User:LGreg/sandbox/Approaches to Knowledge (LG seminar 2020/21)/Seminar 12/Evidence

Evidence in Literary Analysis

Literary criticism is the analysis of works of literature, specific or not, including both their interpretation and evaluation. This may include analysis of the work itself, the author's biography, and comparison to other pieces, although different schools of criticism exclude these. The nature of evidence in this field is thus disputed.

Formalism

Formalism is an approach that was expressed in movements such as New Criticism. It seeks to make literary analysis more precise and scientific. It rejects the circumstances of the author's life, reader's response and the historical context as evidence, and considers the work on its own merits. It focuses on the language, plot, characters, et cetera of the work as the primary evidence required to interpret it. Close reading, a practice of analysing the meaning of every word in a passage, is often employed. The idea that the precise meaning of every word and the interactions of those meanings constitute important evidence meant that paraphrasing is frowned upon. To find evidence in close reading, one can consider some key factors. If the inferred meanings are consistent throughout the work, and symbolic objects appear often, it is likely they are tied into the theme. The context of these elements is also important, and by making observations and logical conclusions from this evidence, we can arrive at a conclusion.

Structuralism

Structuralism takes the opposite approach. It is a technique of literary analysis that examines works of literature from the perspective of similarities and differences between them. This theory works to reduce literature to universal rules. An understanding of literature derives, in this framework, from using the recurring structures and patterns across different works as evidence.

Contextual Analysis

Contextual analysis seeks to interpret a work of literature in conjunction with understanding the author's biography, the political and social factors at the time that may have influenced the piece (historical context) and other literature at the time. In this framework, a literary work divorced from its context is void of meaning. Thus, context the work was created in provides important evidence. An author's notes, or events in their life, for instance, can be evidence for their intentions writing the piece. However, biographical evidence can be criticised as coincidental, and attempts to contextualise a work in history often leads to cherry-picking evidence to construct a narrative around the piece. No evidence in historical analysis can be considered truly conclusive, however useful it may be.

All these approaches to evidence in literary analysis offer valuable perspectives. It is impossible to judge their accuracy due to the subjective nature of the material, however they could be effectively employed in tandem with each other. While New Criticism didn't endure, close reading is a technique still popular today. In modern analysis it is common to use these techniques to look at works of literature from specific angles, for example feminist theory.

Evidence-based Medicine

Definition

Evidence-based medicine is a component of the discipline of medicine. It is defined as “the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients“ Evidence-based practice is a way to take the best decision possible when sometimes no correct choice really exist.

But what kinds of evidence are used ?

The two different kinds of evidence

Firstly, to take a decision, a clinical question needs to be formulated. Then, there are two types of evidence which are both necessary to examine the choices available : individual clinical expertise and the best available external evidence

Individual clinical expertise

It embraces all the evidences that are directly linked with the medical team and its approach to the case. Thus, it is subjective and depends on many factors such as the doctors’ previous experiences, their background… These kinds of evidence obviously apply to a particular patient and the specific case. Nevertheless, because of their individuality, those evidences might lack reliability and quality. That is why Evidence Based Medicine is taught in medical degrees to make sure the medical team benefits from the best training possible.

Best external advice

They are based on previous research made on several different subjects, based on some surveys, tests and diagnosis so they are more general. Thus, they can be quantitative evidences based on facts, stats and tests. They are evolving and always re-evaluated every time a new case occurs to take it into account. For example, one of of those evidences can be built on the probability that a medical treatment works when tried on a group of subjects in comparison to a control group treated by a placebo. Those evidences can be ranked depending on their level of reliability. The Centre of Evidence Based Medicine (CBEM) developed its own ranking which you can found here.

The use of those evidences

Those evidences, provided by the medical team, are supposed to give the patient the ability to take part in the process of decision’s taking. Obviously, they need to be critically examined by the doctors before in order to make sure of their reliability. Some of the keys skills necessary to do so are listed in Paul DeHart Hurd’s article “Scientific Literacy : new minds for a changing world.“.

Verification of Evidence

Medicine’s commitment to evidence based practice is well-established, as reflected by independent organizations that review the research that influences EBP. Cochrane is an example of this, because it aims to be as transparent as possible while collecting and organizing as much information as possible, using a global perspective. It also allows for the requesting of specific reviews, allowing healthcare professionals to get involved in the evidence they use to make clinical decisions, and to separately verify it on an individual patient level as well as in a research setting.

Evidence-based Practices in Mental Health

What is Evidence-Based Practices?

According to the World Health Organization 1 in 4 people will suffer from mental health issues at some point during their lifetime. Mental disorders should be properly diagnosed and treated since they are the main cause of suicides. Therefore, Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) is being used more widely and commonly to ensure a proper treatment.

Evidence-Based Practice is the act of crossing 4 major characteristics: the patient’s expectations and ethics, the setting – time and space – of the interaction, the top research evidence (which if affected by the setting), and finally clinical results from experts on the matter..

Advantages of EBPs

There are several advantages to EBPs. The most prominent would be the fact that the clinician’s subjective views on treatment isn’t taken into consideration. Instead, the health professional will make use of a broad inventory of research by psychologists and biologists making it more varied. The in-depth research made from wide-ranging clinical trials is implemented to create a plan that can be applicable generally. In other words, the plans have specific steps and instructions for health professional to use.

Disadvantages of EBPs

The standardization of treatment plans for mental illness may be easier to provide to clinicians, however, it doesn’t take into consideration the fact that mental disorders vary from one individual to another. There is no proven fact that EBPs have a positive long-term effect on the patient , nor is there a personal experience for the patient. Traditional therapy is more based on the interaction between therapist and patient. It also allows the therapist to implement their years of education, knowledge and training to help the individual.

Conclusion

There is therefore no perfect treatment for mental illnesses, however combining traditional therapy and EBPs seems as though the patient could get the best of both treatment plans to ensure a recovery from mental illnesses.

How Evidence in Ageing

We often define and judge ageing qualitatively, socially: based on experiences one goes through, how mature they seem or even appearance. Biology, as a science, naturally uses more quantitative data than qualitative, and as ageing covers so many aspects, we can use both Sociology and Biology measure age in order to suit people's needs.

Qualitative Methods- Sociology

There are many sociology theories around ageing. On example is the Continuity theory which hypothesises that the older one becomes, the more they would maintain their traditions and life experiences in their day to day life despite the society around them changing. This quantitative evidence is based on how the elderly perceive themselves. However, the main criticism towards this theory as a way of evaluating ageing is that it doesn't weigh up any impact of the social institutions they are surrounded in and whether that affects how they age as well as their past- would they change the elderly's habits? The sociology evidence of ageing is never fully accepted and is always changing as society changes. Therefore, one may use the scientific evidence behind ageing as well to predict any illnesses etc.

Quantitative Methods- Biology

Quantitatively, there is a stark difference between the maximum number of divisions it takes for adult and baby skin cells to go under before it can divide no further. For example, it can take a baby cell to divide up to 80-90 times, adults take up to 50 times and only 20 for mature cells in the elderly. Therefore, as people mature, their cells divide less and less. This then significantly impacts the rate of repair one can do (including the immune system). Even though it had quantitatively identified the number of divisions, Davis didn't specify the difference between an adult and elderly cell is.

Another way of analysing ageing quantitatively is the shortening of telomeres. Telomeres are repeated units on the end of chromosomes that break off every time a cell divides. This prevents the vital parts of DNA from degrading instead. Therefore the more the cell divides, the shorter the telomeres become. Davis also touched on this subject in his book "The Beautiful Cure" too. The length (compared to at birth) would have already shortened by 1/2 by midlife and 3/4 by 65. It can even be used as a "tally" to estimate the number of divisions the cells had gone through and would be prone to more diseases.

Conclusion- Strengths and Limitations

Therefore, qualitative data is helpful in understanding how people age mentally in a social but personal context and the subjective nature of biological qualitative methods delves deeper into physical interactions and processes. Despite the differences, they should both be used to evaluate ageing to be able to best accommodate an ageing population.

Evidence in Art History

What is Art History

The discipline of art history deals with the analysis of artworks, taking into account the context in which they were created – their historic background, who they were made by and the reactions they provoked. Analysing art in this way can give us a better insight into people’s mentality at that specific time.

