Scientific research basics inВ the transportation process
L. S. Shorokhova
A. Yu. Timkova
The study guide discusses the methodology and methodology of scientific research, modern methods of scientific research, the development of theoretical premises, planning and conducting experiments.The textbook allows you to acquire the skills to implement the methodological and practical justification of scientific research, methodically competently set up a technical experiment, including using elements of optimization and multimedia technologies.
Scientific research basics inВ the transportation process
A.В Yu. Timkova
L. S. Shorokhova
© A. Yu. Timkova, 2022
© L. S. Shorokhova, 2022
ISBNВ 978-5-0059-4414-6
Created with Ridero smart publishing system
The study guide discusses the methodology and methodology ofВ scientific research, modern methods ofВ scientific research, the development ofВ theoretical premises, planning and conducting experiments, processing measurement results, assessing errors and observations.
The textbook allows you toВ acquire the skills toВ implement the methodological and practical justification ofВ scientific research, methodically competently set up aВ technical experiment, including using elements ofВ optimization and multimedia technologies. Be able toВ formulate the conclusions ofВ scientific research; prepare reports, reports or write articles on the results ofВ scientific research.
The textbook is intended for students ofВ railway transport universities studying inВ the direction 23.03.01В В«Technology ofВ transport processesВ», as well as for students ofВ other undergraduate areas studying the technology and organization ofВ transportation inВ railway transport.
Reviewers:
Associate Professor of the Department “Management of operational work and transport safety” of the Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education “Russian University of Transport”, Ph. D. P.A. Minakov
Associate Professor of the Department “Management of operational work and transport safety” of the Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education “Russian University of Transport”, Ph. D. V.N. Shmal
Introduction
The concept of «science» has several basic meanings. Firstly, by science (Greek episteme, lat. scientia) we understand the sphere of human activity aimed at the development and theoretical schematization of objective knowledge about reality. In the second meaning, science acts as a result of this activity – a system of acquired scientific knowledge. Thirdly, the term «science» is used to refer to individual branches of scientific knowledge. Fourthly, science can be regarded as a branch of culture that did not exist at all times and not among all peoples. In the course of historical development, science has become the productive force of society and the most important social institution.
The immediate goals ofВ science are obtaining knowledge about the world around us, predicting the processes and phenomena ofВ reality on the basis ofВ the laws it discovers. InВ aВ broad sense, its goal is aВ theoretical reflection ofВ reality. Science was created toВ directly reveal the essential aspects ofВ all phenomena ofВ nature, society and thinking.
Not all knowledge can be considered scientific. It is impossible to recognize as scientific the knowledge that a person receives only on the basis of simple observation. This knowledge plays an important role in people’s lives, but they do not reveal the essence of the phenomena, the relationship between them, which would make it possible to explain why this phenomenon occurs one way or another, and to predict its further development.
The correctness ofВ scientific knowledge is determined not only byВ logic, but, above all, byВ its mandatory verification inВ practice. Scientific knowledge is fundamentally different from blind faith, from the unquestioning recognition ofВ this or that position as true, without any logical substantiation and practical verification. Revealing the regular connections ofВ reality, science expresses them inВ abstract concepts and schemes that strictly correspond toВ this reality.
1.В Science and its role inВ the development ofВ society
1.1В The concept ofВ science
The main tasks ofВ science include:
1) the discovery ofВ the laws ofВ motion ofВ nature, society, thinking and knowledge;
2) collection, analysis, generalization ofВ facts;
3) systematization ofВ acquired knowledge;
4) explanation ofВ the essence ofВ phenomena and processes;
5) forecasting events, phenomena and processes;
6) establishment ofВ directions and forms ofВ practical use ofВ acquired knowledge.
Being integral toВ the practical way ofВ mastering the world, science as the production ofВ knowledge is aВ very specific form ofВ activity, different from both activity inВ the sphere ofВ material production and other types ofВ spiritual activity.
If in material production knowledge is used only as an ideal means, then in science its obtaining forms the main and immediate goal, regardless of the form in which this goal is embodied – whether in the form of a theoretical description, a scheme of a technological process, a summary of experimental data or a formula of what kind. – or a drug. Unlike types of activity, the result of which is often known in advance or set before the start of activity, scientific activity is rightfully called such only insofar as it gives an increment to new knowledge, i.e. its result is fundamentally unconventional. That is why science acts as a force that constantly revolutionizes other activities.
From the aesthetic (artistic) way of mastering reality, the bearer of which is art, science is distinguished by the desire for impersonal, maximally generalized objective knowledge, while in art the results of artistic knowledge are inseparable from an individually unique personal element. Often, art is characterized as «thinking in images», and science – as «thinking in concepts», with the aim of emphasizing that the former develops mainly the sensual-imaginative side of a person’s creative ability, while science develops mainly the intellectual-conceptual one. However, these differences do not mean an impenetrable line between science and art, which are united by a creatively cognitive attitude to reality. On the one hand, in the constructions of science, in particular in the construction of a theory, in a mathematical formula, in the scheme of an experiment or its idea, the aesthetic element often plays a significant role, which was specially noted by many scientists. On the other hand, works of art carry, in addition to aesthetic, and cognitive load.
