MATSEC IM Systems of Knowledge flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Republic of Malta

Malta became a republic on 13 December 1974 under a constitutional amendment replacing the monarch with an elected President as head of state.

Separation of powers

The constitutional division of state authority among legislature, executive and judiciary, preventing concentration of power and allowing checks by independent courts.

Single transferable vote

Proportional electoral system used in Malta's general elections, where voters rank candidates and surplus or eliminated votes transfer according to preferences.

Rule of law

Principle that public power is exercised only under publicly known law, applied equally and reviewed by independent courts, not by arbitrary discretion.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, it lists civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights but is a declaration, not a binding treaty.

Proportionality test

A limitation on a right must pursue a legitimate aim, be suitable and necessary, and not impose a burden disproportionate to the aim pursued.

Negative and positive obligations

Negative obligations require the state to refrain from interfering with rights; positive obligations require active measures such as legislation and resources to protect them.

National Commission for the Promotion of Equality

Maltese body promoting equality and combating discrimination, handling complaints and raising awareness under national equality legislation.

Formal analysis of art

Description of a work through its visual elements such as line, colour, shape, texture, space and composition, before interpretation of meaning or context.

Representational versus abstract art

Representational art depicts recognisable subjects; abstract art departs from realistic depiction; non-representational art has no external subject at all.

Mattia Preti in Malta

Baroque painter whose works, including the ceiling of St John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta, shaped Malta's seventeenth-century artistic heritage.

Globigerina limestone

Soft, porous Maltese building stone, easy to carve but prone to erosion, which strongly influenced local architecture and sculpture.

Falsifiability

A hypothesis is scientific only if some observable outcome could show it to be false; unfalsifiable claims cannot be tested empirically.

Independent and dependent variables

The independent variable is manipulated by the researcher; the dependent variable is measured to see whether it changes in response.

Correlation versus causation

A statistical association between variables does not by itself show that one causes the other; confounding factors may explain both.

Peer review

Evaluation of research by independent experts before publication, used as a quality control but not a guarantee of correctness.

Sustainable development

Development meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs, integrating environmental, social and economic dimensions.

Paris Agreement

2015 international treaty aiming to hold global warming well below 2°C and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Mitigation versus adaptation

Mitigation reduces the causes of environmental change, such as emissions; adaptation reduces vulnerability to its effects, such as coastal defences.

Polluter-pays principle

Environmental principle that those responsible for pollution should bear the cost of preventing, controlling and remedying it.

Maltese language

A Semitic language written in the Latin alphabet, with heavy Romance borrowing, serving as Malta's national language alongside official English.

Stereotype, prejudice, discrimination

A stereotype is a generalised belief about a group, prejudice is a negative attitude, and discrimination is behaviour treating people unequally.

Ethnocentrism

Judging other cultures by the standards of one's own, often treating one's own practices as normal and others as inferior or strange.

Intangible cultural heritage

Living practices such as language, music, festa traditions and crafts, transmitted between generations and distinct from physical monuments and objects.

Validity and soundness

An argument is valid if true premises guarantee the conclusion; it is sound if it is valid and its premises are actually true.

Ad hominem fallacy

Attacking the person making an argument rather than addressing the argument's premises or reasoning, which leaves the claim unrefuted.

False dilemma

Presenting two options as the only possibilities when others exist, forcing a choice that excludes a more accurate or moderate position.

Necessary versus sufficient condition

A necessary condition must be present for an outcome; a sufficient condition guarantees it; neither implies the other by itself.

Primary and secondary sources

Primary sources are original documents, data or artefacts; secondary sources interpret or analyse primary material and depend on it.

Plagiarism

Presenting another person's words, ideas, data or structure as one's own without proper attribution, including close paraphrase without citation.

Reliability and validity

Reliability means consistent, repeatable measurement; validity means the instrument measures the concept it claims to measure rather than something else.

Convenience sampling

Selecting participants who are easiest to reach, which is quick but often unrepresentative and limits how far findings can be generalised.