Vermeer as an example

An example for a question that has been raised in the field of art history is whether Johannes Vermeer, a Dutch painter who lived in the 17th century, used a “camera obscura”, a primitive version of a projector, as an aid for painting. Even though it is a historical fact that this type of device was already invented and known in the art world in Vermeer’s lifetime, there is no specific reference that states that he knew about or used it, so the search for evidence answering this question was carried out in different ways. Some have replicated sceneries and objects in his paintings and looked at them through a camera obscura - in an attempt to find similarities between what they saw and Vermeer’s paintings. Others have investigated Vermeer’s relationships to people who might have taught him about the device, looking into written records of the time that substantiate these relationships.

Technology as a source of evidence

Further approaches to better understand artists’ work methods have been made through scientific applications. Nowadays, it is possible to use modern technology to examine the texture, material and composition of artworks. This can be vital to explain their historic circumstances. One of those applications is the x-ray technique. X-rays can uncover layers of paint underlying a finished painting, sometimes revealing completely different images, which in turn could tell us more about an artist’s initial motives. X-rays are also used to “authenticate” paintings by examining the substances that the paint is made of. In some cases, this indicates when they were created, as we can match the pigments identified by x-ray to our knowledge of when certain pigments first occurred. If a pigment is detectable in a painting supposedly made at a time before it was even obtainable, it is possible to determine whether it has been wrongly classified in the historic timeline. The x-ray technique also helps to make out whether an artwork has been changed over time, which can again be crucial to the investigation of an artwork’s authenticity.

However, we must not forget that evidence in the history of art is built on what people and critics say about a work of art which might not describe it in the way the artist had intended it to appear. Indeed, sometimes it is better to look critically at historians' research because they base it on facts but give their opinion and draw conclusions without evidence.

Evidence in Public Health: Adolescent Sexual Health

Recent Societal Shift

As education becomes more accessible across the world, the practice of finishing a secondary education and attaining a stable income before starting a family has become more common, especially in developed nations. Coupled with an average global increase of a marriage age across both males and females, younger pregnancies have become less desirable, but in many cases, policies and resources do not reflect this.

Use of Available Data

In the United States, states control what public schools must teach in regards to sexual education. While some require a science-based curriculum, others require none at all, or allow an abstinence-only approach. However, studies have shown that the abstinence-only education has links to increased rates of teen pregnancy and STI’s among adolescents. Various programs such as Colorado’s Family Planning Initiative, which offered free Long-Acting Reversible Contraception for women ages 15 and up, looked at older data that shows links between access to a birth control pill and lower rates of childbirth among young women in the 1970’s and 80’s. In this case, this evidence was used to posit a societal shift, and then to test it in the wider population, successfully decreasing unwanted births in a 12-mile radius of the clinic by an estimated 6,800 from 2009-2015. This was a highly effective use of quantitative evidence, and likely what the authors were looking to accomplish: improving the lives of people through programs implemented because of the findings from their research. However, in stark contrast, the evidence of lower rates of pregnancy and STI transmission, and stable rates of sexual activity, when provided access to education and/or birth control has been routinely ignored within sexual education curriculums. Though little data exists to support the claim that contraceptive access increases rates of adolescent sexual activity, it is often reiterated within conservative policies and arguments, demonstrating the limits of evidence when those who write the rules refuse to acknowledge it, and even actively reject it.

Cultural Bias Versus Evidence

While the above example was America-centric, sexual health remains a taboo across the world. In areas such as Sub-Saharan Africa, there remains a need for more education and access to contraception due to restricted healthcare and higher rates of poverty. According to a 2019 report by the Forum for African Women Educationalists and the African Population and Health Center, even when faced with the challenge of socio-cultural bias, several efforts in East Africa to change this through digital media were successful. Improved pregnancy prevention and understanding of non-consensual sexual activity occurred following the dissemination of education on these topics. The adoptions of these policies, despite cultural barriers, came after research demonstrated improved outcomes in other communities with this information, in contrast to parts of the US that remain slower than less-developed areas to adopt evidence-based approaches to protect the adolescent population. Outdated governmental bias seems to disregard that fact that 80% of the American population actually support comprehensive sexual education, which, paradoxically, is an attack against evidence that shows support of other evidence.

