A researcher on vacation is reading a newspaper article about conflict-related violence. While reading through the comments section of the article, she notices that the comments appear to show that the readers of the article may have been traumatised by the content of the article. Without any further investigation, what type of knowledge can we say that this researcher has gained here?

Question

a.
Intuitive, non-scientific knowledge

b.
Scientific knowledge

Answer 1

The researcher has gained a. Intuitive, non-scientific knowledge.

This is because the observation about the comments reflecting possible trauma is based on personal impressions or interpretations rather than rigorous scientific investigation or analysis. The researcher is making a subjective assessment without conducting further research to support the claim.