ABSTRACT
One of the most important properties of science is that it continuously makes progress in its development of a field-specific fund of knowledge. In this chapter, the authors outline the process by which scientific fields actively build field-specific funds of knowledge through empirical observation. There are primarily three kinds of empirical observations carried out within science. The first, novel empirical observations, are carried out to observe new claims of reality that have not been subjected to validation by the scientific community. The second, theory confirmations, occur when a scientist other than the one who initially discovered a phenomenon engages in an empirical observation that replicates the original observations finding. And the third, theory competition, are observational situations that are designed to determine whether two or more knowledge claims are making paradoxical assertions about reality. The products of theory confirmations are cumulative knowledge claims, which are substantiated claims that are void of paradoxes. Consequently, the goal of scientific criminology should be to generate cumulative knowledge claims.
