Functional approach: definition, essence and interesting facts. Methods for interpreting experimental data Conclusions and inclusion of results in the knowledge system
“Functionalism as a method is as old as the first sprouts of interest in alien, and therefore, by all accounts, wild and barbaric cultures - no matter who such an interest arose: the Greek historian Herodotus, from the French encyclopedist Montesquieu or the German romantic Herder.
If I have had any modest contribution to make, it is to create a functionalist label for an already existing body of scientific ideas, methods and interests; but in this regard, in my article I refer to my predecessors, whose number is twenty-seven people. Thus, perhaps, I acted as obstetrician and godfather to the youngest of all the jumble of anthropological schools and continued to practice maieutike techne (the art of obstetrics) in training the youngest generation of researchers in the field, following the precepts of one great teacher who liked to describe his work as the art of the midwife. There was another great teacher who gave functionalism its motto “by their fruits you will know them” (Matt. 7:16). […]
I suggest that all field experience, as well as careful consideration of the truly significant manifestations of organized behavior in man, show the validity of the following axioms:
A. Culture is essentially an instrumental apparatus by which man is placed in a position to enable him to better cope with the specific concrete problems confronting him in the course of his interaction with the environment to satisfy his needs.
B. It is a system of participants, activities and relationships, where each part exists as a means to achieve a specific goal.
B. It is a holistic entity, the various elements of which are interdependent.
D. The activities, relationships and participants that constitute a culture are organized according to the principle of solving vital problems into institutions - such as the family, clan, local group, tribe and organized groups for cooperation in the economic field, for political, legal and educational activities.
D. From a dynamic point of view, that is, taking into account the types of activities, culture can be decomposed into a number of aspects - such as education, social control, economics, cognitive, belief and moral systems, and types of creative and artistic expression. In any of its specific manifestations, the cultural process always involves people who are in certain relationships to each other, which means that they are organized in a certain way, use artifacts and communicate with each other using speech or other symbolic means. Artifacts, organized groups and symbolism are three closely related dimensions of the cultural process. What is the connection between them?
Turning first to the material apparatus of culture, we can say that each artifact is either a tool or an object of direct use, that is, it belongs to the class of consumer goods. In any case, the context in which an object occurs, as well as its form, are determined by its use. Function and form are related. […]
This analysis will allow us to more accurately define the concept functions. We should approach function through the concept of use or the concept of thing and relation.
As we can see, in all types of activity, the use of some object as part of a behavioral act, defined in terms of technology, law and ritual, makes it possible to satisfy a certain need. Fruits and roots are collected, fish are caught, animals are hunted, cattle are milked and slaughtered - all this serves to replenish the human pantry. After which these products are processed and prepared for serving. Everything ends with a meal - individual or shared. Thus, the need for nutrition controls a huge variety of processes. It will not be a revelation to anyone if it is said that the progress of mankind depends on the satiety of its belly, that the crowd can be appeased by bread and circuses, and that the materialistic factor of a satisfactory food supply is one of the determinants of human history and evolution. The functionalist will only add to this that the motives that control parts of this process and are divided into the passion for gardening and hunting, the mercantile interest in profitable exchange or sales and the desire to generously give gifts to one's neighbor, must be analyzed with reference to the main impulse, the impulse of hunger. The general function of all processes that make up the culturally organized supply of a community is the satisfaction of the primary biological need for nutrition.
If we turn to another type of activity, for example, making and maintaining fire, we can again link it to the main uses of fire - for cooking, maintaining the temperature of the environment, and also for performing some technical processes. The variety of religious and secular, legal and technical relations built around fire, the hearth, the sacred flame - we can associate all this with the basic biologically important functions of fire.
Or let’s take a person’s home. This material object, a structure made of logs or branches, animal skins, snow or stones. The form, technology of construction of a dwelling, its components and furnishings - all of them are connected with the use of the dwelling, which, in turn, is linked to the organization of household ownership, the family group and the people who are in its care and in its service. Here, again, when studying the technological phases of the construction of a dwelling and the elements of its structure, one should keep in mind the generalizing function of the entire object.”
Bronislaw Malinowski, Functional theory / Scientific theory culture, M., "O.G.I", 1999, pp. 139, 142-143 and 145-146.
Functional management
With a functional (hierarchical) approach to organizing management, each structural unit of the organization (employee, department, management) is assigned a number of functions, the area of responsibility is described, and criteria for successful and unsuccessful activities are formulated. At the same time, as a rule, horizontal connections between structural units are weak, and vertical ones, including the “superior-subordinate” line, are strong. The subordinate is responsible only for the functions assigned to him and, possibly, for the activities of his department as a whole. The functions and results of the work of parallel structural units are not very interesting to him.
The main disadvantages of the functional approach to organization management, resulting from a lack of focus on the final result, high overhead costs, long lead times for developing management decisions, and the risk of losing clients are recognized.
Advantages of FP:
The boss is always right => quick response to instructions and implementation
“Install and use” - quickly get your organization up and running
“Create and try” - encouraging creativity
Clearly expressed responsibility => an emotional factor is enough to move up the career ladder
BPM- Business process management is the modeling, execution, management and optimization of business processes.
BPM Objectives:
Gaining knowledge of debugging and documentation various types organizations
Knowledge of identification and classification
Establishing quality characteristics of business processes
Modification of previous management
Creation of information support for making informed decisions in the company's activities.
The concept of "organization". Types of organizations, their differences Process approach to organization management. The concept of a business model. Features of a process-oriented organization.
Organization- socio-technical economic system, a group of people striving to achieve common goals
Functioning – joint activity
The organization consists of:
Informal
Formal (legal entity law)
Informal organization- a spontaneously emerging group of people who interact with each other quite regularly.
Formal:
Formal organization- an organization that has the right of a legal entity, the goals of which are enshrined in the constituent documents, and the functioning - in regulations, agreements and regulations governing the rights and responsibilities of each of the organization's participants.
Formal organizations are divided into commercial and non-profit organizations.
Commercial organizations- organizations whose activities are aimed at systematically generating profit from the use of property, sale of goods, performance of work or provision of services.
Non-profit organizations- organizations that do not have profit making as the main goal of their activities and do not distribute the profits received among the participants of the organization.
Process approach to management
Management is the process of informative interaction between the subject of management (SU) and the object of management (OU), prompting to take some action to achieve the goals of the subject
Control circuit:
The activity of any organization is a continuous process, so if we consider the company as a system of processes. The process approach is one of the possible aspects of business optimization. A system built on processes must reflect the essence of the activity being studied and the development of the enterprise.
The process approach views management as a continuous series of interconnected management functions:
Action planning
Organization of actions
Motivation for action
Coordination of actions
Action control
As well as additional connecting processes: communication and decision making.
A process-oriented organization is an organization that can provide within itself the conditions for a continuous process of producing goods and services, including ensuring control and quality of results at the stages of the process, with the interaction of departments and employees.
Continuity conditions – the ability to organize the replacement of equipment and employees without creating a critical situation.
Business model- a compact, simplified view of the business, designed for a holistic view and analysis of the activities of the entire system of interconnected business processes of a business
Features of a process-oriented organization:
Availability of business models.
Organized information management system
Development of a clearly established procedure in the development of documentation.
The organization has a hierarchy of management levels
Strategic management level (decision making with a 3-5 year perspective)
The level of efficiency management is produced (1-1.5 years)
Operating activities. -Operational management (planning within a calendar month) -Operational management (current month)
Real-time control (what is now)
Makes it possible to determine indicators and criteria for assessing performance and management at each stage of the management chain.
What does process orientation provide:
Reducing process execution time through regulation and automation
Increasing the quality of products or services
Introduced performance-based management
Flexibility (readiness for changes among teammates)
Structural approach- a direction focused on identifying and describing the structure of objects (phenomena). It is characterized by: in-depth attention to the description of the current state of objects; clarification of their inherent timeless properties; interest not in isolated facts, but in the relationships between them. As a result, a system of relationships is built between the elements of the object at various levels of its organization.
Usually, with a structural approach, the relationship between parts and the whole in an object and the dynamics of the identified structures are not emphasized. In this case, the decomposition of the whole into parts (decomposition) can be carried out according to various options. An important advantage of the structural method is the relative ease of visual presentation of results in the form of various models. These models can be given in the form of descriptions, lists of elements, graphic diagrams, classifications, etc.
