COMMUNICATIONS IN CYBERNETICS, COMMUNICATIONS IN CYBERNETICS, SYSTEMS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING 3 3 SYSTEMS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING 3 A.M. Novikov D.A. Novikov This book dist nguishes itself from many other works devoted to research methodology and the philosophy of science in its integrated approach towards scient fi c research, which is regarded as the scient fi c project on all levels – from philosophy of science to research design. This work studies the basics of the methodology of scient fi c research and the organizat on of scient fi c act vity from the viewpoint of systems science and system analysis. The book discusses the basics of the methodology including philosophical, psychological, epistemological and ethical/aesthet cal foundat ons, the characterist cs of scient fi c act vity, including principles of scient fi c cognit on, the means and methods of scient fi c research, the organizat on of a research implementat on process and its chronological structure and fi nally, the organizat on of a collect ve scient fi c research design. The work should be of interest to researchers, students and professionals in the fi elds of systems science, cybernet cs, systems engineering, philosophy of science and project management, as well as to specialists of applied act vity in the fi elds of operat ons research, programming, mathemat cal modeling of decision-making in organizat ons and economics. ABOUT THE BOOK SERIES Communicat ons in Cybernet cs, Systems Science and Engineering (CCSSE) is a cross- disciplinary book series devoted to theoret cal and applied research contribut ons, that cater to a rapidly growing worldwide interest in a cybernet c and systemic methodology with an ever-increasing capacity to deal with new chalenges in a way that tradit onal science cannot. Alexander M. Novikov The series aims to become a comprehensive reference work on and guide to developments Dmitry A. Novikov within the fi eld and strategies required for bet er implementat on of advances, with a view to environmental protect on and sustainable social and economic development. The CCSSE series targets all working in theoret cal and applied fi elds of cybernet cs, systems science and engineering, e.g. academics, researchers and consultants, computer and informat on scient sts, development and systems engineers, mathemat cians, management cybernet cists Research Methodology and systemists, medical scient sts, and intelligent and manufacturing engineers in industry, as wel as leading decision- and policy-makers. From Philosophy of Science to Research Design SERIES EDITOR: JEFFREY ‘YI-LIN’ FORREST an informa business Research Methodology Research Methodology Communications in Cybernetics, Systems Science and Engineering ISSN: 2164-9693 Book Series Editor: JeffreyYi-Lin Forrest International Institute for General Systems Studies, Grove City, USA Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, USA Volume 3 ResearchMethodology From Philosophy of Science to Research Design Alexander M. Novikov Research Center of theTheory of Continuous Education, Russian Academy of Education, Moscow, Russian Federation Dmitry A. Novikov Trapeznikov Institute of Control Sciences, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300 Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742 © 2013 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business No claim to original U.S. Government works Version Date: 20130411 International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-203-76472-5 (eBook - PDF) This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume responsibility for the valid- ity of all materials or the consequences of their use. 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Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com and the CRC Press Web site at http://www.crcpress.com Table of contents Editorial board vii About the authors ix Introduction 1 1 Foundations of research methodology 5 1.1 Philosophical, psychological and systematic foundations 5 1.2 Epistemological foundations 13 1.3 Ethical and aesthetical foundations 28 2 Characteristics of scientific research activity 33 2.1 Features of research activity 33 2.2 Principles of scientific cognition 35 3 Means and methods of scientific research 41 3.1 Means of scientific research 41 3.2 Methods of scientific research 43 4 Organization of scientific research 59 4.1 Design of scientific research 60 4.2 Technology of scientific research 81 4.3 Reflexion in scientific research 91 5 Organization of collective scientific research 97 Conclusion 103 Appendix. The role of science in modern society 107 Bibliography 115 Name index 117 Subject index 119 This page intentionally left blank Editorial board Michael C. Jackson, University of Hull, UK Jerzy Jozefczyk, Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland Doncho Petkov, Eastern Connecticut State University, USA Vladimir Tsurkov, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia Shouyang Wang, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.R. China ADVISORY EDITORIAL BOARD C.L. Philip Chen, University of Macau, P.R. China Zengru Di, Beijing Normal University, P.R. China Raul Espejo, Syncho Ltd. and World Organization of Systems and Cybernetics, UK Keith W. Hipel, University of Waterloo, Canada Baoding Liu, Tsinghua University, China Nagendra Nagarur, State University of New York at Binghamton, USA John Pourdehnad, University of Pennsylvania, USA Brian Howard Rudall, Institute of the World Organisation of Systems and Cybernetics & Bangor University, UK Rudolf Scheidl, Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Austria Markus Schwaninger, Institute of Management, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland This page intentionally left blank About the authors Alexander M. Novikov was born in 1941. Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation, Dr. Sci. (Peda- gogics), Prof., academic of the Russian Academy of Education, foreign member of the Ukrainian Academy of Pedagogical Sciences, member of the Union of Jour- nalists, laureate of the National Prize of the Russian Federation. At present, he is head of the Research Center of the theory of continuous education of the Russian Academy of Education. He has authored over 300 scientific pub- lications on: methodology and the theory of pedagog- ics, the theory and methods of labour education and professional education, psychology and physiology of labour. Scientific adviser of 10 Doctors of Science and 32 Candidates of Science. e-mail: