- What is the analytical method?
- Characteristics of the analytical method
- Examples of the analytical method
- Synthetic method
We explain what the analytical method is, its logic, application, other characteristics and examples. Also, what is the synthetic method.
What is the analytical method?
The analytical method or empirical-analytical method is a model of scientific study based on the experimentation direct and empirical logic. It is the most frequently used in science, both in natural Sciences as in the social Sciences. This method analyze the phenomenon he studies, that is, he breaks it down into its basic elements.
East method consists of the application of direct experience (as proposed by the empiricism) to obtaining evidence to verify or validate a reasoning, through verifiable mechanisms such as statistics, the observation of phenomena or experimental replication. The analytical method is one of the models proposed in the Scientific method.
The analytical method is extremely useful in novel and unexplored fields of study, or in descriptive studies, since it uses tools that reveal essential relationships and fundamental characteristics of its object of study. In addition, it allows you to learn from both experimental successes and errors.
The empirical logic, on which this method is based, comes from the philosophy of Ancient Greece, its greatest exponent being Aristotle himself (384-322 BC). It was later transmitted through medieval Arab scholars, and finally played an essential role in shaping the experimental logic that underpins our idea of science and verifiable knowledge.
Characteristics of the analytical method
The analytical method is, first of all:
- Factual. Insofar as it is based on verifiable facts, maintaining a healthy skepticism with respect to what lacks rational foundations.
- Empirically verifiable. Since it does not propose the study of the phenomena of universe by means of the logic of the mind or religious faith, but of verification through the use of the senses and instruments of measurement.
- It is progressive and self-correcting. Which means that it is updated gradually but constantly, thus modifying from one moment to the next what is taken for granted, as long as there is evidence to support the new proposition.
- It depends on the sampling. And for that reason it also applies to the evidence collection process itself, so as not to incur false premises or fallacies due to a faulty collection of evidence. data.
Examples of the analytical method
Virtually any scientific study today is a good example of the application of the analytical method. This includes experiments of the so-called "hard" science, that is, medical, biological, chemical or physical tests, in which phenomena that occur in the nature under the environment controlled from a laboratory.
So do, for example, those who study the hydrocarbons, replicating its behavior with artificially created samples, for the advancement of the petrochemical industry.
But it also applies to social science studies, such as statistical measurements of Political Sciences, the surveys of the sociology or the record of verifiable experiences that serves as the basis for the anthropology.
Synthetic method
The synthetic method is an analytical process very different from the one we have been defining, since it involves the summarized reconstruction of an event as a path towards understanding a phenomenon.
This means that it raises the possibility of taking the key points of some phenomenon of interest and build a "short" version, that is, a resume, in which certain elements are emphasized and others considered less relevant are discarded.
Such a method is essential in the communication and the transmission of information. Take advantage of the human mind's capacity for synthesis, that is, for the hierarchical reconstruction of an observed event.