In knowledge, two levels are distinguished: empirical and theoretical.

Empirical (from Gr. Emreiria - experience) level of knowledge - this is knowledge obtained directly from experience with some rational processing of the properties and relations of the object is known. It is always the basis, the basis for the theoretical level of knowledge.

Theoretical level is knowledge gained through abstract thinking.

A person begins the process of cognition of an object from its external description, fixes its individual properties, sides. Then he goes deep into the content of the object, reveals the laws to which he is subject, proceeds to explain the properties of the object, combines knowledge about the individual aspects of the subject into a single, integral system, and the deep versatile concrete knowledge obtained at the same time about the subject is a theory that has a certain internal logical structure.

It is necessary to distinguish the concept of "sensual" and "rational" from the concepts of "empirical" and "theoretical". "Sensual" and "rational" characterize the dialectics of the process of reflection in general, while "empirical" and "theoretical" belong to the sphere of scientific knowledge only.

Empirical knowledge is formed in the process of interaction with the object of study, when we directly influence it, interact with it, process the results and draw a conclusion. But obtaining individual empirical facts and laws does not yet allow one to construct a system of laws. In order to know the essence, it is necessary to go to the theoretical level of scientific knowledge.

Empirical and theoretical levels of knowledge are always inextricably linked and mutually condition each other. Thus, empirical research, revealing new facts, new observational and experimental data, stimulates the development of the theoretical level, poses new problems and tasks for it. In turn, theoretical research, considering and concretizing the theoretical content of science, opens up new perspectives for explaining and predicting facts, and thereby orients and directs empirical knowledge. Empirical knowledge is mediated by theoretical knowledge - theoretical knowledge indicates exactly which phenomena and events should be the object of empirical research and under what conditions the experiment should be carried out. Theoretically, it also turns out and indicates the limits in which the results at the empirical level are true, in which empirical knowledge can be used in practice. This is precisely the heuristic function of the theoretical level of scientific knowledge.

The boundary between the empirical and theoretical levels is rather arbitrary, their independence relative to each other is relative. The empirical passes into the theoretical, and what was once theoretical, at another, higher stage of development, becomes empirically accessible. In any field of scientific knowledge, at all levels, there is dialectical unity theoretical and empirical. The leading role in this unity of dependence on the subject, conditions and already existing, obtained scientific results belongs either to the empirical or to the theoretical. The basis of the unity of the empirical and theoretical levels of scientific knowledge is the unity of scientific theory and research practice.

Basic methods of scientific knowledge

Each level of scientific knowledge uses its own methods. So, at the empirical level, such basic methods as observation, experiment, description, measurement, modeling are used. Theoretically - analysis, synthesis, abstraction, generalization, induction, deduction, idealization, historical and logical methods, and the like.

Observation is a systematic and purposeful perception of objects and phenomena, their properties and relationships in natural conditions or in experimental conditions with the aim of understanding the object under study.

The main monitoring functions are as follows:

Fixation and registration of facts;

Preliminary classification of facts already recorded on the basis of certain principles formulated on the basis of existing theories;

Comparison of recorded facts.

With the complication of scientific knowledge, the goal, plan, theoretical guidelines, and comprehension of the results are gaining more and more weight. As a result, the role of theoretical thinking in observation increases.

Especially difficult is observation in the social sciences, where its results largely depend on the worldview and methodological attitudes of the observer, his attitude to the object.

The method of observation is limited by the method, since with its help it is only possible to fix certain properties and connections of an object, but it is impossible to reveal their essence, nature, development trends. Comprehensive observation of the object is the basis for the experiment.

An experiment is a study of any phenomena by actively influencing them by creating new conditions that correspond to the goals of the study, or by changing the course of the process in a certain direction.

Unlike simple observation, which does not involve an active impact on the object, an experiment is an active intervention of the researcher into natural phenomena, in the course of the processes that are being studied. An experiment is a kind of practice in which practical action is organically combined with the theoretical work of thought.

The significance of the experiment lies not only in the fact that with its help science explains the phenomena of the material world, but also in the fact that science, relying on experience, directly masters one or another of the studied phenomena. Therefore, the experiment serves as one of the main means of communication between science and production. After all, it allows you to verify the correctness of scientific conclusions and discoveries, new patterns. The experiment serves as a means of research and invention of new devices, machines, materials and processes in industrial production, a necessary stage in the practical testing of new scientific and technical discoveries.

