1. Authority
2. Use of Reason
3. Experience

• Accepting validity of info because we judge source to be expert or influential.
• Problem: Authority does not ensure correctness

• Deriving "truth" from logic
• Can use logic to correctly argue for both sides

• Belief developed as result of logical argument, before person has direct experience with phenomenon
• "From what comes before"

• AKA empiricism
• Problem: senses, own experience can be unreliable

• "Social Cognition Bias"
• tendency to hold on to a belief, even knowing evidence that would convince most people that belief is false

• "Social Cognition Bias"
• tendency to search out info that confirms, supports own belief, ignoring contradictory info

• overestimating typical occurance of unusual/memorable experience
• belief strengthened every time experience occurs

1. Assumes Determinism
2. Makes Systematic Obserservations
3. Produces Public Knowledge
4. Produces Data-Based Conclusions
5. Produces Tentative Conclusions
6. Asks Answerable Questions
7. Develops Theories that can be Disproven

Using... 

1. precise defnitions of the phenomena being measured
2. Reliable and valid measuring tools that yield useful, interpretable data
3. Generally acceptable research methodologies
4. A system of logic for drawing conclusions to fit them into general theories

• Can be publicly verified
• Objectivity: eliminating human factors, expectation + bias
• Subject to replication, proven reliability
• More likely to rely on behavior as the measurable data

• Conclusions always subject to future revision

• Empirical Questions can be answered through systematic observations, techniques that characterize scientific methodology
• questions precise enough to make specific predictions

Theories that can be disproven

1. Associates with true science
2. Relies on Anecdotal Evidence
3. Sidesteps Disproof
4. Reduces Complex Phenomena to Overly Simplistic Concepts

• After expending significant effort, incentivized to say action was worthwhile.
• reason to distrust testimonials

1. Description
2. Prediction
3. Explanation
4. Application