Chapter 24 Quiz: Self-Assessment

Instructions: Answer each question without looking back at the chapter. After completing all questions, check your answers against the key at the bottom. If you score below 70%, revisit the relevant sections before moving on to Chapter 25.

Multiple Choice

Q1. Thomas Kuhn's concept of "normal science" refers to:

a) Science that is ordinary and unremarkable b) Puzzle-solving within an accepted paradigm, where the paradigm's fundamental assumptions are taken for granted c) Science conducted by average researchers rather than geniuses d) Science that follows the scientific method correctly

Q2. In Kuhn's framework, a "paradigm" is best described as:

a) A single theory or hypothesis b) A shared framework of assumptions, methods, standards, and exemplars that defines what counts as legitimate research in a field c) A synonym for "scientific consensus" d) A proven scientific law

Q3. According to Kuhn, anomalies in normal science are typically handled by:

a) Immediately abandoning the paradigm b) Ignoring them or accommodating them through patches and auxiliary hypotheses until they accumulate to the point of crisis c) Reporting them prominently and beginning a democratic process to evaluate the paradigm d) Assigning a special committee to investigate

Q4. Semmelweis's handwashing findings were rejected by the medical establishment primarily because:

a) The experimental design was flawed b) His findings contradicted the miasma paradigm, which had no conceptual framework for invisible pathogenic particles on hands, and accepting them would have implied that physicians were killing their patients c) Handwashing was too expensive to implement d) His personality was difficult and he alienated colleagues (the sole reason)

Q5. Planck's principle states that:

a) Every action has an equal and opposite reaction b) New scientific truths triumph not by convincing opponents but because opponents eventually die and a new generation grows up familiar with the new truth c) Energy comes in discrete packets called quanta d) The simplest explanation is usually correct

Q6. The chapter describes paradigm shifts in economics following the sequence:

a) Classical → Keynesian → Monetarist → Behavioral, with each shift following the Kuhnian social script b) Keynesian → Classical → Behavioral → Monetarist c) There have been no paradigm shifts in economics d) Classical → Behavioral → Keynesian → Monetarist

Q7. Christensen's "disruptive innovation" is described in the chapter as:

a) A concept completely unrelated to Kuhn's paradigm shifts b) Kuhn's paradigm shift translated into the language of business strategy c) A concept that applies only to technology companies d) A synonym for incremental improvement

Q8. Kuhn's concept of "incommensurability" means:

a) Paradigms can always be compared objectively b) Practitioners in different paradigms see different things when they look at the same phenomena, because the paradigm determines what counts as data, evidence, and explanation c) All paradigms are equally valid d) Paradigms can be measured on a common scale of truth

Q9. The Impressionist revolution in art followed the paradigm shift social script because:

a) The Impressionists were rejected by the establishment (the Salon), organized their own exhibitions, attracted the next generation of artists, and eventually became the new orthodoxy b) The Impressionists were immediately accepted and celebrated c) Art does not have paradigms d) The Impressionists defeated the Academy in a public debate

Q10. The chapter's warning about the "dark side of paradigm shifts" emphasizes that:

a) Paradigm shifts are always wrong b) The social script of paradigm change is value-neutral -- it describes how paradigms change, not whether the change is progress, and can be weaponized to replace valid knowledge with invalid knowledge c) Old paradigms are always better than new ones d) Paradigm shifts should be resisted on principle

Q11. According to the chapter, paradigms are related to tacit knowledge (Ch. 23) because:

a) Paradigms are tacit knowledge at the collective level -- shared assumptions so deeply internalized that practitioners experience them as reality rather than as assumptions b) Paradigms are entirely explicit and can be stated clearly c) Paradigms have nothing to do with tacit knowledge d) Only individual experts, not communities, have tacit knowledge

Q12. The chapter connects paradigm shifts to phase transitions (Ch. 5) through the parallel:

a) Normal science = stable state, anomaly accumulation = stress buildup, crisis = critical threshold, paradigm shift = phase transition b) Paradigm shifts are literally physical phase transitions c) Phase transitions are caused by paradigm shifts d) There is no connection between paradigm shifts and phase transitions

Q13. In the paradigm shift social script, the crucial transition from old paradigm to new is driven primarily by:

a) A single decisive experiment that proves the new paradigm correct b) A vote among all practitioners in the field c) Generational turnover -- the old guard retires or dies, and the new generation, trained in the new framework, assumes positions of authority d) Government mandate

Q14. The chapter argues that the Lysenko affair in Soviet biology demonstrates:

a) That paradigm shifts always represent progress b) That the social script of paradigm change can produce revolutions that are catastrophically wrong -- the script is value-neutral c) That Soviet science was more advanced than Western science d) That genetics is a false paradigm

Q15. The chapter's practical framework for surviving a paradigm shift begins with:

a) Immediately adopting the newest framework available b) Defending the current paradigm at all costs c) Recognizing that you are inside a paradigm -- developing the metacognitive habit of questioning your own invisible assumptions d) Waiting for someone else to tell you what to do

Short Answer

Q16. Define "normal science" and "revolutionary science" in Kuhn's framework. Give one example of each from any domain discussed in the chapter.