The experiment is widely used not only in the natural sciences, but also in social practice, where he plays an important role in the knowledge and management of social processes.

The experiment has its own specific features compared to other methods:

The experiment makes it possible to explore objects in the so-called pure form;

The experiment allows you to explore the properties of objects in extreme conditions, which contributes to a deeper penetration into their essence;

An important advantage of the experiment is its repeatability, due to which this method acquires special significance and value in scientific knowledge.

A description is an indication of the features of an object or phenomenon, both essential and non-essential. Description, as a rule, is applied to single, individual objects for a more complete acquaintance with them. Its purpose is to give the most complete information about the object.

Measurement is a specific system for fixing and recording the quantitative characteristics of the object under study using various measuring instruments and devices. With the help of measurement, the ratio of one quantitative characteristic of an object to another, homogeneous with it, taken as a unit of measurement, is determined. The main functions of the measurement method are, firstly, fixing the quantitative characteristics of the object; secondly, classification and comparison of measurement results.

Modeling is the study of an object (original) by creating and studying its copy (model), which, by its properties to a certain extent, reproduces the properties of the object under study.

Modeling is used when the direct study of objects for some reason is impossible, difficult or impractical. There are two main types of modeling: physical and mathematical. On the present stage the development of scientific knowledge, a particularly large role is given to computer modeling. A computer that operates according to a special program is able to simulate the most real processes: market price fluctuations, spacecraft orbits, demographic processes, and other quantitative parameters of the development of nature, society, and an individual.

Methods of the theoretical level of knowledge.

Analysis is the division of an object into its constituent parts (sides, features, properties, relationships) with the aim of their comprehensive study.

Synthesis is the union of previously identified parts (sides, features, properties, relationships) of an object into a single whole.

Analysis and synthesis are dialectically contradictory and interdependent methods of cognition. Cognition of an object in its concrete integrity presupposes a preliminary division of it into components and consideration of each of them. This task is performed by analysis. It makes it possible to single out the essential, that which forms the basis of the connection of all aspects of the object under study. That is, dialectical analysis is a means of penetrating the essence of things. But, while playing an important role in cognition, analysis does not provide knowledge of the concrete, knowledge of the object as a unity of the manifold, the unity of various definitions. This task is performed by synthesis. So, analysis and synthesis are organically interconnected and mutually condition each other at each stage of the process of theoretical knowledge.

Abstraction is a method of abstracting from some of the properties and relations of an object and at the same time focusing on those that are the immediate subject. scientific research. Abstracting contributes to the penetration of knowledge into the essence of phenomena, the movement of knowledge from the phenomenon to the essence. It is clear that abstraction dismembers, coarsens, schematizes an integral mobile reality. However, this is precisely what allows a deeper study of individual aspects of the subject "in its purest form." And that means getting into their essence.

Generalization is a method of scientific knowledge that captures the general features and properties of a certain group of objects, makes the transition from the individual to the special and the general, from the less general to the more general.

In the process of cognition, it is often necessary, relying on existing knowledge, to draw conclusions that are new knowledge about the unknown. This is done using methods such as induction and deduction.

Induction is such a method of scientific knowledge, when, on the basis of knowledge about the individual, a conclusion is made about the general. This is a method of reasoning by which the validity of the put forward assumption or hypothesis is established. In real cognition, induction always acts in unity with deduction, is organically connected with it.

Deduction is a method of cognition when, on the basis of general principle in a logical way, from certain propositions as true, new true knowledge about the individual is necessarily derived. With the help of this method, the individual is known on the basis of knowledge of general laws.

Idealization is a method of logical modeling through which idealized objects are created. Idealization is aimed at the processes of conceivable construction of possible objects. The results of idealization are not arbitrary. In the limiting case, they correspond to individual real properties of objects or allow their interpretation based on the data of the empirical level of scientific knowledge. Idealization is associated with a "thought experiment", as a result of which, from a hypothetical minimum of some signs of the behavior of objects, the laws of their functioning are discovered or generalized. The boundaries of the effectiveness of idealization are determined by practice.

Historical and logical methods are organically linked. The historical method involves consideration of the objective process of the development of the object, its real history with all its twists and turns. This is a certain way of reproducing in thinking the historical process in its chronological sequence and concreteness.

