the observed. This is what the teacher does every day during the lesson. Observing, he sees which of the children works and how.

Observation is continuous and selective. With continuous observation, all facts are recorded and then “added up” into a kind of unified picture of behavior or character. With a selective one, a topic for collecting pedagogical facts is determined. For example, sports competitions can be observed in the entire scope of the behavior of its participants - in relation to sports, their own and other people's achievements, in terms of abilities, in the manifestation of will and responsibility for the team, in relation to between teams, etc. But you can only on one of these questions. Continuous observation is more often carried out by practitioners, while selective observation is carried out by specialists-researchers.

Observation as a research method requires the development of a program that defines its goals, observed situations, forms of recording facts, time, duration, and other conditions. In principle, this is the most accessible, but deceptively simple research method. In order for it to give objective and useful data, a lot of work needs to be done on it, especially on their subsequent processing.

Another common empirical research method is conversation. Conversation - this is a dialogue of equal participants in a conversation aimed at clarifying the reasons for some pedagogical fact. It is easy to guess that, according to the goals, conversations are educational, i.e. inspiring, convincing of something, and studying conversations. The former relate to educational methods, and the latter to research methods. We are interested in the second.

Research conversations are possible both individual and group (collective). Both those and others provide for contact between the student and the student, personal acquaintance and disposition towards each other. This is the case when, in order to conduct a conversation, it is necessary to establish educational relationships in order to study them in the situation being studied. If a third party is present during the conversation, then it must inspire full confidence in the student and student and have voluntary consent to his presence.

The peculiarity of the conversation technology is that it is based on reflection as self-observation and self-analysis of one's questions, updated outside. actions and responses. Actually, research conversation is a kind of reflection.

A conversation, like observation, requires the development of a program: goals, a system of sample questions, conditions for achieving confidence, determining the place and time of the conduct, and selecting ways to fix answers. The effectiveness of conversation as a method of obtaining information largely depends not only on the researcher, but also on the researcher. From his ability to think, honesty, openness, the ability to ask questions himself and clarify those asked, to feel the question and the train of thought of the asker, in a word, from his mental and emotional culture and instinct. Of course, it also depends on the possibilities of age.

A research conversation in pedagogy is at the same time an educational conversation. It is impossible to conduct a dialogue in a provocative manner, raise immoral problems, encourage betrayal and slander, gossip, etc. In a pedagogical research conversation, nothing is imposed on the interlocutor, nothing is evaluated; in the course of the conversation, he is brought to self-esteem. For a skilled researcher, the conversation from an external dialogue turns into an internal dialogue for both participants.

Experiment– This is a complex method of studying phenomena by changing the conditions of their occurrence. This is a practical activity with the object of knowledge for its transformation by introducing a new component into the existing educational relations. The experiment studies the influence of a new component on the object of knowledge. As a rule, the object of knowledge in a pedagogical experiment is a Person who is brought up in any role - a child in a family, a pupil of a kindergarten, a student, a parent or teacher himself. This object of knowledge is called the dependent variable in the experiment, since it is he who changes under the influence of a new component. What is introduced as a new component is called the independent variable because it is pre-designed and known in advance. The independent variable is the subject of experimentation.

In the experiment, criteria indicators for changing the object of cognition under the influence of a new object of cognition are always developed. As a rule, these are the qualities that, presumably, can or should change the most in the object of cognition, i.e. in people participating in the experiment. To measure these indicators, methods are selected from among those discussed above. These methods are called diagnostic. Thus, the experiment is a complex method that includes other methods.

The subject of experimentation in pedagogy can be any component of education that ensures the effectiveness of educational relations and human development. It is possible to introduce new goals of education, principles, methods, content, means, forms as contributing to the better development of certain qualities of the object of experimentation. The introduction of new components of education is the formative honor of the experiment, since it is intended to form new personal qualities in the object of experimentation.

To conduct the experiment, its program is developed, which sets out not only the considered components, but also the procedure for manipulating independent variables and the mode of measuring dependent variables, and determines the stages of diagnosis.

Experiment algorithm approximately like this. It distinguishes between dependent and independent variables. The dependent variables are what is being examined and transformed. An independent variable is an innovation that achieves changes in the dependent variable. At the very beginning, the state of criterial indicators is measured by diagnostic methods, i.e. those qualities that the experiment is aimed at changing, i.e. the dependent variable. Then an innovation is introduced and after a certain time the criteria indicators are measured again, their changes are revealed. The introduction of a new component is repeated until the measured qualities show significant changes. If, after repeated and prolonged use of the innovation, these qualities still do not change, the experiment is terminated with the conclusion that the changes introduced are ineffective. The duration of the experiment depends on the nature of the selected criteria indicators. For example, it is possible to form knowledge in a shorter time than skills; skills will require less time than the formation of a personal quality.

Since there is a wide variety of situations in the pedagogical sphere and, of course, the goals of their transformation, the variety of types of experiment becomes quite understandable. Most common natural experiment, sometimes referred to as experimental work. This experiment is carried out under the prevailing conditions without changing them. So, in the practice of the teacher, you can introduce new methods of group study of students in the classroom. Everything remains the same: the curriculum and the corresponding topics of the lessons, the class, the class schedule. But instead of individual tasks, the teacher gives group tasks and organizes work within groups. At the same time, the criteria indicators can be students' knowledge, the ability to independently find information in textbooks, the skills to apply to new and more complex situations, an increased interest in learning in the classroom, etc.

There are, of course, in pedagogy and laboratory experiment, but it is rarely used. The fact is that it requires especially “pure” conditions for its implementation, which is very difficult to do in education, and it is not advisable, since in real life everything is interconnected and does not exist in this so-called “pure” form.

There are also experiments stating and forming. Ascertaining experiment- this is the study of the state of the criterion indicators of development from factors that the educator or experimenter knows, but cannot influence and change them. For example, a study of the dynamics of the success of students' educational activities depending on their state of health or natural and climatic conditions of education. In this case, it is enough to state the dependence itself and its nature, nothing more. A formative experiment involves the manipulation of factors as independent variables and the conscious control of the change in criteria indicators. These indicators are, as it were, formed by the course of the experiment.

Often used in pedagogy placebo experiment, those. false. The object of experimentation is suggested the idea of ​​conducting an experiment, but the experiment itself is not carried out. Thus, the student is told that, according to the research methods, he has an excellent memory or a good imagination. The child will believe in this and with two measurements of the quality of memory or imagination gives different results: in the second case, after suggestion, it is higher. Such an experiment simultaneously performs the function of a stimulating method, which gives an effect.

Every teacher and parent should be able to conduct the so-called thought experiment. Before undertaking any impact on the child, it is recommended to mentally imagine how this impact will be perceived by him and what kind of reaction it will cause. Such an experiment is carried out in the same way as a real one, but only mentally. Owning it helps the educator to avoid unnecessary work and mistakes in education.

Students often ask the question, is it possible to apply the experiment at home? In a more simplified form, with the use of operational diagnostic methods, of course, it is possible. Parents often use both a placebo experiment, and a mental one, and a stating one. It is more difficult for them to use formative, but with the development of home education, it also becomes possible.

Let us list some other empirical methods used in pedagogy to study educational relations. These are the methods survey, biographical, study documentation, products of activity, questioning, interview and others. Experiment is a special method.

The advantage of empirical methods for studying educational relations is that the researcher here is dealing with living real life. Some empirical methods are at the same time methods of education. We have already talked about the conversation. But it can also be an experiment, because it is associated with the introduction of innovations that change a person. In this case, we are dealing with experimental implementation.

All considered methods can be applied for self-knowledge. Self-observation, self-talk as an internal dialogue, answers to tests, questionnaires and questionnaires, keeping personal diaries, even self-experimentation is possible. For example, when training memory, thinking, mastering any skill. After training, repeated repetition, it is quite possible to diagnose the state of some personal qualities. Mastering the methods of self-knowledge helps in self-education, self-education, self-learning.

When obtaining empirical material, it often becomes necessary to statistically process it. And here we need methods such as: cluster analysis - a method of classifying facts on different logical grounds; correlation analysis, establishing the dependence of facts and their properties among themselves; rank correlation facts according to their significance and dependence; calculation of arithmetic averages and etc.

Observation is a systematic purposeful, specially organized perception of objects and phenomena of objective reality, which are the objects of research. As a method of scientific knowledge, observation makes it possible to obtain primary information in the form of a set of empirical statements. The empirical totality becomes the basis of the previous systematization of objects of reality, making them the initial objects of scientific research.

In sociology and social psychology, a distinction is made between simple (ordinary) observations, when events are recorded from the side, and simultaneous (on) observations, when the researcher adapts to a certain environment and analyzes events seemingly “from the inside”.

Surveillance must meet the following requirements:

Predictability in advance (observation is carried out for a specific, clearly defined task);

Regularity (performed according to a plan drawn up in accordance with the task of observation);

Purposefulness (only certain aspects of the phenomenon are observed that are of interest in the study);

Selectivity (the observer is actively looking for the necessary objects, objects, phenomena);

Consistency (observation is carried out continuously or according to a specific system).