An inexhaustible example of such modeling is the representation of the structure and types of personality: the three-element model according to Z. Freud; Jung's personality types; "Eysenck circle"; multifactorial model by R. Assagioli. Our domestic science has not lagged behind foreign psychology in this matter: endo- and exopsychics according to A.F. Lazursky and the development of his views by V.D. Balin; personality structure ty of the four complex complexes according to B. G. Ananyev; individual-individual scheme of V. S. Merlin; lists of A. G. Kovalev and P. I. Ivanov; dynamic functional structure of personality according to K. K. Platonov; scheme by A.I. Shcherbakov, etc.
The structural approach is an attribute of any research devoted to the study of the constitutional organization of the psyche and the structure of its material substrate - the nervous system. Here we can mention the typology of GNI by I. P. Pavlov and its development by B. M. Teplov, V. D. Nebylitsyn and others. The models of V. M. Rusalov, reflecting the morphological, neuro- and psychodynamic constitution of a person, have received wide recognition. Structural models of the human psyche in spatial and functional aspects are presented in the works. Classic examples of the approach under consideration are the associative psychology of F. Hartley and its consequences (in particular, the psychophysics of “pure sensations” of the 19th century), as well as the structural psychology of W. Wundt and E. Titchener. A specific concretization of the approach is the method of microstructural analysis, which includes elements of genetic, functional, and systemic approaches.
3.3. Functional method
Functional approach Naturally, it is focused on identifying and studying the functions of objects (phenomena). The ambiguity of the interpretation of the concept of “function” in science makes it difficult to define this approach, as well as to identify with it certain areas of psychological research. We will adhere to the opinion that a function is a manifestation of the properties of objects in a certain system of relations, and properties are a manifestation of the quality of an object in its interaction with other objects. Thus, a function is the realization of the relationship between an object and the environment, and also “the correspondence between the environment and the system.”
Therefore, the functional approach is mainly interested in connections between the object being studied and the environment. It is based on the principle of self-regulation and maintaining the balance of the objects of reality (including the psyche and its carriers). [ 47]
Examples of the implementation of the functional approach in the history of science are such well-known directions as “functional psychology” and “behaviorism”. A classic example of the embodiment of a functional idea in psychology is the famous dynamic field theory of K. Lewin. In modern psychology, the functional approach is enriched with components of structural and genetic analysis. Thus, the idea of the multi-level and multi-phase nature of all human mental functions, operating simultaneously at all levels as a single whole, has already been firmly established. The above examples of personality structures, the nervous system, and the psyche can rightfully be taken as an illustration of the functional approach, since most authors of the corresponding models also consider the elements of these structures as functional units that embody certain connections of a person with reality.
Operational management process-oriented management.
The functional approach is that the activities of an organization are presented as a set of functions assigned to functional units in the organizational structure. In this approach, the capabilities of the organization are determined and - What do we have to do-- divisions and performers within the framework of their functions.
Functional specialization, as a rule, ensures high quality of individual work, but requires constant coordination of the activities of departments and employees, whose goals may not coincide. The need to resolve emerging contradictions between specialized units increases the burden on management.
With a functional approach, in order to accomplish a common task, it is necessary to work out a mechanism for interaction between the functions assigned to departments in relation to the business process and intensively coordinate the actions of participants.
With the process approach, the activities of the organization, departments, managers and direct performers are initially aimed at obtaining the final result and are perceived by them as a set of interconnected business processes that ensure the achievement of a common goal - the implementation of the main operational function of the organization. The specific technology for performing each process and operation is determined - how it should be done, to satisfy the consumer of its results - external or internal client.
When implementing a process approach, it is necessary:
Orient the activities of the organization, its divisions and employees towards the satisfaction of the end consumer and consider it as a set of business processes.
This creates an appropriate culture of task perception in the organization.
Identify the client and owner of each business process.
Regulate business processes, i.e. describe the sequence of operations, responsibility, the procedure for interaction between performers and the procedure for making decisions to improve the business process.
