what is numeric, synchronic, diachronic and qualitative mean in Philosophy?

Answer 1

These terms tend to be used in fields other than philosophy, too:

Synchronic denotes things happening in the same general time. A synchronic distinction between two entities requires that they co-exist. Diachronic would sort of be the opposite - it refers to things happening at different times. A diachronic distinction says nothing about entites that may or may not exist at the same time, but only compares things in different times.

So comparing yesterday's value of the dollar versus the yen would be a synchronic comparison. Comparing the value of a dollar in 1920 to yesterday would be a diachronic one. And comparing the value of the 1920 yen to yesterday's dollar is STILL a diachronic one. See?

In a similar way, numeric (sometimes called quantitative) and qualitative are opposite approaches too. A numeric approach seeks to quantify something in numbers. It answers the questions how many and how much. A qualitative approach, on the other hand, seeks to provide descriptions instead of numbers. It would answer the questions how, what, or why, generally speaking.

So if you counted the number of people that entered a store, how much they spent, or the average amount of time they spent, the results you would expect would all be numbers - numeric answers. If you instead list all the things people buy, everything they look at, or what they talk about while they're in the store, you are taking a qualitative approach. You may note that a numeric approach is usually easier to do, summarize, and report on, while qualitative approaches usually produce more voluminous amounts of information.

Hope that helps!

Answer 2

Diachronic - Of or concerned with phenomena, such as linguistic features, as they change through time. Synchronic - Of or relating to the study of phenomena, such as linguistic features, or of events of a particular time, without reference to their historical context. It is argued that evaluation of educational practice, including formal accountability procedures, should make greater use of qualitative data, and particularly should pay more attention to educational experience within the individual life history. Any analysis of subjective experience of education must take account of the elements of time and narrative. This imports the distinction between synchronic and diachronic analysis from structural linguistics, arguing that the current emphasis on forms of synchronic analysis leads to very narrow forms of evaluation with limited validity. The argument is made for supplementing such synchronic analyses with forms of diachronic analysis incorporating subjective perceptions on education in the context of the life history. Systematic collection of such life history data can help to generate an important evidence base from which to evaluate educational policy and practice over the long term. ;-) Pip

Answer 3

Mediochrity, and Relativity

Answer 4

Hmm....I dont know, but next year..I'm taking it in high school.

Answer 5

nothing.