Comparison is the process of comparing objects or phenomena of reality in order to establish similarities or differences between them, as well as to find common, inherent, which may be inherent in two or more objects of study. The comparison method will be fruitful if the following requirements are met during its application:

Correspond can only be such phenomena between which there can be a certain objective community;

Comparison should be carried out after the most important, most significant (in terms of a specific task) features.

Comparison is always an important premise of generalization

Generalization is a logical process of transition from a single to a general or less general to a more general knowledge, as well as a product of mental activity, a form of displaying common features and qualities of objective phenomena. The simplest generalizations are associations, grouping objects based on a single attribute (syncretic associations). More complex is complex generalization, in which a group of objects with different bases are combined into a single whole. Generalization is carried out by abstracting from specific and identifying common features (properties, relationships, etc.) inherent in a particular subject.

The most common and most important way of such processing is inference by analogy. Objects or phenomena can be compared directly or indirectly through their comparison with any other object (standard). In the first case, qualitative results are obtained (more-less, higher-lower). Comparison of objects with the standard provides an opportunity to obtain quantitative characteristics. Such comparisons are called measurements.

Measurement is the procedure for determining the numerical value of some quantity using a unit of measurement. The value of this procedure lies in the fact that it gives accurate, quantified information about the object. When measuring, the following basic elements are necessary: ​​the object of measurement, standards, measuring instruments, measurement methods. The measurement is based on the comparison of material objects. Properties for which physical methods are used in quantitative comparison are called physical quantities. A physical quantity is a property that is qualitatively common for many physical objects, but quantitatively individual for each object. For example, length, mass, electrical conductivity, etc. But smell or taste cannot be physical quantities, because they are established on the basis of subjective sensations. The measure for quantitative comparison of the same properties of objects is a unit of physical quantity - a physical quantity, which, by definition, is assigned a numerical value equal to 1. Units of physical quantities are assigned full and abbreviated symbolic designations - dimensions. This method is widely used in pedagogy, psychology, methodology (the quality of knowledge in training specialists, academic performance, etc.).

The most important component of scientific research is the experiment - approbation of knowledge of the studied phenomena in controlled or artificially created conditions. This is such a method of studying an object when the researcher actively and purposefully influences it by creating artificial conditions or applying the usual conditions necessary to identify the relevant properties. The very term "experiment" (from Latin experimentum - attempt, experience) means a scientifically set experiment, observations of the phenomenon under study under certain conditions, allowing it to be repeatedly reproduced when these conditions are repeated. Experiment - an important element of scientific practice is considered the basis of theoretical knowledge, the criterion of its validity. Of particular importance is the experiment in the study of extreme conditions. With the development of science and technology, the scope of the experiment is expanding significantly, covering an ever larger set of objects of the material world. Methodologically, the experiment provides for the transition of the researcher from a passive to an active mode of activity. The experiment is carried out:

If necessary, find previously unknown properties of the object;

When checking the correctness of theoretical constructions;

When demonstrating the phenomenon.

The advantages of experimental study of an object compared to observation are that:

During the experiment, it is possible to study the phenomenon "in its pure form", eliminating side factors that hide the main process;

Under experimental conditions, you can explore the properties of objects;

It is possible to repeat the experiment, that is, to conduct the test as many times as necessary.

The study of the object is carried out in stages: at each stage, the most appropriate methods are applied in accordance with the specific task. At the first stage of collecting factual material and its primary systematization, methods are used: a survey (questionnaires, interviews, testing), expert assessments, as well as laboratory experiments (in physics, chemistry).

The survey provides an opportunity to obtain both factual information and estimated data, conducted orally or in writing. When creating a questionnaire or interview plan, it is important to formulate the question in such a way that they correspond to the goal. The questionnaire may include several blocks of questions related not only to the level of frequency of use of certain funds, but also to the assessment of the object of study.

A variation of a selective survey is testing, which is carried out in order to identify the essential features of an object, the means of its functioning, is used in laboratory experiments when a mass survey through a questionnaire is impossible. Testing is sometimes carried out twice - at the initial stage of the study, where it performs a function. Tests are designed in such a way as to unambiguously reveal certain properties of the respondents.

The peer review method is used to obtain variable empirical data. A survey is conducted by a special group of experts (5-7 people) in order to determine certain variables necessary to evaluate the issue under study. Experts are selected on the basis of their formal professional status - position, academic degree, length of service, etc.

At the second stage of the study, the methods that are used have a specific purpose - processing the data obtained, establishing the dependence of quantitative and qualitative indicators of analysis, and interpreting their content. The choice and sequence of methods are determined by the sequence of data processing.

At this stage, methods of statistical analysis are widely used: correlation, factor analysis, the method of implication scales and others.