Determine the key indicators of each business process, allowing you to evaluate the result of its execution and the impact on the results of the organization as a whole.
The process approach and the development of related cross-functional and inter-organizational integration allows:
direct departments and employees to meet customer requirements;
more effectively differentiate powers and responsibilities using delegation of authority;
reduce the dependence of results on the individual performer;
identify sources of costs and reduce them;
reduce the time for making management decisions;
reduce the amount of cross-functional coordination (operational leadership). With a process approach, the controllability of the organization increases, the influence of human factor and costs, and most importantly, there is a qualitative change in the organization itself and the formation process-oriented organization
, in which the entire team is a conscious participant in the continuous process of activity associated with the final result of product production and consumer satisfaction.
Integration of activities. Policies for integration of operational functions and specialization in operational functions The development of specialization, which contributes to the emergence of highly qualified employees and the quality of work performed, leads to differentiation, i.e. increasing the degree of independence of individual workers and functional units
In the organisation. However, to achieve common goals, differentiation requires appropriate integration (ensuring the necessary interaction) between functional units and employees. This problem is solved by the management of the organization, ensuring the necessary degree of interaction between performers of independent areas of work to achieve the overall goals of the organization.
The first three levels (operational, functional and cross-functional) refer to internal integration. However, it should be noted that the functional level already presupposes a certain independence of performers in their interaction with the external environment, therefore, some presence of external integration. The interorganizational level of integration is referred to as external integration.
At the operational level integration is provided for individual operations and functions. For example: Suppliers- transportation - warehousing - processing - warehousing - transportation- Buyers. Each of the structural divisions has local goals and indicators for assessing performance, which are largely isolated from the assessment of their impact on the conditions and results of activities of other divisions or services of the enterprise. Integration at the operational level is ensured by systems for coordinating activities: operational process maps, description and identification of business processes, systems for administrative coordination of activities vertically and horizontally (for example, Gantt charts).
At the functional level integration combines related operations and functions. Limited integrated areas emerge, such as purchasing management, inventory management, warehousing and transportation, manufacturing, sales and distribution management. Their partial integration leads to the formation of a list of main functions and functional areas. For example: Suppliers- supply - production - sales- Buyers. There are still local, but more integrated goals, objectives and performance assessment indicators than at the operational level of integration. With developed integration within each enlarged function and functional area (supply, production, sales), there is functional isolation of various services and functional areas from each other. Therefore, preferences for the goals of managed subsystems over the goals of the control system may arise and overall performance may decrease.
At this level of integration, functional areas are administratively coordinated and budgets of functional units are controlled. The main goal is to control the use of resources and ensure optimal inventory levels within the framework of cross-functional coordination. However, in general, the cost system is focused on functional activities and does not take into account cross-functional components, therefore, the volume of resource flow is often difficult to measure and control, and therefore to determine the cost of the capital associated with it.
At the cross-functional level Integration is developing, making it possible to concentrate the efforts of all structural divisions and services of the organization on obtaining the final result. The works and their performers are united around the final result.
The tools for cross-functional integration are MRP, JIT, and ERP systems. These systems make it possible to more fully coordinate the activities of employees and various departments, encouraging people to interact in a single information system and forming a common view of the business process. To overcome structural contradictions in the organizational structure, departmentalization based on results is used.
However, in modern conditions, cross-functional integration is not enough, its presence is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the successful operation of an organization, therefore the use of inter-organizational (external) integration is required.
Interorganizational level integration proceeds from the fact that the stability of an open system is ensured not due to internal functional hierarchy, but due to developed interaction with the external environment. Understanding the impacts of external factors can lead to greater predictability in the behavior of an open system and to the expedient ordering of the functioning of its component parts.
At this level of integration, interorganizational interaction is realized, as a result of which the efforts of enterprises connected with each other by common business processes or joint transactions are combined.
The most important element of the mechanism for strengthening interorganizational interaction is the information space or information flows, which make it possible to establish such relationships in which it becomes known what kind of demand is generated by the consumers themselves, which allows the organization to more accurately plan its activities and increase the accuracy of forecasts. In addition, building relationships with external links is one of the ways to ensure the sustainable operation of the supply chain.