The logical method is a method by which mentally reproduces the real historical process in its theoretical form, in a system of concepts.

The task of historical research is to reveal the specific conditions for the development of certain phenomena. The task of logical research is to reveal the role that individual elements of the system play in the development of the whole.

There is a movement from ignorance to knowledge. Thus, the first step cognitive process definition of what we don't know. It is important to clearly and rigorously define the problem, separating what we already know from what we do not yet know. problem(from the Greek. problema - task) is a complex and controversial issue that needs to be resolved.

The second step in is the development of a hypothesis (from the Greek. Hypothesis - assumption). Hypothesis - this is a scientifically based assumption that needs to be tested.

If a hypothesis is proved by a large number of facts, it becomes a theory (from the Greek theoria - observation, research). Theory is a system of knowledge that describes and explains certain phenomena; such, for example, are evolutionary theory, the theory of relativity, quantum theory, etc.

When choosing the best theory, the degree of its testability plays an important role. A theory is reliable if it is confirmed by objective facts (including newly discovered ones) and if it is distinguished by clarity, distinctness, and logical rigor.

Scientific facts

Distinguish between objective and scientific data. objective fact is a real-life object, process or event. For example, the death of Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov (1814-1841) in a duel is a fact. scientific fact is knowledge that is confirmed and interpreted within the framework of a generally accepted system of knowledge.

Estimates are opposed to facts and reflect the significance of objects or phenomena for a person, his approving or disapproving attitude towards them. Scientific facts usually fix the objective world as it is, and assessments reflect the subjective position of a person, his interests, the level of his moral and aesthetic consciousness.

Most of the difficulties for science arise in the process of moving from hypothesis to theory. There are methods and procedures that allow you to test a hypothesis and prove it or reject it as incorrect.

Method(from the Greek methodos - the path to the goal) is the rule, method, method of knowledge. In general, a method is a system of rules and regulations that allows you to explore an object. F. Bacon called the method "a lamp in the hands of a traveler walking in the dark."

Methodology is a broader concept and can be defined as:

• a set of methods used in any science;
• general doctrine of method.

Since the criteria of truth in its classical scientific understanding are, on the one hand, sensory experience and practice, and on the other hand, clarity and logical distinctness, all known methods can be divided into empirical (experimental, practical methods of cognition) and theoretical (logical procedures).

Empirical methods of knowledge

basis empirical methods are sensory cognition (sensation, perception, representation) and instrumental data. These methods include:

• observation- purposeful perception of phenomena without interference in them;
• experiment— study of phenomena under controlled and controlled conditions;
• measurement - determination of the ratio of the measured value to
• standard (for example, a meter);
• comparison- identifying the similarities or differences of objects or their features.

There are no pure empirical methods in scientific knowledge, since even for simple observation, preliminary theoretical foundations are necessary - the choice of an object for observation, the formulation of a hypothesis, etc.

Theoretical methods of cognition

Actually theoretical methods based on rational knowledge (concept, judgment, conclusion) and logical inference procedures. These methods include:

• analysis- the process of mental or real dismemberment of an object, phenomenon into parts (signs, properties, relationships);
• synthesis - connection of the sides of the subject identified during the analysis into a single whole;
• - combining various objects into groups based on common features (classification of animals, plants, etc.);
• abstraction - distraction in the process of cognition from some properties of an object with the aim of in-depth study of one specific aspect of it (the result of abstraction is abstract concepts such as color, curvature, beauty, etc.);
• formalization - display of knowledge in a sign, symbolic form (in mathematical formulas, chemical symbols, etc.);
• analogy - inference about the similarity of objects in a certain respect on the basis of their similarity in a number of other respects;
• modeling— creation and study of a substitute (model) of an object (for example, computer modeling of the human genome);
• idealization- creation of concepts for objects that do not exist in reality, but have a prototype in it (geometric point, ball, ideal gas);
• deduction - moving from the general to the particular;
• induction- the movement from the particular (facts) to the general statement.

Theoretical methods require empirical facts. So, although induction itself is a theoretical logical operation, it still requires experimental verification of each particular fact, and therefore is based on empirical knowledge, and not on theoretical. Thus, theoretical and empirical methods exist in unity, complementing each other. All the methods listed above are methods-techniques (specific rules, action algorithms).