Correlation analysis is a procedure for examining the relationship between independent variables. The relationship between these quantities is manifested in the mutual consistency of the observed changes. The correlation coefficient is calculated. The higher the correlation coefficient between two variables, the more accurately one can predict the value of one of them from the significance of the others.

Factor analysis makes it possible to establish multidimensional relationships of variables according to several criteria. On the basis of paired correlations obtained as a result of correlation analysis, a set of new, enlarged features - factors is obtained. As a result of a sequential procedure, factors of the second, third and other levels are obtained. Factor analysis allows you to present the results in a generalized form.

The method of implication scales is a visual form of measuring and evaluating the data obtained, which are graded by the number or intensity of features. Scales are classified by type or level of measurement. Simple scales give an unambiguous assessment of a particular feature. A series of scales (the so-called battery) can be turned into a single scale of values ​​of individual features. This procedure is called shkalyuvannyam (Scheme 9).

Scheme 9. The structure of the methodology and technology of scientific research.

Empirical Research Methods

1. Empirical methods (methods-operations).

The study of literature, documents and results of activities. The issues of working with scientific literature will be considered separately below, since this is not only a research method, but also an obligatory procedural component of any scientific work.

A variety of documentation also serves as a source of factual material for research: archival materials in historical research; documentation of enterprises, organizations and institutions in economic, sociological, pedagogical and other studies, etc. The study of performance results plays an important role in pedagogy, especially when studying the problems of professional training of pupils and students; in psychology, pedagogy and sociology of labor; and, for example, in archeology, during excavations, the analysis of the results of human activities: according to the remains of tools, utensils, dwellings, etc. allows you to restore their way of life in a particular era.

Observation is, in principle, the most informative research method. This is the only method that allows you to see all aspects of the phenomena and processes under study, accessible to the perception of the observer - both directly and with the help of various instruments.

Depending on the goals that are pursued in the process of observation, the latter can be scientific and non-scientific. Purposeful and organized perception of objects and phenomena of the external world, associated with the solution of a certain scientific problem or task, is commonly called scientific observation. Scientific observations involve obtaining certain information for further theoretical understanding and interpretation, for the approval or refutation of any hypothesis, etc. Scientific observation consists of the following procedures:

• Determination of the purpose of observation (for what, for what purpose?);
• Choice of object, process, situation (what to observe?);
• choice of method and frequency of observations (how to observe?);
• Choice of methods for registering the observed object, phenomenon (how to record the information received?);
• Processing and interpretation of the received information (what is the result?).

Observed situations are divided into:

• · natural and artificial;
• managed and not controlled by the subject of observation;
• Spontaneous and organized
• standard and non-standard;
• normal and extreme, etc.

In addition, depending on the organization of observation, it can be open and hidden, field and laboratory, and depending on the nature of fixation, it can be ascertaining, evaluating and mixed. According to the method of obtaining information, observations are divided into direct and instrumental. According to the scope of the studied objects, continuous and selective observations are distinguished; by frequency - constant, periodic and single. A special case of observation is self-observation, which is widely used, for example, in psychology.

Observation is necessary for scientific knowledge, since without it science would not be able to obtain initial information, would not have scientific facts and empirical data, therefore, the theoretical construction of knowledge would also be impossible.

However, observation as a method of cognition has a number of significant drawbacks. The personal characteristics of the researcher, his interests, and finally, his psychological state can significantly affect the results of observation. The objective results of observation are even more subject to distortion in those cases when the researcher is focused on obtaining a certain result, on confirming his existing hypothesis.

To obtain objective results of observation, it is necessary to comply with the requirements of intersubjectivity, that is, observation data must (and / or can) be obtained and recorded, if possible, by other observers.

Replacing direct observation with instruments indefinitely expands the possibilities of observation, but also does not exclude subjectivity; evaluation and interpretation of such indirect observation is carried out by the subject, and therefore the subjective influence of the researcher can still take place.

Observation is most often accompanied by another empirical method - measurement.

Measurement. Measurement is used everywhere, in any human activity. So, almost every person during the day takes measurements dozens of times, looking at the clock. The general definition of measurement is as follows: “Measurement is a cognitive process that consists in comparing ... a given quantity with some of its values, taken as a comparison standard” (see, for example,).

In particular, measurement is an empirical method (method-operation) of scientific research.

You can select a specific dimension structure that includes the following elements:

1) a cognizing subject that carries out measurement with certain cognitive goals;

2) measuring instruments, among which there can be both devices and tools designed by man, and objects and processes given by nature;

3) the object of measurement, that is, the measured quantity or property to which the comparison procedure is applicable;

4) method or method of measurement, which is a set of practical actions, operations performed using measuring instruments, and also includes certain logical and computational procedures;

5) the measurement result, which is a named number, expressed using the appropriate names or signs.