Traditional vertical integration can also be used, when the enterprise concentrates all or almost all production necessary for the manufacture of final products. However, the effectiveness of this integration tool is known to be limited by the scale of controllability.
Tools for the development of interorganizational relations are the formation of partnerships, strategic alliances, and contractual interactions.
With the development of information technology and telecommunications, ensuring inter-organizational integration is automated and develops into machine integration (Machine-to-Machine). Automation of interorganizational processes and their subordination to certain business rules reduces the need for human intervention at each stage of activity.
When managing an organization, one, several or all of the considered levels of integration of activities as an object of management can be used. Depending on the level of activity being considered, we can talk about managing operations, functional areas, cross-functional or inter-organizational interactions.
The effectiveness of managing individual functional areas depends on the quality of the organization at the operational level of integration of activities. The basis of interorganizational integration is interfunctional interaction in individual organizations, and the effectiveness of this interaction is ensured by the quality of the organization of functional work. The process approach to management makes it possible to ensure the operation of a network of business processes of an organization without distinguishing functional and cross-functional levels.
The enterprise can carry out policy of integration of operational functions or specialization in an operational function.
Operational Functions Integration Policy is that when implementing the main operating function, the organization also focuses on the functions that ensure the functioning of the operating system, i.e. strives to perform as many of these functions as possible in-house.
The advantages of such a policy are: centralized control; the ability to increase the reliability of the system before problems arise related to the scale of controllability; reduction of costs for attracting contractors and subcontractors.
However, refusal to involve third parties and centralized control leads to an increase in the supporting subsystem of the operating system, which can lead to the development of an organization that is cumbersome and ineffective from the point of view of controllability, diverting significant forces from performing the main operating function.
Policy of specialization in the operational function consists of specializing in one area of competence and transferring auxiliary operational functions to other performers (contractors) located outside the organization.
Outsourcing– this is the transfer of production of auxiliary activities to third-party organizations (counterparties). In practical terms, this is the cooperation of various enterprises producing products and services based on the specialization of each of them in one type of activity, which allows each participant in the process to concentrate efforts and resources on this activity and contributes to the achievement of better overall results.
For example, the manufacturer of the final product may abandon its own production of any components and parts and transfer their production to an enterprise that produces these components for many consumers. Do not deal with the issues of packaging and shipping your products, but transfer this work to an independent specialized company that forms shipments, packs them, ensures delivery of goods anywhere in the world, solving all the necessary customs and other clearance procedures. Refuse your own transport facilities and entrust transport services to another company. Refuse to maintain a department for repairing technological equipment and use the services of specialized companies. Many activities, such as catering, cleaning, creation and maintenance of computer and security systems, have become completely outsourced.
This allows:
concentrate efforts on implementing the main operating function;
reduce efforts in solving auxiliary tasks;
use the core competencies (products) of high quality contractors and subcontractors, which provides an opportunity to improve the quality of their products;
reduce the number of employees, increase the productivity and controllability of the organization.
However, when implementing such a policy, the following disadvantages may appear:
loss of control over part of the process of creating your products;
dependence on suppliers;
risks associated with violation of counterparties (suppliers) of their obligations.
When deciding whether to transfer support functions to contractors and subcontractors, the following factors are usually assessed:
available production capacity;
special knowledge and own competencies;
level of development of the quality management system in the organization;
demand characteristics important for the release of a product or service;
opportunity to reduce costs.
Policies of operational specialization and outsourcing came into use later than policies of integrating operational functions, but are now widespread. As a rule, organizations that focus on the main operational function and use outsourcing for these purposes achieve higher quality results.
This phase is often called theoretical processing, emphasizing its difference from empirical statistical processing. This phase is the most exciting stage of research, in which the creative nature of the scientific process is especially pronounced.
Theoretical processing performs two main functions: 1) transforming statistically prepared data into empirical knowledge and 2) obtaining theoretical knowledge on their basis.
