30 – Reflection: asking questions and proposing answers
A second sense of ‘how’ can be paraphrased as ‘in what
respects’. This is more like the kind of description we considered
when discussing ‘what’ – a request for various characteristics or
features:
How has the decipherment of Linear B tablets improved our
understanding of the Mycenaean religion?
How does the structure of society contribute to adolescent
delinquency?
Finally ‘how’ may demand an explanation, and this sense of ‘how’
is often hardly distinguishable from ‘why’. Physical scientists commonly say they make no distinction between ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions, or if they do, they limit themselves to ‘how’ questions, the
answers to which are to be sought in the mechanisms of nature rather
than human will, intention or motives. Humanities and social science
students will therefore meet this sense of ‘how’ in those disciplines
whose subject matter and methods of enquiry more closely approach
those of natural science:
How does the ‘chunking’ of information help to explain
individual differences in short-term memory performance?
How were the Himalayan mountains formed?
How are certain aspects of social structure affected by the
physical environment in which a society lives?
In the examples above it is possible to detect a shifting about in the
meaning of ‘how’, even though each could be re-written as a ‘why’
question. In the first, ‘how’ could simply be replaced by ‘why’. In the
second, ‘how’ might initially appear to require merely a description
of processes. But the answer to this question would need to examine
why the Himalayas are formed as they are or, alternatively, what
caused them to be formed as they are. The third illustrates another
sense in which ‘how’ can be interpreted as ‘why’. This question can
be paraphrased ‘Why do certain aspects of social structure reflect the
physical environment in which a society lives?’ An answer to this
question would need to examine the underlying relations between
A second sense of ‘how’ can be paraphrased as ‘in what
respects’. This is more like the kind of description we considered
when discussing ‘what’ – a request for various characteristics or
features:
How has the decipherment of Linear B tablets improved our
understanding of the Mycenaean religion?
How does the structure of society contribute to adolescent
delinquency?
Finally ‘how’ may demand an explanation, and this sense of ‘how’
is often hardly distinguishable from ‘why’. Physical scientists commonly say they make no distinction between ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions, or if they do, they limit themselves to ‘how’ questions, the
answers to which are to be sought in the mechanisms of nature rather
than human will, intention or motives. Humanities and social science
students will therefore meet this sense of ‘how’ in those disciplines
whose subject matter and methods of enquiry more closely approach
those of natural science:
How does the ‘chunking’ of information help to explain
individual differences in short-term memory performance?
How were the Himalayan mountains formed?
How are certain aspects of social structure affected by the
physical environment in which a society lives?
In the examples above it is possible to detect a shifting about in the
meaning of ‘how’, even though each could be re-written as a ‘why’
question. In the first, ‘how’ could simply be replaced by ‘why’. In the
second, ‘how’ might initially appear to require merely a description
of processes. But the answer to this question would need to examine
why the Himalayas are formed as they are or, alternatively, what
caused them to be formed as they are. The third illustrates another
sense in which ‘how’ can be interpreted as ‘why’. This question can
be paraphrased ‘Why do certain aspects of social structure reflect the
physical environment in which a society lives?’ An answer to this
question would need to examine the underlying relations between