The relationship between science and philosophy as specific forms of social consciousness has a complex character. Philosophy always, to some extent, performs in relation to science the functions of the methodology of cognition and the worldview interpretation of its results. Philosophy is also united with science by the desire to build knowledge in a theoretical form, to the logical evidence of one’s conclusions. This striving reaches its highest embodiment in dialectical materialism, a philosophy that consciously and openly associates itself with science, with the scientific method, making the most general laws of the development of nature, society and thought the subject of its study and, at the same time, relying on the results of science.
The development ofВ science is characterized byВ aВ cumulative character. At each historical stage, it summarizes its past achievements inВ aВ concentrated form, and each result ofВ science is an integral part ofВ its general fund, not being crossed out byВ subsequent successes inВ cognition, but only being refined and processed.
The continuity ofВ science leads toВ aВ single line ofВ its progressive development and its irreversible character. It also ensures the functioning ofВ science as aВ special kind ofВ В«social memoryВ» ofВ mankind, theoretically crystallizing the past experience ofВ knowing reality and mastering its laws.
The process ofВ development ofВ science finds its expression not only inВ the increase inВ the amount ofВ accumulated positive knowledge. It also affects the entire structure ofВ science.
At each historical stage, scientific knowledge uses a certain set of cognitive forms – fundamental categories and concepts, methods, principles and explanation schemes, i.e. everything that is united by the concept of style of thinking. For example, the ancient style of thinking was characterized by observation as the main way of obtaining knowledge; the science of modern times is based on experiment and on the dominance of the analytical approach, which directs thinking to the search for the simplest, further indecomposable primary elements of the reality under study. Modern science is characterized by the desire for a holistic and multilateral coverage of the objects under study.
Each specific structure ofВ scientific thinking, after its approval, opens the way toВ the extensive development ofВ knowledge, toВ its spread toВ new spheres ofВ reality. However, the accumulation ofВ new material that cannot be explained on the basis ofВ existing schemes forces us toВ look for new, intensive ways ofВ developing science, which leads from time toВ time toВ scientific revolutions, i.e. aВ radical change inВ the main components ofВ the content structure ofВ science, toВ the promotion ofВ new principles ofВ knowledge, categories and methods ofВ science. The alternation ofВ extensive and revolutionary periods ofВ development, which is characteristic both for science as aВ whole and for its individual branches, sooner or later also finds its expression inВ corresponding changes inВ the forms ofВ organization ofВ science.
The entire history ofВ science is permeated byВ aВ complex dialectical combination ofВ processes ofВ differentiation and integration; the development ofВ ever new areas ofВ reality and the deepening ofВ knowledge lead toВ the differentiation ofВ science, toВ its fragmentation into more and more specialized areas ofВ knowledge; at the same time, the need for the synthesis ofВ knowledge constantly finds expression inВ the tendency towards the integration ofВ science.
Initially, new branches of science were formed according to the objective feature – in accordance with the involvement in the process of cognition of new areas and aspects of reality. For modern science, the transition from subject to problem orientation is becoming more and more characteristic, when new areas of knowledge arise in connection with the advancement of a certain major theoretical or practical problem. Thus, a significant number of butt (boundary) sciences such as biophysics, etc. arose. Their appearance continues the process of differentiation of science in new forms, but at the same time provides a new basis for the integration of previously disparate scientific disciplines.
Important integrating functions inВ relation toВ individual branches ofВ science are performed byВ philosophy, which generalizes the scientific picture ofВ the world, as well as individual scientific disciplines such as mathematics, logic, cybernetics, arming science with aВ system ofВ unified methods.
Science can be seen as aВ system consistingВ of:
– theories;
– methodology,
– research methods and techniques;
– practice of implementation of the obtained results.
If science is considered from the point of view of the interaction between the subject and the object of knowledge, then it includes the following elements: the object is what a particular science studies. For example, the object of the theory of finance is the basic laws of the emergence and development of finance, their essence, purpose and functioning; subject – a specific scientist, specialist, researcher, scientific organization; scientific activity of subjects applying certain techniques, methods for discovering the laws of reality.
The development ofВ science proceeds from the collection ofВ facts, their study and systematization, generalization and disclosure ofВ individual patterns toВ aВ coherent, logically coherent system ofВ scientific knowledge, which makes it possible toВ explain already known facts and predict new ones.
The path ofВ knowledge is determined from living contemplation toВ abstract thinking and from the latter toВ practice.
The process ofВ cognition includes the accumulation ofВ facts. No science can exist without systematization and generalization, without logical comprehension ofВ facts. But although facts are the necessary material for aВ scientist, they are not science inВ themselves. Facts become an integral part ofВ scientific knowledge when they appear inВ aВ systematized, generalized form.
Facts are systematized and generalized with the help of the simplest abstractions – concepts (definitions), which are important structural elements of science. The broadest concepts are called categories. These are the most general abstractions. The categories include philosophical concepts about the form and content of phenomena, in economic theory – this is a product, value, etc.