At the stage of putting forward hypotheses, scientific thought is directed from theory to the object of research, at the stage of interpretation - from the object (facts) to theory. Empirical data initially make possible only statements about the existence or absence of a sign (fact), about the degree of its severity, frequency of occurrence, etc. The purpose of further theoretical penetration into the information material is to, based on the hypotheses put forward, scientifically process individual data or their combination so that it is possible to:
1) determine the relationships between data and hypotheses;
2) test the initial hypotheses;
3) clarify, expand, modify, etc. existing hypotheses and develop them to the level of theoretical statements;
4) bring the hypothetical explanation of the problem to the level of solving this problem.
If statistical processing covers the quantitative aspect of psychological phenomena, then the interpretation makes visible their qualitative aspect.
Most often, interpretation is understood as two procedures: explanation and generalization. But it is impossible to explain and generalize anything without descriptions this very something. Quantitative processing provides a description not so much of the object (or subject) of study itself, but rather a description of the totality of data about it in a specific language of quantitative parameters. Qualitative processing provides a preliminary schematic description of an object as a set of its properties or as a representative of a particular group of similar objects. Next, it is necessary to give an extremely complete description of the phenomenon being studied in terms of natural language using, if necessary, special terminology and specific symbols (mathematical, logical, graphic, etc.). In principle, such a description can be an independent goal of research (this has already been discussed), and then the research cycle can end with it. Especially weighty system descriptions, which in themselves can perform explanatory and predictive functions. But more often than not, the description is only a precursor to subsequent theoretical actions.
The interpretation stage also includes the process of extrapolating the states, behavior or properties of the object being studied. If this extrapolation is directed into the future, then we are talking about forecast and prediction, based on causal relationships and explanations. If extrapolation is directed to the past, this is retrognosis, retrotelling, based on investigative connections and explanations.
Thus, interpretation ensures the fulfillment of the most important functions of science: descriptive, explanatory and predictive. Without diminishing the role of any of these elements, explanation and generalization should still be recognized as key links in the general chain of theoretical cognitive actions.
So, interpretation and generalization research results means finding an answer to the question: how did this happen and why?
The following are distinguished: interpretative methods (approaches):
1. Genetic.
2. Structural.
3. Functional.
4. Comprehensive.
5. Systemic.
Even more than organizational ones, these methods deserve the definition of approaches, since they are primarily explanatory principles that predetermine the direction of interpretation of research results. Using one method or another does not mean cutting off others. On the contrary, a combination of approaches is common in psychology. And this applies not only to research practice, but also to psychodiagnostics, psychological counseling and psychocorrections.
Genetic method is a way of studying and explaining phenomena (including mental ones), based on an analysis of their development both in ontogenetic and phylogenetic plans. This requires establishing: 1) the initial conditions for the occurrence of the phenomenon; 2) the main stages and 3) the main trends of its development. The purpose of the method is to identify the connection of the phenomena being studied over time, to trace the transition from lower to higher forms. So wherever it is necessary to identify the temporal dynamics of mental phenomena, the genetic method is an integral research tool for the psychologist. The genetic method is especially characteristic of various branches of developmental psychology: comparative, developmental, historical psychology. It is clear that any longitudinal study presupposes the use of the method in question. The genetic approach can also be considered as the implementation of one of the basic principles of psychology, namely development principle. With this vision, other options for implementing the principle of development can be considered as modifications of the genetic approach. For example, historical and evolutionary approaches.
Structural method– this is a direction focused on identifying and describing the structure of objects (phenomena). It is characterized by: in-depth attention to the description of the current state of objects; clarification of their inherent timeless properties; interest is not in isolated facts, but in the relationship between them. As a result, a system of relationships between the elements of the object is built on various levels his organization.
Usually, with a structural approach, the relationship between parts and the whole in an object and the dynamics of the identified structures are not emphasized. An important advantage of the structural method is the ability to visually present the results in the form of various models. These models can be given in the form of descriptions, a list of elements, a graphic diagram, classification, etc. An inexhaustible example of such modeling is the representation of the structure and types of personality: the three-element model according to Z. Freud, personality types according to C. Jung, the “Eysenck circle”, etc.
The structural method is an attribute of any research devoted to the study of the constitutional organization of the psyche and the structure of its material substrate - nervous system. Here we can mention the typology of I.P. Pavlova and its development B.M. Teplov, V.D. Nebylitsyn and others.