Wider methods-approaches indicate direction and general way problem solving. Methods-approaches can include many different techniques. These are the structural-functional method, hermeneutic, etc. The most common methods-approaches are philosophical methods:

• metaphysical- consideration of the object in mowing, static, out of connection with other objects;
• dialectical- disclosure of the laws of development and change of things in their interconnection, internal inconsistency and unity.

Absoluteization of one method as the only true one is called dogma(for example, dialectical materialism in Soviet philosophy). An uncritical piling up of various unrelated methods is called eclecticism.

Empirical knowledge is the primary scientific knowledge that is obtained by contact with the object under study. Empiricism (lat.) - experience.

They learn from negative experiences (mistakes).

Empirical knowledge is descriptive.

Science, 3 functions: description, explanation and prediction.

Empirical level: no explanation, but predictable (if we see that copper expands when heated, then we can predict that other metals too).

Methods of obtaining knowledge: empirical research is carried out with the help of observation, experiment and measurement.

Observation - is present not only during real contact with the object, but also in our imagination (sign observation - reading, mathematics).

In the beginning, observation precedes cognition, we formulate the problem. We can hypothesize. The observation at the end of the study is a test of our theory.

The structure of observation includes: an object, an observer, observation conditions, devices (tools), basic knowledge.

Scientific observation requires the recording of all phenomena (so that the scientist can be checked).

Observations: direct (the object is available) and indirect (the object is not available, only its traces, etc., which it left), are available.

Approbation (lat.) - approval (it is not from the word "test").

Measurement: direct (measurement of length), indirect (time, temperature; temperature is the energy of the movement of molecules).

Measurement in science is carried out repeatedly. Since all the quantities will be different in the measurement. Each specific result is an average value (the error is also considered).

An experiment is an active influence on an object. Task: search (we don’t know what will happen) or we check an already existing hypothesis.

Empirical knowledge has the logical form of a concept. When we connect two empirical concepts or phenomena, we get a law (the greater the volume, the less pressure, etc.).

Empirical knowledge is the first and last scientific knowledge (Comte, Mach, this is the opinion of the positivists). Theoretical knowledge does not contain new knowledge, in their opinion.

But a scientist cannot be an empiricist because he uses language (and language is abstract, he uses concepts that cannot be touched).

A fact is almost the same as a theory (both are the same knowledge). The fact needs interpretation. The interpretation of a fact gives meaning to it. A fact always has many interpretations.

Fact structure: what we experience (psychological component); what we said (linguistic component); the event itself.

Facts, role in science: source and verification. Facts must support knowledge. Post positivism (Poper): A fact cannot confirm, but it can disprove a theory.

Locator: any scientific knowledge is an assumption (it cannot be refuted and confirmed). The goal is to replace old assumptions (guesses) with new ones. And we “guess” that the new ones are better than the old ones.

Scientific knowledge is a complex evolving system in which, as it evolves, new levels of organization emerge. They have a reverse effect on previously established levels of knowledge and transform them. In this process, new techniques and methods of theoretical research are constantly emerging, the strategy of scientific research is changing.

There are two types of knowledge organization: empirical and theoretical. Accordingly, two types of cognitive procedures that generate this knowledge can be distinguished.

Turning to the philosophical aspect of this issue, it is necessary to note such philosophers of the New Age as F. Bacon, T. Hobbes and D. Locke. Francis Bacon said that the path leading to knowledge is observation, analysis, comparison and experiment. John Locke believed that we draw all our knowledge from experience and sensations.

The difference between the empirical and theoretical levels of scientific knowledge concerns the means of research, the specifics of the methods and the nature of the subject of research.

Consider the means of the empirical level of scientific knowledge. Empirical research is based on the direct practical interaction of the researcher with the object under study. It involves the implementation of observations and experimental activities. Therefore, the means of empirical research necessarily include instruments, instrumental installations, and other means of real observation and experiment.

In a theoretical study, there is no direct practical interaction with objects. At this level, the object can be studied only indirectly, in a thought experiment, but not in a real one.

In addition to the means that are associated with the organization of experiments and observations, conceptual means are also used in empirical research. They function as a special language, often referred to as the empirical language of science. It has a complex organization in which actual empirical terms and terms of theoretical language interact.