Q17. Explain why Semmelweis's findings were "incomprehensible" (not merely wrong) from the perspective of the miasma paradigm. What does this tell us about the relationship between a paradigm and the evidence it can recognize?

Q18. State Planck's principle and explain why it applies beyond science. Give one non-scientific example.

Q19. The chapter argues that incommensurability is the most "radical and disturbing" element of Kuhn's framework. In two or three sentences, explain why.

Q20. Describe three criteria you could use to distinguish a genuine paradigm shift from a manufactured one (where the social script is being weaponized to resist valid consensus).

Answer Key

Q1. b) Puzzle-solving within an accepted paradigm, where the paradigm's fundamental assumptions are taken for granted. (Section 24.2)

Q2. b) A shared framework of assumptions, methods, standards, and exemplars that defines what counts as legitimate research in a field. (Section 24.2)

Q3. b) Ignoring them or accommodating them through patches and auxiliary hypotheses until they accumulate to the point of crisis. (Section 24.2)

Q4. b) His findings contradicted the miasma paradigm, which had no conceptual framework for invisible pathogenic particles on hands, and accepting them would have implied that physicians were killing their patients. Both intellectual and social factors reinforced the rejection. (Section 24.3)

Q5. b) New scientific truths triumph not by convincing opponents but because opponents eventually die and a new generation grows up familiar with the new truth. (Section 24.6)

Q6. a) Classical → Keynesian → Monetarist → Behavioral, with each shift following the Kuhnian social script. (Section 24.4)

Q7. b) Kuhn's paradigm shift translated into the language of business strategy. (Section 24.7)

Q8. b) Practitioners in different paradigms see different things when they look at the same phenomena, because the paradigm determines what counts as data, evidence, and explanation. (Section 24.8)

Q9. a) The Impressionists were rejected by the establishment (the Salon), organized their own exhibitions, attracted the next generation of artists, and eventually became the new orthodoxy. (Section 24.7)

Q10. b) The social script of paradigm change is value-neutral -- it describes how paradigms change, not whether the change is progress, and can be weaponized to replace valid knowledge with invalid knowledge. (Section 24.9)

Q11. a) Paradigms are tacit knowledge at the collective level -- shared assumptions so deeply internalized that practitioners experience them as reality rather than as assumptions. (Section 24.11)

Q12. a) Normal science = stable state, anomaly accumulation = stress buildup, crisis = critical threshold, paradigm shift = phase transition. (Section 24.2, Connection to Ch. 5)

Q13. c) Generational turnover -- the old guard retires or dies, and the new generation, trained in the new framework, assumes positions of authority. (Section 24.5, Act 4)

Q14. b) That the social script of paradigm change can produce revolutions that are catastrophically wrong -- the script is value-neutral. (Section 24.9)

Q15. c) Recognizing that you are inside a paradigm -- developing the metacognitive habit of questioning your own invisible assumptions. (Section 24.10)

Q16. Normal science is puzzle-solving within a paradigm -- work that accepts the framework's assumptions and focuses on solving problems the framework defines. Example: a chemist synthesizing a new compound using established methods. Revolutionary science challenges the paradigm itself -- proposing a new framework that restructures what counts as a question, method, or explanation. Example: Copernicus proposing heliocentrism, challenging the geocentric framework. (Section 24.2)

Q17. Semmelweis's findings were not merely wrong from the miasma perspective -- they were literally unintelligible. The miasma paradigm had no concept of "pathogen," "infection vector," or "antisepsis." Semmelweis was claiming that invisible particles on hands caused disease, but the paradigm had no framework for understanding what those particles might be or how they might operate. This demonstrates that a paradigm determines not only what answers are acceptable but what questions are intelligible. Evidence that cannot be formulated in the paradigm's language is not seen as counter-evidence -- it is seen as nonsense. (Section 24.3)

Q18. Planck's principle: "A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it." It applies beyond science because paradigms are identities -- they are built into careers, reputations, and tacit expertise. People do not abandon paradigms rationally; generational turnover replaces them. Non-scientific example: the transition from academic painting to Impressionism, where the academic painters did not convert but died or retired, and a new generation trained in Impressionist methods assumed institutional authority. (Section 24.6)

Q19. Incommensurability is the claim that practitioners in different paradigms do not merely disagree about how to interpret shared evidence -- they literally see different things, because the paradigm determines what counts as evidence. This is disturbing because it challenges the fundamental assumption that rational people, presented with the same facts, should converge on the same conclusion. If "the same facts" is itself a paradigm-dependent concept, then the dream of resolving disagreements through evidence alone is impossible. (Section 24.8)

Q20. Three possible criteria (others are acceptable): (1) Explanatory power -- a genuine paradigm shift offers a new framework that explains anomalies the old framework cannot while also accounting for most of the old framework's successes; manufactured dissent typically offers no superior explanatory framework. (2) Institutional independence -- genuine paradigm shifts emerge from the work of researchers without conflicts of interest; manufactured dissent is often funded by actors with economic or political stakes in the outcome. (3) Anomaly-driven vs. ideology-driven -- genuine paradigm shifts are driven by accumulated anomalies that the old framework cannot handle; manufactured dissent is driven by the desire to reach a predetermined conclusion regardless of evidence. (Section 24.9)