Functional method focused on identifying and studying the functions of objects (phenomena). The functional approach is mainly interested in the connections between the object under study and the environment. It is based on the principle of self-regulation and maintaining the balance of the objects of reality (including the psyche and its carriers).
Examples of the implementation of the functional approach in the history of science are such well-known directions as “functional psychology” and “behaviourism”, K. Lewin’s field theory. IN modern psychology the functional approach is enriched with components of structural and genetic analysis.
Complex method– this is a direction that considers the object of research as a set of components to be studied using an appropriate set of methods. Components can be both relatively homogeneous parts of the whole, and its heterogeneous sides, characterizing the object under study in different aspects. Often, an integrated approach involves studying a complex object using the methods of a complex of sciences, i.e., organizing interdisciplinary research. Obviously, an integrated approach involves the use, to one degree or another, of all previous interpretive methods.
A striking example of implementation integrated approach in science - concept of human knowledge, according to which man, as the most complex object of study, is subject to the coordinated study of a large complex of sciences. In psychology, this idea of the complexity of the study of man was clearly formulated by B.G. Ananyev. The person is considered at the same time as a representative biological species Homo sapiens(individual), as a bearer of consciousness and an active element of cognitive and reality-transforming activity (subject), as a subject of social relations (personality) and as a unique unity of socially significant biological, social and psychological characteristics(individuality). Such a comprehensive and balanced study of man and his psyche essentially merges with a systems approach.
System method is a methodological direction in the study of reality, considering any fragment of it as a system.
The most tangible impetus to awareness systematic approach as an integral methodological and methodological component scientific knowledge and its strict scientific formulation was inspired by the works of the Austro-American scientist L. Bertalanffy, in which he developed general theory systems
According to L. Bertalanffy, system there is some integrity interacting with environment and consisting of many elements that are in certain relationships and connections with each other. The organization of these connections between elements is called structure. Element- the smallest part of a system that retains its properties within the given system. The system as a whole synthesizes (combines and generalizes) the properties of parts and elements, as a result of which it has properties of a higher level of organization, which, in interaction with other systems, can appear as its functions. Any system can be considered, on the one hand, as combining simpler (smaller) subsystems with its properties and functions, and on the other hand - as a subsystem of more complex (larger systems). For example, any living organism is a system of organs, tissues, and cells. It is also an element of the corresponding population, which, in turn, is a subsystem of the animal or flora etc.
System research is carried out using system analysis and synthesis. Description of objects as systems, i.e. system descriptions, perform the same functions as any other scientific descriptions: explanatory and predictive. But more importantly, system descriptions perform the function of integrating knowledge about objects. A systematic approach in psychology makes it possible to reveal the commonality of mental phenomena with other phenomena of reality. This makes it possible to enrich psychology with ideas, facts, and methods of other sciences and, conversely, to penetrate psychological data into other areas of knowledge. It allows you to integrate and systematize psychological knowledge, eliminate redundancy in accumulated information, reduce the volume and increase the clarity of descriptions, and reduce subjectivity in the interpretation of psychological phenomena. Helps to see gaps in knowledge about specific objects, detect their incompleteness, determine tasks for further research, and sometimes predict the properties of objects about which there is no information, by extrapolating and interpolating available information.
The previous approaches are actually organic components of the systems approach. Sometimes they are even considered as its varieties. Currently the majority scientific research carried out in line with a systematic approach.
Explanation follows after the study has established some general laws and facts. The simplest explanation is to determine whether the established type of relationship is a special case of a known and already more or less proven general law? (P. Fress).
T .O. explanation involves adding a new element to established facts or patterns - other, already known laws.
At the same time, the system of laws obtained as a result of explanation must necessarily be correlated with reality.
