Publication details
Experimentální výzkum náboženského rituálu
| Title in English | Experimental research of religious ritual |
|---|---|
| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2012 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Before devoting attention, time and effort to any enterprise (and given the luxury to theorize), a goal must be identified. The same is true in science, except that in properly done science the theorizing is mandatory. Within disciplines that are not dominated by a single paradigm (most social sciences today), the starting point for any scientist is even harder. Without a dominant paradigm, individual scientists choose an initial step and the ensuing responsibility of building sound supporting arguments couched in a broad theoretical and methodological. This need drags us back before the formulation of the research question, which would otherwise be the starting point. A description of this phase might be 'clarification of theoretical assumptions and objectives' of the project, and it is being done on the turf of philosophy of science. Results of this phase are largely the decisions (choices) that will determine possible outcomes of the project and methods to achieve them. In this paper I outline the background of my own research as a possible preparatory method. Among the aforementioned decisions (choices) from the initial phase are: favoring explanatory theories, favoring multidisciplinary approach, favoring evolutionary perspective, favoring naturalistic frameworks of the study of religion in general and favoring experimental paradigm. I argue that it is possible and useful to use quantification even in the study of cultural phenomena such as religious ritualized collective action. To illustrate the argument, I will use as an example my own laboratory research on the influence of autonomic arousal on pro-social behavior. |
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