The epistemological substantiation of the measurement method is inextricably linked with the scientific understanding of the ratio of qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the object (phenomenon) being studied. Although only quantitative characteristics are recorded using this method, these characteristics are inextricably linked with the qualitative certainty of the object under study. It is thanks to the qualitative certainty that it is possible to single out the quantitative characteristics to be measured. The unity of the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the object under study means both the relative independence of these aspects and their deep interconnection. The relative independence of quantitative characteristics makes it possible to study them during the measurement process, and use the measurement results to analyze the qualitative aspects of the object.

The problem of measurement accuracy also refers to the epistemological foundations of measurement as a method of empirical knowledge. Measurement accuracy depends on the ratio of objective and subjective factors in the measurement process.

These objective factors include:

the possibility of identifying certain stable quantitative characteristics in the object under study, which in many cases of research, in particular, social and humanitarian phenomena and processes is difficult, and sometimes even impossible;

- the capabilities of measuring instruments (the degree of their perfection) and the conditions in which the measurement process takes place. In some cases, finding the exact value of the quantity is fundamentally impossible. It is impossible, for example, to determine the trajectory of an electron in an atom, and so on.

The subjective factors of measurement include the choice of measurement methods, the organization of this process and a whole range of cognitive capabilities of the subject - from the qualification of the experimenter to his ability to correctly and competently interpret the results.

Along with direct measurements, the method of indirect measurement is widely used in the process of scientific experimentation. In indirect measurement, the desired value is determined on the basis of direct measurements of other quantities associated with the first functional dependence. According to the measured values ​​of the mass and volume of the body, its density is determined; the resistivity of a conductor can be found from the measured values ​​of resistance, length and cross-sectional area of ​​the conductor, etc. The role of indirect measurements is especially great in those cases when direct measurement under the conditions of objective reality is impossible. For example, the mass of any space object (natural) is determined using mathematical calculations based on the use of measurement data of other physical quantities.

The measurement results must be analyzed, and for this it is often necessary to build derivative (secondary) indicators on their basis, that is, to apply one or another transformation to the experimental data. The most common derived indicator is the averaging of values ​​- for example, the average weight of people, average height, average per capita income, etc.

Poll. This empirical method is used only in the social and human sciences. The survey method is divided into oral survey and written survey.

Oral survey (conversation, interview). The essence of the method is clear from its name. During the survey, the questioner has personal contact with the respondent, that is, he has the opportunity to see how the respondent reacts to a particular question. The observer can, if necessary, ask various additional questions and thus obtain additional data on some uncovered issues.

Oral surveys give concrete results, and with their help one can get comprehensive answers to complex questions of interest to the researcher. However, questions

of a “ticklish” nature, the respondents answer in writing much more frankly and at the same time give more detailed and thorough answers.

The respondent spends less time and energy on a verbal response than on a written one. However, this method also has its downsides. All respondents are in different conditions, some of them can get additional information through leading questions of the researcher; facial expression or any gesture of the researcher has some effect on the respondent.

Questions used for interviews are planned in advance and a questionnaire is drawn up, where space should also be left for recording (recording) the answer.

Basic requirements for writing questions:

the survey should not be random, but systematic; at the same time, questions that are more understandable to the respondent are asked earlier, more difficult - later;

questions should be concise, specific and understandable to all respondents;

questions should not be contrary to ethical standards. Survey Rules:

1) during the interview, the researcher should be alone with the respondent, without extraneous witnesses;

2) each oral question is read from the question sheet (questionnaire) verbatim, unchanged;

3) exactly adheres to the order of the questions; the respondent should not see the questionnaire or be able to read the questions following the next one;

4) the interview should be short - from 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the age and intellectual level of the respondents;

5) the interviewer should not influence the respondent in any way (indirectly prompt the answer, shake his head in disapproval, nod his head, etc.);

6) the interviewer can, if necessary, if this answer is unclear, ask additionally only neutral questions (for example: “What did you mean by that?”, “Explain a little more!”).

7) answers are recorded in the questionnaire only during the survey.

The responses are then analyzed and interpreted.

Written survey - questioning. It is based on a pre-designed questionnaire (questionnaire), and the answers of respondents (interviewees) to all positions of the questionnaire constitute the desired empirical information.

The quality of empirical information obtained as a result of a survey depends on such factors as the wording of the questionnaire questions, which should be understandable to the interviewee; qualifications, experience, conscientiousness, psychological characteristics of researchers; the situation of the survey, its conditions; the emotional state of the respondents; customs and traditions, ideas, everyday situation; and also attitudes towards the survey. Therefore, when using such information, it is always necessary to make allowances for the inevitability of subjective distortions due to its specific individual “refraction” in the minds of the respondents. And when it comes to fundamentally important issues, along with the survey, they also turn to other methods - observation, expert assessments, and analysis of documents.