An important form of knowledge is principles (postulates), axioms. Under the principle understand the initial provisions of any branch of science. They are the initial form of systematization of knowledge (the axioms of Euclidean geometry, Bohr’s postulate in quantum mechanics, etc.).
The most important component link inВ the system ofВ scientific knowledge is scientific laws that reflect the most essential, stable, repetitive objective internal connections inВ nature, society and thinking. Usually laws act inВ the form ofВ aВ certain correlation ofВ concepts, categories.
The highest form of generalization and systematization of knowledge is theory. Theory is understood as the doctrine of generalized experience (practice), which formulates scientific principles and methods that make it possible to generalize and cognize existing processes and phenomena, analyze the effect of various factors on them and offer recommendations for using them in people’s practical activities.
1.2. Science classification
Scientific disciplines, which in their totality form the system of sciences as a whole, can be very conditionally divided into 3 large groups (subsystems) – natural, social and technical, differing in their subjects and methods. There is no sharp line between these subsystems – a number of scientific disciplines occupy an intermediate position.So, for example, at the junction of technical and social sciences there is technical aesthetics, between natural and technical sciences – bionics, between natural and social sciences – economic geography. Each of these subsystems, in turn, forms a system of separate sciences coordinated and subordinated by subject and methodological connections in a variety of ways, which makes the problem of their detailed classification extremely complex and not completely resolved to this day.
Along with traditional research conducted within the framework ofВ any one branch ofВ science, the problematic nature ofВ the orientation ofВ modern science has given rise toВ aВ wide deployment ofВ interdisciplinary and complex research conducted byВ means ofВ several different scientific disciplines, the specific combination ofВ which is determined byВ the nature ofВ the corresponding problem. An example ofВ this is the study ofВ environmental problems, which is at the crossroads ofВ technical sciences, biology, earth sciences, medicine, economics, mathematics, etc. Such problems arising inВ connection with the solution ofВ large farms and social problems are typical ofВ modern science.
According toВ their orientation, according toВ their direct relation toВ practice, individual sciences are usually divided into fundamental and applied. The task ofВ the fundamental sciences is the knowledge ofВ the laws governing the behavior and interaction ofВ the basic structures ofВ nature, society and thinking.
These laws and structures are studied in their “pure form”, as such, regardless of their possible use. Therefore, the fundamental sciences are sometimes called “pure”. The immediate goal of applied sciences is the application of the results of fundamental sciences to solve not only cognitive, but also social and practical problems. Therefore, here the criterion of success is not only the achievement of truth, but also the measure of satisfaction of the social order. At the intersection of applied sciences and practice, a special area of research is developing – developments that translate the results of applied science into the form of technological processes, structures, industrial materials, etc.
Applied sciences can develop with a predominance of both theoretical and practical problems. For example, in modern physics, electrodynamics and quantum mechanics play a fundamental role, the application of which to the knowledge of specific subject areas forms various branches of theoretical applied physics – metal physics, semiconductor physics, etc. Further application of their results to practice gives rise to a variety of practical applied sciences – metallurgy, semiconductor technology, etc., the direct connection of which with production is carried out by the corresponding specific developments. All technical sciences are applied.
As a rule, fundamental sciences are ahead of applied sciences in their development, creating a theoretical reserve for them. Applied science accounts for up to 80—90% of all research and funding in modern science.
One of the urgent problems of the modern organization of science is the establishment of strong, systematic relationships and the reduction of the time of movement within the framework of the cycle “fundamental research – applied research – development – implementation”.
In the Classifier of directions and specialties of higher professional education with a list of master’s programs (specializations) developed by scientific and methodological councils – departments of UMO in the areas of education, the following are highlighted:
1. Natural sciences and mathematics (mechanics, physics, chemistry, biology, soil science, geography, hydrometeorology, geology, ecology, etc.);
2. Humanities and socio-economic sciences (culturology, theology, philology, philosophy, linguistics, journalism, book science, history, political science, psychology, social work, sociology, regional studies, management, economics, art, physical culture, commerce, agroeconomics, statistics, art, jurisprudence, etc.);
3. Engineering sciences (construction, printing, telecommunications, metallurgy, mining, electronics and microelectronics, geodesy, radio engineering, architecture, etc.);
4. Agricultural sciences (agronomy, zootechnics, veterinary medicine, agroengineering, forestry, fisheries, etc.).
The Nomenclature ofВ specialties ofВ scientific workers, approved byВ the Ministry ofВ Science and Technology ofВ the Russian Federation on January 25, 2000, indicates the following branches ofВ science: physical and mathematical, chemical, biological, geological and mineralogical, technical, agricultural, historical, economic, philosophical, philological, geographical, legal, pedagogical, medical, pharmaceutical, veterinary, art history, architecture, psychological, sociological, political, cultural and earth sciences.
Each ofВ the named groups ofВ sciences can be subjected toВ further fragmentation. InВ statistical collections, the following sectors ofВ science are usually distinguished: academic, industry, university and factory.
2.В Research and its stages