The meaning of empirical terms are special abstractions that could be called empirical objects. They must be distinguished from objects of reality. Empirical objects are abstractions that actually highlight a certain set of properties and relations of things. Real objects are presented in empirical knowledge in the form of ideal objects that have a rigidly fixed and limited set of features. A real object has an infinite number of attributes.

As for theoretical knowledge, other research means are used in it. There are no means of material, practical interaction with the object under study. But the language of theoretical research also differs from the language of empirical descriptions. It is based on theoretical terms, the meaning of which is theoretical ideal objects.

Features of the means and methods of the two levels of scientific knowledge are associated with the specifics of the subject of empirical and theoretical research. At each of these levels, a researcher can deal with the same objective reality, but he studies it in different subject sections, in different aspects, and therefore its vision, its representation in knowledge will be given in different ways. Empirical research is basically focused on the study of phenomena and the relationships between them. At this level of cognition, essential connections are not yet distinguished in their pure form, but they seem to be highlighted in phenomena, appear through their concrete shell.

At the level of theoretical knowledge, essential connections are singled out in their pure form. The essence of an object is the interaction of a number of laws that this object obeys. The task of the theory is precisely to divide this complex network of laws into components, then recreate their interaction step by step and thus reveal the essence of the object.

Empirical and theoretical levels differ in research methods. With the help of empirical methods of research, the accumulation, fixation, generalization and systematization of experimental data, their statistical and inductive processing is carried out, while, with the help of theoretical methods, the laws of sciences and theories are formed.

Empirical research methods include observation, comparison, measurement, and experiment; theoretical methods include analogy, idealization, formalization, etc.

Observation is a purposeful systematic perception of an object that provides primary material for scientific research. Purposefulness is the most important characteristic of observation. Concentrating attention on the object, the observer relies on some knowledge he has about it, without which it is impossible to determine the purpose of observation. Observation is also characterized by systematicity, which is expressed in the perception of the object repeatedly and in different conditions, regularity, excluding gaps in observation, and the activity of the observer, his ability to select the necessary information, determined by the purpose of the study.

Requirements for scientific observations:

A clear statement of the purpose of observation;
- choice of methodology and development of a plan;
- consistency;
- control over the reliability and correctness of the results of observation;
- processing, comprehension and interpretation of the received data array;
- As a method of scientific knowledge, observation provides initial information about the object necessary for its further research.

Comparison and measurement play an important role in cognition. Comparison is a method of comparing objects in order to identify similarities or differences between them. If objects are compared with an object that acts as a reference, then such a comparison is called a measurement.

The most difficult and effective method empirical knowledge is an experiment based on other empirical methods. Experiment - a method of studying an object, in which the researcher (experimenter) actively influences the object, creates artificial conditions necessary to identify certain of its properties. The experiment involves the use of certain means: instruments, instruments, experimental setups, is characterized by an active impact on the object, can be repeated as many times as required to obtain reliable results.

There are two types of experimental problems:

Research experiment, which is associated with the search for unknown dependencies between several object parameters;
- a verification experiment, which is used in the case when it is required to confirm or refute certain consequences of the theory.

In the experiment, as a rule, devices are used - artificial or natural material systems, the principles of which are well known to us. Those. within the framework of our experiment, our knowledge, some theoretical ideas, already appear in material form. Without them, the experiment is impossible, at least within the framework of science. Any attempt to separate the experiment from the theory of knowledge makes it impossible to understand its nature, the cognition of the essence.

Experiments and observational data.

The difference between observational data and empirical facts as special types of empirical knowledge was already fixed in the positivist philosophy of science in the 1930s. At this time, there was a rather tense discussion about what could serve as the empirical basis of science. Initially, it was assumed that they were the direct results of the experiment - observational data. In the language of science, they are expressed in the form of special statements - entries in the protocols of observation, the so-called protocol sentences.

The observation protocol indicates who observed, the time of observation, and describes the instruments, if they were used in the observation.

An analysis of the meaning of protocol sentences showed that they contain not only information about the phenomena being studied, but also, as a rule, include observer errors, layers of external disturbing influences, systematic and random errors of instruments, etc. But then it became obvious that these observations, due to the fact that they are burdened with subjective layers, cannot serve as a basis for theoretical constructions.

During the discussions, it was found that such knowledge is empirical facts. They form the empirical basis on which scientific theories are based.