Particular attention is paid to the development of a questionnaire - a questionnaire containing a series of questions necessary to obtain information in accordance with the objectives and hypothesis of the study. The questionnaire must meet the following requirements: be reasonable in relation to the purposes of its use, that is, provide the required information; have stable criteria and reliable rating scales that adequately reflect the situation under study; the wording of the questions should be clear to the interviewee and consistent; Questionnaire questions should not cause negative emotions in the respondent (respondent).

Questions can be closed or open-ended. A question is called closed if it contains a complete set of answers in the questionnaire. The respondent only marks the option that coincides with his opinion. This form of the questionnaire significantly reduces the time of filling out and at the same time makes the questionnaire suitable for processing on a computer. But sometimes there is a need to find out directly the opinion of the respondent on a question that excludes pre-prepared answers. In this case, open-ended questions are used.

When answering an open question, the respondent is guided only by his own ideas. Therefore, such a response is more individualized.

Compliance with a number of other requirements also contributes to the increase in the reliability of answers. One of them is that the respondent should be provided with the opportunity to evade the answer, to express an uncertain opinion. To do this, the rating scale should provide for answer options: “it is difficult to say”, “I find it difficult to answer”, “it happens in different ways”, “whenever”, etc. But the predominance of such options in the answers is evidence of either the respondent's incompetence or the unsuitability of the question formulation to obtain the necessary information.

In order to obtain reliable information about the phenomenon or process under study, it is not necessary to interview the entire contingent, since the object of study can be numerically very large. In cases where the object of study exceeds several hundred people, a selective survey is used.

Method of expert assessments. In essence, this is a kind of survey associated with the involvement in the assessment of the phenomena under study, the processes of the most competent people, whose opinions, complementing and rechecking each other, make it possible to fairly objectively evaluate the researched. The use of this method requires a number of conditions. First of all, it is a careful selection of experts - people who know the area being assessed, the object under study well and are capable of an objective, unbiased assessment.

The choice of an accurate and convenient system of assessments and appropriate measurement scales is also essential, which streamlines judgments and makes it possible to express them in certain quantities.

It is often necessary to train experts to use the proposed scales for an unambiguous assessment in order to minimize errors and make assessments comparable.

If experts acting independently of each other consistently give identical or similar estimates or express similar opinions, there is reason to believe that they are approaching objective ones. If the estimates differ greatly, then this indicates either an unsuccessful choice of the grading system and measurement scales, or the incompetence of experts.

Varieties of the expert assessment method are: the commission method, the brainstorming method, the Delphi method, the heuristic forecasting method, etc.

Testing is an empirical method, a diagnostic procedure consisting in the application of tests (from the English test - task, test). Tests are usually given to the test subjects either in the form of a list of questions requiring short and unambiguous answers, or in the form of tasks, the solution of which does not take much time and also requires unambiguous solutions, or in the form of some short-term practical work of the test subjects, for example, qualifying trial work in a professional education, labor economics, etc. Tests are divided into blank, hardware (for example, on a computer) and practical; for individual and group use.

Here, perhaps, are all the empirical methods-operations that the scientific community has at its disposal today. Next, we will consider empirical methods-actions, which are based on the use of methods-operations and their combinations.

2. Empirical methods (methods-actions).

Empirical methods-actions should, first of all, be divided into two classes. The first class is the methods of studying an object without its transformation, when the researcher does not make any changes, transformations in the object of study. More precisely, it does not make significant changes to the object - after all, according to the principle of complementarity (see above), the researcher (observer) cannot but change the object. Let's call them object tracking methods. These include: the tracking method itself and its particular manifestations - examination, monitoring, study and generalization of experience.

Another class of methods is associated with the active transformation of the object being studied by the researcher - let's call these methods transforming methods - this class will include such methods as experimental work and experiment.

Tracking, often, in a number of sciences is, perhaps, the only empirical method-action. For example, in astronomy. After all, astronomers can not yet influence the studied space objects. The only way to track their state is through methods-operations: observation and measurement. The same, to a large extent, applies to such branches of scientific knowledge as geography, demography, etc., where the researcher cannot change anything in the object of study.

In addition, tracking is also used when the goal is to study the natural functioning of an object. For example, when studying certain features of radioactive radiation or when studying the reliability of technical devices, which is checked by their long-term operation.

