Logical positivism and reductionism

Logical positivism adds an emphasis on logical analysis of language into positivism.

According to Russell’s logical atomism (1959), complex phenomena could be expressed in terms of mathematics, and mathematics could be further reduced to logic.

This idea was embraced by logical positivists such as Carnap (Coffa, 1991).

Godel said it cannot be done

Logical positivism and reductionism

Inspired by mathematical/logical reductionism, logical positivists went further to develop methods based upon analytic reductionism.

In analytic reductionism, an observed relationship is broken down into the components that are necessary and sufficient for a relationship to occur (Cook, 1985).

Physics: reduce everything to a final theory or a theory of everything

X is nothing but A and B (operationalization) but quantitative methods use factor modeling (open concepts)

“All models are wrong but some are useful” In this view, no data can fit any model perfectly.

This saying indicated that quantitative research is an interaction between data and theory, rather than a one–way reduction from events to a logical–mathematical system.

Multiple dimensions

Counteract reductionism in psychology of religion: Multiple dimensions

But… many religious scales that have measure multiple dimensions show a strong correlation between subscales (dimensions)

Allport and Ross (1967)Gorsuch and Venable’s (1983)Factor analysis

Homework

Use Google or Mental Measurement Yearbook to find another religious measurement scale that carries multiple dimensions (subscales)

Ask some of your friends and classmates to take the survey

Enter the data in Excel. Post both the scale and the data on Sakai.