The very nature of fact-fixing statements emphasizes their special objective status, in comparison with protocol sentences. But then there is new problem: how is the transition from observational data to empirical facts carried out and what guarantees the objective status of a scientific fact?

There are two levels of scientific knowledge: empirical and theoretical. Some general scientific methods are used only at the empirical level (observation, experiment, measurement), others - only at the theoretical (idealization, formalization), and some (for example, modeling) - both at the empirical and theoretical levels.

The empirical level of scientific knowledge is characterized by a direct study of real-life, sensually perceived objects. At this level, the process of accumulating information about the objects and phenomena under study is carried out by conducting observations, performing various measurements, and setting up experiments. Here, the primary systematization of the actual data obtained in the form of tables, diagrams, graphs, etc. is also carried out. In addition, at this level of scientific knowledge - as a consequence of the generalization of scientific facts - it is possible to formulate some empirical patterns.

The theoretical level of scientific research is carried out at the rational (logical) level of knowledge. At this level, the most profound, essential aspects, connections, patterns inherent in the studied objects and phenomena are revealed. The theoretical level is a higher level in scientific knowledge. The results of theoretical knowledge are hypotheses, theories, laws.

Relationship between empiricism and theory

1. Qualitative difference between empirical and theoretical knowledge in science
2. The relationship between them, including an explanation of the mechanism of this relationship.

If the source of the content of empirical knowledge is information about objective reality obtained through observations and experimentation with it, then the basis of the content of theoretical knowledge is information about ideal objects that are products of the constructive activity of thinking.

Theoretical knowledge is a complex structure, consisting of statements of varying degrees of generality.

1. The most general level is axioms, theoretical laws. For example, for classical mechanics, these are Newton's three laws (inertia; the relationship of force, mass and acceleration; equality of action and reaction forces).
2. The second, less general level of scientific theory is the particular theoretical laws that describe the structure, properties and behavior of ideal objects constructed from the original ideal objects. For classical mechanics, these are, for example, the laws of motion of an ideal pendulum.
3. The third, least general level of a developed scientific theory consists of particular, single theoretical statements about the properties and relations of some ideal objects.

Empirical and theoretical types of cognition differ not only in means, but also in methods of research activity.

At the empirical level, real experiment and real observation are used as the main methods. An important role is also played by the methods of empirical description, which are oriented towards the objective characterization of the phenomena being studied, as clear as possible from subjective layers.

As for theoretical research, special methods are used here: idealization (the method of constructing an idealized object); thought experiment with idealized objects; special methods of constructing a theory (ascent from the abstract to the concrete); methods of logical and historical research, etc.

All these features of means and methods are connected with the specifics of the subject of empirical and theoretical research. At each of these levels, a researcher can deal with the same objective reality, but he studies it in different subject sections, in different aspects, and therefore its vision, its representation in knowledge will be given in different ways.

By studying phenomena and the connections between them, empirical knowledge is able to detect the operation of an objective law. But it fixes this action, as a rule, in the form of empirical dependencies, which should be distinguished from a theoretical law as a special knowledge obtained as a result of a theoretical study of objects.

Empirical dependence is the result of inductive communication of experience and represents probabilistic-true knowledge. The theoretical law is always reliable knowledge. Obtaining such knowledge requires special research procedures.

It should be emphasized that an increase in the number of experiments in itself does not make empirical dependence a reliable fact, because induction always deals with incomplete, incomplete experience. No matter how many experiments we make and generalize them, a simple inductive generalization of experimental results does not lead to theoretical knowledge. Theory is not constructed by inductive generalization of experience.

So, the empirical and theoretical levels of knowledge differ in the subject, means and methods of research. In reality, these two layers of knowledge always interact.

The cognitive attitude of a person to the world is carried out in various forms - in the form of everyday knowledge, artistic, religious knowledge, and finally, in the form of scientific knowledge. The first three areas of knowledge are considered, in contrast to science, as non-scientific forms. Scientific knowledge has grown out of ordinary knowledge, but at present these two forms of knowledge are quite far apart from each other.

There are two levels in the structure of scientific knowledge - empirical and theoretical. These levels should not be confused with aspects of cognition in general - sensory reflection and rational cognition. The point is that in the first case we mean different types cognitive activity of scientists, and in the second - we are talking about the types of mental activity of an individual in the process of cognition in general, and both of these types are used both at the empirical and at the theoretical levels of scientific knowledge.