Survey - as a special case of the tracking method, is the study of the object under study with one or another measure of depth and detail, depending on the tasks set by the researcher. A synonym for the word “examination” is “inspection”, which means that the examination is basically the initial study of an object, carried out to familiarize itself with its state, functions, structure, etc. Surveys are most often applied in relation to organizational structures - enterprises, institutions, etc. – or in relation to public entities, for example, settlements, for which surveys can be external and internal.

External surveys: a survey of the socio-cultural and economic situation in the region, a survey of the goods and services market and the labor market, a survey of the state of employment of the population, etc. Internal surveys: surveys within the enterprise, institutions - surveys of the state of the production process, surveys of the contingent of employees, etc.

The survey is carried out through the methods-operations of empirical research: observation, study and analysis of documentation, oral and written survey, involvement of experts, etc.

Any survey is carried out according to a detailed program developed in advance, in which the content of the work, its tools (compilation of questionnaires, test kits, questionnaires, a list of documents to be studied, etc.), as well as criteria for evaluating the phenomena and processes to be studied, are planned in detail. This is followed by the following stages: collecting information, summarizing materials, summing up and preparing reporting materials. At each stage, it may be necessary to adjust the survey program when the researcher or a group of researchers conducting it is convinced that the collected data is not enough to obtain the desired results, or the collected data do not reflect the picture of the object under study, etc.

According to the degree of depth, detail and systematization, surveys are divided into:

- pilotage (reconnaissance) surveys carried out for preliminary, relatively surface orientation in the object under study;

- specialized (partial) surveys conducted to study certain aspects, aspects of the object under study;

modular (complex) examinations - for the study of entire blocks, complexes of questions programmed by the researcher on the basis of a sufficiently detailed preliminary study of the object, its structure, functions, etc.;

systemic surveys - conducted already as full-fledged independent studies on the basis of isolating and formulating their subject, purpose, hypothesis, etc., and involving a holistic consideration of the object, its system-forming factors.

At what level to conduct a survey in each case, the researcher or the research team decides, depending on the goals and objectives of scientific work.

Monitoring. This is constant supervision, regular monitoring of the state of the object, the values ​​of its individual parameters in order to study the dynamics of ongoing processes, predict certain events, and also prevent undesirable phenomena. For example, environmental monitoring, synoptic monitoring, etc.

Study and generalization of experience (activity). When conducting research, the study and generalization of experience (organizational, industrial, technological, medical, pedagogical, etc.) is used for various purposes: to determine the existing level of detail of enterprises, organizations, institutions, the functioning of the technological process, to identify shortcomings and bottlenecks in practice a particular field of activity, studying the effectiveness of the application of scientific recommendations, identifying new patterns of activity that are born in the creative search of advanced leaders, specialists and entire teams. The object of study can be: mass experience - to identify the main trends in the development of a particular sector of the national economy; negative experience - to identify typical shortcomings and bottlenecks; advanced experience, in the course of which new positive findings are identified, generalized, become the property of science and practice.

The study and generalization of best practices is one of the main sources for the development of science, since this method makes it possible to identify actual scientific problems, creates the basis for studying the patterns of development of processes in a number of areas of scientific knowledge, primarily in the so-called technological sciences.

The disadvantage of the tracking method and its varieties is:

- survey, monitoring, study and generalization of experience as empirical methods-actions - is a relatively passive role of the researcher - he can study, track and generalize only what has developed in the surrounding reality, without being able to actively influence the ongoing processes. We emphasize once again that this shortcoming is often due to objective circumstances. This shortcoming is deprived of object transformation methods: experimental work and experiment.

The methods that transform the object of study include experimental work and experiment. The difference between them lies in the degree of arbitrariness of the researcher's actions. If the experimental work is a non-strict research procedure, in which the researcher makes changes to the object at his own discretion, based on his own considerations of expediency, then the experiment is a completely strict procedure, where the researcher must strictly follow the requirements of the experiment.

Experimental work is, as already mentioned, a method of making deliberate changes to the object under study with a certain degree of arbitrariness. So, the geologist himself determines where to look, what to look for, by what methods - to drill wells, dig pits, etc. In the same way, an archaeologist, paleontologist determines where and how to excavate. Or in pharmacy, a long search for new drugs is carried out - out of 10 thousand synthesized compounds, only one becomes a drug. Or, for example, experienced work in agriculture.

Experimental work as a research method is widely used in the sciences related to human activities - pedagogy, economics, etc. and various authoring techniques are tested. Or an experimental textbook, an experimental preparation, a prototype are created and then they are tested in practice.

Experimental work is in a sense similar to a thought experiment - both here and there, as it were, the question is posed: “what happens if ...?” Only in a mental experiment the situation is played out “in the mind”, while in experimental work the situation is played out by action.

But, experimental work is not a blind chaotic search through “trial and error”.

