Conceptual review on scientific reasoning and scientific thinking

• Published in: Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) Vol. 42; no. 6; pp. 4313 - 4325
• Main Authors: Díaz, Carlos, Dorner, Birgit, Hussmann, Heinrich, Strijbos, Jan-Willem
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.02.2023; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Analysis; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Cognition & reasoning; Creative ability in science; Hypotheses; Keywords; Ontology; Psychology; Reasoning; Science; Social Sciences; Germany; Concept review; Scientific thinking; Scientific reasoning; Reasoning; Thinking
• ISSN: 1046-1310; 1936-4733
• DOI: 10.1007/s12144-021-01786-5

When conducting a systematic analysis of the concept of scientific reasoning (SR), we found confusion regarding the definition of the concept, its characteristics and its blurred boundaries with the concept of scientific thinking (ST). Furthermore, some authors use the concepts as synonyms. These findings raised three issues we aimed to answer in the present study: (1) are SR and ST the same concept, (2) if not, what are the differences between them, and (3) how can SR and ST be characterised and operationalised for systematic research? We conducted a conceptual review using an integrative approach to analyse 166 texts. First, we found that thinking and reasoning might refer to different processes. Likewise, SR and ST can be characterised as distinct concepts. Furthermore, the review identified that differences found between the concepts of SR and ST are grounded in ontological and epistemological perspectives.