The levels of scientific knowledge themselves differ in a number of parameters: 1) in the subject of research. Empirical research is focused on phenomena, theoretical - on the essence; 2) by means and tools of knowledge; 3) by research methods. At the empirical level, this is observation, experiment, at the theoretical level - a systematic approach, idealization, etc.; 4) by the nature of the acquired knowledge. In one case, these are empirical facts, classifications, empirical laws, in the second - laws, disclosure of essential connections, theories.

In the XVII-XVIII and partly in the XIX centuries. science was still at the empirical stage, limiting its tasks to the generalization and classification of empirical facts, the formulation of empirical laws. In the future, above the empirical level, a theoretical level is built up, connected with a comprehensive study of reality in its essential connections and patterns. At the same time, both types of research are organically interconnected and presuppose each other in the integral structure of scientific knowledge.

Methods applicable at the empirical level of scientific knowledge: observation and experiment.

Observation- this is a deliberate and purposeful perception of phenomena and processes without direct intervention in their course, subject to the tasks of scientific research. The main requirements for scientific observation are as follows: 1) unambiguous purpose, design; 2) consistency in observation methods; 3) objectivity; 4) the possibility of control either by repeated observation or by experiment.

Observation is used, as a rule, where intervention in the process under study is undesirable or impossible. Observation in modern science due to the widespread use of instruments, which, firstly, enhance the senses, and secondly, remove the touch of subjectivity from the assessment of the observed phenomena. An important place in the process of observation (as well as experiment) is occupied by the measurement operation. Measurement- there is a definition of the ratio of one (measured) quantity to another, taken as a standard. Since the results of observation, as a rule, take the form of various signs, graphs, curves on an oscilloscope, cardiograms, etc., the interpretation of the data obtained is an important component of the study.

Observation in the social sciences is especially difficult, where its results largely depend on the personality of the observer and his attitude to the phenomena being studied. In sociology and psychology, a distinction is made between simple and participatory (included) observation. Psychologists also use the method of introspection (self-observation).

Experiment unlike observation, it is a method of cognition in which phenomena are studied under controlled and controlled conditions. An experiment, as a rule, is carried out on the basis of a theory or hypothesis that determines the formulation of the problem and the interpretation of the results. The advantages of the experiment in comparison with observation are, firstly, that it is possible to study the phenomenon, so to speak, in its “pure form”, secondly, the conditions for the process can vary, and thirdly, the experiment itself can be repeated many times.

There are several types of experiment.

1) The simplest type of experiment is a qualitative one, establishing the presence or absence of the phenomena proposed by the theory.

2) The second, more complex type is a measuring or quantitative experiment that establishes the numerical parameters of some property (or properties) of an object or process.

3) A special kind of experiment in the fundamental sciences is a thought experiment.

4) Finally: a specific type of experiment is a social experiment carried out in order to introduce new forms of social organization and optimize management. The scope of social experiment is limited by moral and legal norms.

Observation and experiment are the source scientific facts, which in science are understood as a special kind of sentences that fix empirical knowledge. Facts are the foundation of the building of science, they form the empirical basis of science, the basis for putting forward hypotheses and creating theories.

Let us denote some methods of processing and systematization empirical knowledge. This is primarily analysis and synthesis. Analysis- the process of mental, and often real, dismemberment of an object, phenomenon into parts (signs, properties, relationships). The reverse procedure of analysis is synthesis. Synthesis- this is a combination of the sides of the subject selected during the analysis into a single whole.

A significant role in generalizing the results of observation and experiments belongs to induction (from Latin inductio - guidance), a special type of generalization of experimental data. During induction, the researcher's thought moves from the particular (private factors) to the general. Distinguish between popular and scientific, complete and incomplete induction. The opposite of induction is deduction, the movement of thought from the general to the particular. Unlike induction, with which deduction is closely related, it is mainly used at the theoretical level of knowledge.

The process of induction is associated with such an operation as comparison- establishment of similarities and differences of objects, phenomena. Induction, comparison, analysis and synthesis pave the way for the development of classifications - combining various concepts and their corresponding phenomena into certain groups, types in order to establish relationships between objects and classes of objects. Examples of classifications are the periodic table, classifications of animals, plants, etc. Classifications are presented in the form of schemes, tables used for orientation in the variety of concepts or corresponding objects.