Depending on the nature of the explanatory judgments and provisions in science I highlight the following types of explanations:
- substantial explanation consists in revealing the substrate with which the object is naturally connected;
- attributive explanation reveals the natural connections of an object with its attributes. An attribute is an inherent property of an object. Thus, the explanation of consciousness can be carried out through the indication and disclosure of such qualities as ideality, integrity, reflexivity, etc.;
- genetic (or causal) explanation is carried out through reference to the previous states of the object;
- countergenetic (or consequential) explanation inversely to the genetic and consists in addressing subsequent states of the object: knowing the current state (effect), one can explain past states (causes);
- structural explanation is implemented through elucidation of the elementary composition of the object and ways of combining these elements into a single whole ( internal structure) or through finding out the place of an object in a set of other objects (external structure);
- microstructural explanation allows us to understand and explain the properties of the macro level through the microstructure.
The types of explanations given in scientific practice More often they are used in combination, forming various combinations. What happens is the so-called mixed explanation.
There are two main types explanations in psychology:
1. Reductionism or simplifying explanation is the search for an explanation by reducing the higher to the lower, located outside of psychology. For example, an explanation of memory mechanisms through biochemical theories(at the level of a nerve cell), neurophysiological (at the level of neural groups).
2. Constructivism- reduction of the mental to facts that do not go beyond the boundaries of psychology, reference to primary psychological laws. For example, explaining behavior by reference to the laws of association, reinforcement, etc.
These types can also be divided into levels of explanation:
Level physiological mechanisms;
Situation variables;
Psychosocial;
Physicalist information;
Psychogenetic;
Abstract models (lattice theory, decision making), etc.
Explanations are considered causal, If:
1. The independent variable precedes the dependent variable.
2. A connection with a changing variable has been established.
3. When there are no other competing explanations.
Errors when explaining:
The presence of only a correlation cannot be the basis for a causal explanation, since two variables may be subordinate to a third, unknown to the researcher;
Any particular reason can be taken as the main one.
Summary of results– this is the identification of the most significant features for a group of objects (phenomena), which determine their most important qualitative characteristics.
In experimental practice, generalization usually concerns four main points research process: situations, answers, personality of the subject and the dependence between these components.
Generalization of the situation involves transferring results to a wider range of circumstances.
Under summarizing the answers implies subsuming various reactions under one general category that unites them. It is necessary to prove that the differences in the form of specific answers are insignificant, are of a private nature, and do not affect the final result and the relationship between cause (situation) and effect (reaction).
Generalization at the personal level is the recognition of the representativeness of the sample, i.e. correspondence of the responses of a given contingent of subjects to this type situations to a wider variety of people. A set arranged according to the same leading characteristic by which the group of subjects was selected. For example, by age, gender, etc.
Generalization of relationships. Establishing a relationship between variables (usually in experimental practice between two variables) can be done using different levels generalizations. On lowest level this connection is descriptive. As the range of connections expands, it becomes possible to compare variables across all more indicators. The generalized form of communication has already become explanatory factor in relation to particular types of behavior. Thus, the conditioned reflex was initially a private connection: a call - the release of saliva in a dog (experiments of I.P. Pavlov). Then a similar relationship was found between a wide range of stimuli and various reactions. The reflex became a generalized indicator of the relationship between the situation and the response. The expansion of the composition of experimental animals (up to the inclusion of humans) extended the generalization to the connections between the contingent, the situation and the response. Now we can talk about conditioned reflex as a universal phenomenon for highly organized animals (including humans).
Conclusions and inclusion of results in the knowledge system.
The formulation of conclusions completes scientific research.
Basic requirements to the conclusions of the study:
1. Conclusions must meet the objectives of the study and the questions posed in the hypothesis. The researcher needs to indicate whether the hypothesis was confirmed or not.
2. Conclusions should be short, meaningful, and logically consistent. You should strive for the optimal number of conclusions, and not split them into insignificant particular issues.
3. According to the form of presentation, conclusions can be presented in the form of verbal statements, graphic images, mathematical formulas, etc.
Typical errors when drawing conclusions:
1. The conclusions do not answer the questions posed in the hypothesis.
3. Excessively broad generalization of the results obtained. The conclusions drawn are considered valid for other subjects (by age, level of intelligence, etc.), for a different situation.
Well-presented findings are easier to incorporate into existing systems scientific knowledge. At the same time, the relevance, theoretical and practical significance, the degree of novelty of the results obtained. The acquired knowledge is translated into philosophical language, their place in the general “picture of the world” is determined.