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| A Closer Look at the Scientific Method |
A Closer Look at the Scientific Method
The scientific method has been refined over the past four centuries and now represents an excellent model for clear thinking. The scientific method is a set of activities and strategies. It is a method of thinking and communicating. It is a procedure for systematically increasing our knowledge and revising our view of reality.
Modern scientific research includes the elements described below.
Accumulation of knowledge and skills
Science students spend three or four years at university as undergraduates and study subjects such as anatomy, astronomy, biology, chemistry, earth sciences, mathematics, physics, and zoology. Their studies include scientific theory and experimental techniques. After graduation those students with the interest and aptitude compete for positions at graduate school. Successful applicants then begin a multi-year program leading to a doctoral degree in a specific field. After another round of competition, successful applicants are employed in research settings in government or industry, or go on to teach and conduct research at a university.
Literature reviews
New findings are published regularly in scientific journals around the world. Scientists develop skills in reading and searching this flow of information for new concepts and approaches that apply to their field of interest.
When a scientist begins research on a new topic, the first step is a thorough search and review of all the relevant publications to determine what other researchers have already accomplished.
Focus on a specific topic
Once a review of the literature has been completed, scientists narrow their attention to a more specific topic. A particular question is identified that needs to be answered or a particular property is identified that needs to be explored further.
Experimental design
Once a topic has been selected, an experiment is designed that will allow the required data to be collected. The experiment may require new equipment and/or new procedures. Often the success of an experiment depends on an ingenious new technique or the use of new technology. New telescopes, new microscopes, new particle accelerators, new detectors, new satellites, and faster computers all provide new ways for examining the properties of nature.
Observations
The cornerstone of the scientific method is the systematic observation of phenomena. Systematic observations focus on one property at a time, under carefully controlled conditions. All observations are recorded. Anomalies are noted. The goal is to make objective and quantifiable observations, i.e. observations that are numerical readouts on instrument scales. Instruments are carefully calibrated and have known precisions.
Whenever possible, experiments, and observations are repeated many times, on different occasions, and at different locations with different observers.
Observational data is often referred to as raw data – the data actually collected by reading the scales on instruments. Raw data needs to be interpreted. A voltage may represent the intensity of light. The motion of an object may be an indication of an applied force. Interpreted data is then analyzed statistically. The data is summarized in tables and graphs. Correlations and values of statistical significance are calculated and examined. There is a search for patterns in the data (an inductive process), and ore observations are made to test the persistence of any patterns that are found.
The scientific method has been refined over the past four centuries and now represents an excellent model for clear thinking. The scientific method is a set of activities and strategies. It is a method of thinking and communicating. It is a procedure for systematically increasing our knowledge and revising our view of reality.
Modern scientific research includes the elements described below.
Accumulation of knowledge and skills
Science students spend three or four years at university as undergraduates and study subjects such as anatomy, astronomy, biology, chemistry, earth sciences, mathematics, physics, and zoology. Their studies include scientific theory and experimental techniques. After graduation those students with the interest and aptitude compete for positions at graduate school. Successful applicants then begin a multi-year program leading to a doctoral degree in a specific field. After another round of competition, successful applicants are employed in research settings in government or industry, or go on to teach and conduct research at a university.
Literature reviews
New findings are published regularly in scientific journals around the world. Scientists develop skills in reading and searching this flow of information for new concepts and approaches that apply to their field of interest.
When a scientist begins research on a new topic, the first step is a thorough search and review of all the relevant publications to determine what other researchers have already accomplished.
Focus on a specific topic
Once a review of the literature has been completed, scientists narrow their attention to a more specific topic. A particular question is identified that needs to be answered or a particular property is identified that needs to be explored further.
Experimental design
Once a topic has been selected, an experiment is designed that will allow the required data to be collected. The experiment may require new equipment and/or new procedures. Often the success of an experiment depends on an ingenious new technique or the use of new technology. New telescopes, new microscopes, new particle accelerators, new detectors, new satellites, and faster computers all provide new ways for examining the properties of nature.
Observations
The cornerstone of the scientific method is the systematic observation of phenomena. Systematic observations focus on one property at a time, under carefully controlled conditions. All observations are recorded. Anomalies are noted. The goal is to make objective and quantifiable observations, i.e. observations that are numerical readouts on instrument scales. Instruments are carefully calibrated and have known precisions.
Whenever possible, experiments, and observations are repeated many times, on different occasions, and at different locations with different observers.
Observational data is often referred to as raw data – the data actually collected by reading the scales on instruments. Raw data needs to be interpreted. A voltage may represent the intensity of light. The motion of an object may be an indication of an applied force. Interpreted data is then analyzed statistically. The data is summarized in tables and graphs. Correlations and values of statistical significance are calculated and examined. There is a search for patterns in the data (an inductive process), and ore observations are made to test the persistence of any patterns that are found.
Theoretical analysis
In a theoretical analysis, the data from an experiment is used to construct a model. These models are usually mathematical relationships that can reproduce the known observations and make predictions about future observations. Constructing a scientific model involves searching for the simplest set of definitions and assumptions that are needed to produce the desired results. While definitions and assumptions can be arbitrary, they are most useful when they accurately describe aspects of physical reality, such as the formation and shape of molecular bonds between atoms.
Publication
Both observational and theoretical scientists strive to publish the results of their research. Publication brings them recognition from their peers and furthers the cause of science. Published results become the grist for the next round of research.
Most scientific progress follows from refinements and extensions of accepted data and theories. As research becomes more complicated and more expensive, there is a trend for scientific investigations to be made by teams of scientists rather than individuals.
As more research is carried out at more institutions around the world, it is not unusual for several teams to be working on related features of the same problem at the same time.
Disputed scientific results
When the scientific method is so elaborate, why is there sometimes controversy over the results of a scientific investigation? There may be too few observations, disagreement over the accuracy of the raw data, disagreement over the interpretation of the data, or disagreement over the assumptions used to construct a model. Most disagreements among scientists are over details, not the broad sweep of an investigation.
Sometimes the controversy over a scientific investigation is political in nature. If the results of a scientific investigation are accepted, then a change in government policy may be necessary; or an expensive project will have to be started, stopped, or altered. The arguments about the evidence for human impact on climate change tend to fall in this category.
In a theoretical analysis, the data from an experiment is used to construct a model. These models are usually mathematical relationships that can reproduce the known observations and make predictions about future observations. Constructing a scientific model involves searching for the simplest set of definitions and assumptions that are needed to produce the desired results. While definitions and assumptions can be arbitrary, they are most useful when they accurately describe aspects of physical reality, such as the formation and shape of molecular bonds between atoms.
Publication
Both observational and theoretical scientists strive to publish the results of their research. Publication brings them recognition from their peers and furthers the cause of science. Published results become the grist for the next round of research.
Most scientific progress follows from refinements and extensions of accepted data and theories. As research becomes more complicated and more expensive, there is a trend for scientific investigations to be made by teams of scientists rather than individuals.
As more research is carried out at more institutions around the world, it is not unusual for several teams to be working on related features of the same problem at the same time.
Disputed scientific results
When the scientific method is so elaborate, why is there sometimes controversy over the results of a scientific investigation? There may be too few observations, disagreement over the accuracy of the raw data, disagreement over the interpretation of the data, or disagreement over the assumptions used to construct a model. Most disagreements among scientists are over details, not the broad sweep of an investigation.
Sometimes the controversy over a scientific investigation is political in nature. If the results of a scientific investigation are accepted, then a change in government policy may be necessary; or an expensive project will have to be started, stopped, or altered. The arguments about the evidence for human impact on climate change tend to fall in this category.