Experimental work becomes a method of scientific research under the following conditions:

1. When it is put on the basis of data obtained by science in accordance with a theoretically justified hypothesis.
2. When it is accompanied by deep analysis, conclusions are drawn from it and theoretical generalizations are created.

In experimental work, all methods-operations of empirical research are used: observation, measurement, analysis of documents, peer review, etc.

Experimental work occupies, as it were, an intermediate place between object tracking and experiment.

It is a way of active intervention of the researcher in the object. However, experimental work gives, in particular, only the results of the effectiveness or inefficiency of certain innovations in a general, summary form. Which of the factors of the implemented innovations give a greater effect, which less, how they influence each other - experimental work cannot answer these questions.

For a deeper study of the essence of a particular phenomenon, the changes occurring in it, and the reasons for these changes, in the process of research, they resort to varying the conditions for the occurrence of phenomena and processes and the factors influencing them. Experiment serves this purpose.

Experiment is a general empirical research method (method-action), the essence of which is that phenomena and processes are studied under strictly controlled and controlled conditions. The basic principle of any experiment is a change in each research procedure of only one of some factors, while the rest remain unchanged and controllable. If it is necessary to check the influence of another factor, the following research procedure is carried out, where this last factor is changed, and all other controlled factors remain unchanged, and so on.

During the experiment, the researcher deliberately changes the course of some phenomenon by introducing a new factor into it. The new factor introduced or changed by the experimenter is called the experimental factor, or independent variable. Factors that have changed under the influence of the independent variable are called dependent variables.

There are many classifications of experiments in the literature. First of all, depending on the nature of the object under study, it is customary to distinguish between physical, chemical, biological, psychological, etc. experiments. According to the main goal, experiments are divided into verification (empirical verification of a certain hypothesis) and search (collection of the necessary empirical information to build or refine the put forward conjecture, idea). Depending on the nature and variety of the means and conditions of the experiment and the methods of using these means, one can distinguish between direct (if the means are used directly to study the object), model (if a model is used that replaces the object), field (in natural conditions, for example, in space ), laboratory (under artificial conditions) experiment.

Finally, one can speak of qualitative and quantitative experiments, based on the difference in the results of the experiment. Qualitative experiments, as a rule, are undertaken to identify the impact of certain factors on the process under study without establishing an exact quantitative relationship between characteristic quantities. To ensure the exact value of the essential parameters that affect the behavior of the object under study, a quantitative experiment is necessary.

Depending on the nature of the experimental research strategy, there are:

1) experiments carried out by the method of "trial and error";

2) experiments based on a closed algorithm;

3) experiments using the "black box" method, leading to conclusions from knowledge of the function to knowledge of the structure of the object;

4) experiments with the help of an “open box”, which allow, based on knowledge of the structure, to create a sample with specified functions.

In recent years, experiments have become widespread, in which the computer acts as a means of cognition. They are especially important when real systems do not allow either direct experimentation or experimentation with the help of material models. In a number of cases, computer experiments dramatically simplify the research process - with their help, situations are “played out” by building a model of the system under study.

In talking about experiment as a method of cognition, one cannot fail to note one more type of experimentation, which plays an important role in natural science research. This is a mental experiment - the researcher operates not with concrete, sensual material, but with an ideal, model image. All knowledge gained in the course of mental experimentation is subject to practical verification, in particular in a real experiment. Therefore, this type of experimentation should be attributed to the methods of theoretical knowledge (see above). P.V. Kopnin, for example, writes: “Scientific research is really experimental only when the conclusion is drawn not from speculative reasoning, but from sensory, practical observation of phenomena. Therefore, what is sometimes called a theoretical or thought experiment is not actually an experiment. A thought experiment is ordinary theoretical reasoning that takes the external form of an experiment.

The theoretical methods of scientific knowledge should also include some other types of experiment, for example, the so-called mathematical and simulation experiments. "The essence of the method of mathematical experiment is that experiments are carried out not with the object itself, as is the case in the classical experimental method, but with its description in the language of the corresponding section of mathematics" . A simulation experiment is an idealized study by simulating the behavior of an object instead of actual experimentation. In other words, these types of experimentation are variants of a model experiment with idealized images. More details about mathematical modeling and simulation experiments are discussed below in the third chapter.

So, we have tried to describe the research methods from the most general positions. Naturally, in each branch of scientific knowledge, certain traditions have developed in the interpretation and use of research methods. Thus, the method of frequency analysis in linguistics will refer to the tracking method (method-action) carried out by the methods-operations of document analysis and measurement. Experiments are usually divided into ascertaining, training, control and comparative. But all of them are experiments (methods-actions) carried out by methods-operations: observations, measurements, testing, etc.