Evidence in Sociology

What is sociology?

Sociology is part of social sciences and has a purpose of understanding the relationships between humans and the understanding they have on the society they live in. It also includes the studying of human societies and their challenges and movements throughout the centuries.

The beginning of sociology is marked, just like economics, at the beginning of the 19th century with the development of the enlightenment ideas that put humans at the centre of the thinking system.

Quantitative thinking in sociology

We do social research to understand how humans interact with each other in the world today but also because of the need to understand how people feel about the world they live in.

It's very hard to be partial in sociology and sociology research because the study is around the human thinking and therefore can easily be biased.

The research in sociology can be divided into the primary and secondary data and into the qualitative and quantitative data. The quantitative data takes the form of numbers and statistics. The qualitative data is the information gathered during interviews or transcripts. The primary data is the work that researchers do around a subject, while using surveys, interviews, statistics and the secondary data is the data made by the government mainly, it uses statistics and quantitative data.

The “interview method” of researching evidence is in itself categorizable. Depending on the aim of an interview, these categories might influence the way in which the qualitative data that is being collected is perceived. This should be kept in mind when investigating qualitative evidence in sociology, as it could affect the conclusion drawn from it.

The evolution of scientific data and how we use it changed with time. Indeed, before the Second World War, the qualitative data and theories were widely used, trusted and were found legitimate to prove a point. After the Second World War, with the development of quantitative data and statistics, it became the most predominant way of understanding knowledge in sociology.

Therefore, evidence in sociology is hard do grasp as it is using quantitative data to understand knowledge that cannot always be fully understood using numbers. It's harder to develop evidence in sociology than in other scientific disciplines because there are no rules to understand the data that is being recovered. According to Stanley Lieberson in his review Einstein, Renoir and Greeley: Some Thoughts about evidence in sociology in 1992, the real difficulty is not to produce data but to use it in a way that will prove a sociological theory the way we want.

Evidence in criminology

Criminology is a discipline that concerns itself with the nature, causations and implications of crime and criminal conduct . Quantitative methods are well respected in criminology. However, qualitative forms of evidence are also used to complement quantitative data and together provide a more comprehensive image of crime. Often, results are better when forms of evidence are combined.

Quantitative vs qualitative evidence

Traditional criminology initially focused on empirical, quantitative methods of research, however, the discipline has evolved to further include qualitative evidence. In contemporary criminology quantitative evidence, often statistics, is used to draw conclusions about for example relations between social and economic factors and rates of crime or the effectivity of criminal justice systems. This evidence can then be used in policymaking, for example a criminological study into the correlation between different kinds of sentencing and recidivism (repeat offending), based on statistics, can assist policymakers in evaluating the system in place.

Inspired by sociology and ethnography, qualitative evidence within criminology includes data collected through participant observation and personal testimonies that is analysed to understand more about the social constructs, reactions and implications of crime. Criminologist Richard Tewksbury argues that “The numerous advantages of qualitative methods provide a depth of understanding of crime, criminals and justice system operations and processing that far exceeds that offered by detached, statistical analyses.”. Feminist criminologists prefer methods of collecting qualitative data as it allows them to highlight the voice of women as the traditionally oppressed sex.

Blurring the lines between qualitative and quantitative approaches

It is difficult to conduct qualitative research in criminology without using any type of quantitative evidence, and vice versa, and the validity of a study can increase when both types of evidence are used. Qualitative evidence in criminology can provide insight to the social structures surrounding crime and complement quantitative evidence in helpful ways, filling in where quantitative evidence fails to paint a holistic picture. Criminology is just one example of a discipline that is not tied to one specific form of evidence but where a combination of quantitative and qualitative data can prove more useful than any isolated approach.

