RESEARCH METHOD AS A TOOLKIT AND INDICATOR OF THE QUALITY OF SCIENTIFIC WORK

Abstract

The article discusses the genesis, structure, content, and application of the research method as a tool and indicator of the quality of scientific research activities. It is shown how the issues of methodology were resolved in different historical periods. In the ancient period, these were general epistemological discussions about the nature of phenomena; in the Middle Ages – the search for a universal logical-mathematical method for solving scientific problems, the use of the induction method, the absolutization of the principle “all ideas are from practice.” The modern vector of development is the transformation of a two-component model of cognitive activity into a three-component one, highlighting the method as an independent object of study. The systematic nature of the research method is shown, the integrity of which is given by the theory, methodology and research technique. Using the example of a number of research methods, the instrumental capabilities and effectiveness of a particular method are shown, which depend on the specifics of the object and subject of the phenomenon being studied. A hypothesis is formulated and an algorithm for its proof is given, according to which the research method ensures a given level of quality of scientific work if key methodological indicators are identified in its composition. An example from psychological and pedagogical sciences shows the implementation of this algorithm. It is postulated that the research method is just an important element in any science; it cannot be a universal and the only “means of discovery” on which the achievement of the desired depends exclusively. The research method constitutes an element of the cognitive cycle, the completeness of which will require other means and objects of cognitive activity, theories, models, conditions and other components.