Question

What are the three ways reflected in operationalism?

Answer 1

Operationalism is based on the intuition that we do not know the meaning of a concept unless we have a method of measurement for it. It is commonly considered a theory of meaning which states that “we mean by any concept nothing more than a set of operations; the concept is synonymous with the corresponding set of operations” (Bridgman 1927, 5). That drastic statement was made in The Logic of Modern Physics, published in 1927 by the American physicist P. W. Bridgman. The operationalist point of view, first expounded at length in that book, initially found many advocates among practicing physicists and those inspired by the tradition of American pragmatism or the new philosophy of logical positivism. It is highly doubtful that Bridgman intended to advance a precise and universal theory of meaning, or any systematic philosophical theory at all. His writings were primarily “reflections of a physicist”[1] rooted in experimental practice and aimed at articulating the scientific method from a first-person point of view. However, as Bridgman's ideas gained currency they were shaped into a general philosophical doctrine of “operationalism” or “operationism”, and in that form became very influential in many areas, especially in methodological debates in psychology. Both in philosophy and in psychology operationalism is nowadays commonly regarded as an extreme and outmoded position, but that is not to say that the potential of Bridgman's original ideas has been exhausted.

This article has three sections, each of which serves a different aim. Section 1 introduces Bridgman's key ideas on operational analysis, explaining their motivations and tracing the course of their development. Section 2 summarizes various critiques of operationalism, which eventually led to a general philosophical consensus against it. Section 3 gives a view on the remaining potential of Bridgman's ideas on operational analysis for philosophy of science today.

Answer 2

Answer:

The three different ways reflected in operationalism are:

I. The pre-operational stage is the point at which we take a gander at processes that rise above our speculations.

ii. The second stage is the operational stage where the cycle and the outcomes are chosen through tests.

iii. The third stage is the point at which the importance of the scientific terms is given through speculations in which the terms show up together in light of the perceptions.

Explanation:

• Operationalism is a scientific idea that is utilized for characterizing the different logical ideas that are explicitly connected with elements of estimation and perception.
• Operationalism has been characterized by various scientific clarifications that target connecting all logical ideas to the different exploratory strategies.
• The researcher has embraced many methodologies and involved the course of operationalism in their subjects and speculations prior.
• The operationalism was implied in the functioning activities of the researchers and their perspective was expressed by them through their examinations.