Evidence in Climate Change

Definition & Origins

Climate Change is defined by "a change in the pattern of weather, and related changes in oceans, land surfaces and ice sheets, occurring over time scales of decades or longer". The study of climatology goes way back in history. Indeed the Byzantine historian Procopius was one of the first to report about disturbing changes in climate in his writings: "History of The Wars".. While narrating the war with the Vandals in 535-536, Procopius describes the sun as « weak » and « without brightness ». Later on, scientists such as the dendrochronologist Mike Baillie of Queen's University Belfast, have shown evidence that the weather was disturbed in the 535-536 period of time. By analyzing tree trunks dated to the year 536, they found out that the trees had faced an unusually low growth during those years.

How can we prove Climate Change is real?

Climate change is an important world issue in our modern context. Increased production of greenhouse gases has led to rising temperatures across the globe, melting sea ices, and changes in weather. According to NASA atmospheric CO2 concentration has increased by 47% since the beginning of the industrial revolution, . Despite these facts, the debate on climate change, and the role of humans in accelerating it, is a heated one.

As surprising as it sounds, Climate Change needs to be proven. However, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change claims that "Scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is unequivocal." Quantitative evidence is largely used while trying to prove and explain the Climate Change phenomena, on the other hand, qualitative evidence would be hard to use on this subject.

Pieces of evidence to prove Climate Change is real are numerous. The most common and effective ones are global temperature rising, the warming ocean, the shrinking ice sheets, the glacial retreat, the decreasing snow cover, the sea level rise, the declining Arctic sea ice, extreme events (such as the increasing numbers of intense rainfall events) or the constant ocean acidification.

Climate Change in Politics

As Climate Change is a crucial topic as it will deeply affect future generations, it is important that the subject is treated accordingly, with proofs and pieces of evidence in Politics. However, it has not always been the case. For example, at the World Economic Forum in Davos held in 2020, the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump, made a speech claiming that Climate Change was "mythical", "nonexistent", or "an expensive hoax", when Climate Change has been scientifically proven.. In his speech at Davos, he said "The United States has among the cleanest air and drinking water on Earth." Donald Trump has always praised his administration's policies regarding air and water quality in the United States. In fact, in 2020, the air quality in the US is ranked as the 10th best in the world, while drinking water in the US is at the top of the rankings along with countries including the UK, Canada, and Finland. Climate change denialism is most popular amongst white conservative men, which make up Trump's main voter demographic. It is likely his denialism both caters to and influences his supporters. In conclusion, it is important for politicians to have concrete evidence of what they claim, as they are the leaders of our world and will most probably participate in the decisions which will determine the future of our planet Earth.

Evidence in Economics

What is economics

Economics is a social science that assesses the distribution and consumption of wealth and how scarce resources are allocated. As a social science, it is important for economists to use both qualitative and quantitative data to analyse issues and use as evidence when arriving at conclusions. Models are a primary form of evidence in economics, used for analysing situations and providing explanations for what happens when certain events change in the economy.

Issues with evidence in economic theory

A primary issue that we encounter with evidence in economic theory, is that much of economics is based on predicting what humans will do, therefore assuming universal human nature and that people are rational, which in reality is often untrue. However empirical evidence is very important to economists and many value statistical methods (more quantitative evidence) over qualitative evidence which often comes in the form of examples from the past or anecdotes. An example of issues with evidence in economic theory not predicting outcomes correctly is when Irving Fisher said “Stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau (…) I expect to see the stock market a good deal higher within a few months," just before the stock market crashed.

Behavioral approach

This, however, is a subject to change, currently many economists are willing to adapt the behavioral approach. Behavioral economics is the branch of economics that emerged relatively recently - one of its most notable works were these of Daniel Kahneman (which started appearing only from 1970s onwards). Its attitude towards evidence is much more qualitative, as behavioral economics itself is based on very interdisciplinary foundations - other social sciences, psychology and cognitive sciences were vital factors in its emergence .

Behavioral Economics is thus more willing to acknowledge paradoxes of human thinking, in contrast to the classical theory of economics and its advocates which derived the concept of Homo economicus - the model of an economic agent that is not only rational, but also has infinite computational capacities, what is of course far from truth when compared to actual human beings. Reasoning in behavioral economics is based mostly on microeconomics-scale experiments and contributions of human sciences - this kind of approach enables to treat subjects as actual human beings with all of their biases and emotions .