Scientific method
From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science
The scientific method is a way to engage in scientific research regarding observations and through questions that are used to find predictability and thus scientific observation. Regardless of the presupposition one holds towards the origin of life, if strict adherence to the scientific method is maintained without presuppositions in the way then factual data will follow.
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Steps of the Scientific Method
Using this methodology, the hypothesis may become a theory when substantiated by experimentation and supporting data. This theory is then a framework to which future observations, hypotheses, experiments, and predictions can be compared. Knowledge of the specific research will deepen and constants within nature can be defined. Experiments should be designed to answer many aspects of the hypothesis and lead to a pattern that provides an explanative theory for the observation.
The scientific method employs several steps which form a coherent set of propositions that explain a class of phenomena. The six listed below are present in all scientific endeavors. After further testing using acceptable scientific standards in a lab and peer-review publishing of findings, the phenomena may become reproducible under specific conditions no matter how many times tested and classification of a scientific law is then considered.
The scientific method consists of the following steps:
- Observe some aspect of the universe or natural world.
- Define the aspect through a tentative description, called a hypothesis, that is consistent with what you have observed.
- Use the hypothesis to then predict, or essentially form experiments that compare what you predicted through a hypothesis and what actually happens.
- Test those predictions by repeated experimentation for further observation.
- Modify the hypothesis in light of the results.
- Repeat steps four and five until there are no discrepancies between hypothesis, prediction and observation. [1]
Observation
The scientist observes something interesting, and he wants to know how it happened. He lays down the basic questions as to what is responsible for the phenomena he observed, and from there begins to form his hypothesis.
In asking these questions scientists also look for research that has already been done on their topic to determine if they are duplicating a past experiment, doing something new, or building on a previous experiment. Such research, although tedious and time-consuming, simply builds on the knowledge yet to be gained by the scientist’s questions.
Hypothesis
A hypothesis is a statement of what the researcher thinks will happen in the experiment. Basically a “guess”, the hypothesis must be observable and testable.
Experiment
When designing the experiment, the researcher carefully controls as many variables as possible. In most experiments there is a control group and a treatment group. The two groups are as similar as possible, but the treatment group is the one that experiences the variable as to what the researcher is studying.
Conclusion
After the data are analyzed and written down, the scientist checks the results against the hypothesis; if the results have proven the hypothesis to be wrong, then it must be discarded. Even if the hypothesis is not correct, conclusions can still be made and significant knowledge gained. If the hypothesis is indicated to be correct, then the results are published and sent to other scientists within the field in question.
Scientists must be able to take such published data and repeat the experiment. This not only confirms the validity of the original hypothesis, but advances it to the level of a “theory”, which in science means an interpretation or explanation of a hypothesis that is well-supported by evidence which is tested and testable. A theory can also be falsified by evidence as well. The level of a “fact” or “law” is simply that which is empirical, and cannot be proven wrong.
A classic example of the Scientific Method being used stemmed from a simple bet. In 1872 a railroad baron named Leland Stanford made a wager that a horse’s hooves do not touch the ground at some point in a gallop. To test the hypothesis, photographer Eadweard Muybridge [2] was hired; he installed a series of trip wires which were rigged from a long wall about two inches from the ground, each one tied to a camera’s shutter facing the wall; the experiment called for the horse to run past the wall, tripping the wires and getting a photo at each point. The results were factual and conclusive: a horse at a running gallop does have all four hooves off the ground.
The agreement of an observation or experiment with a hypothesis does not on its own prove the hypothesis correct. It merely makes its correctness more likely. The hypothesis must agree with other aspects of the scientific framework of knowledge, and survive the test of repeated experiments by other people working independently. Over time, the accumulation of data will tend to confirm or refute a hypothesis.
Scientists may be influenced by their world-views to look for certain results that fit a preconception. The test of objectivity and rigor imposed on their work by the need for other scientists to replicate it makes the truth-seeking facility of the scientific method prevail in the long run. [3] [4]
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References
- ↑ Scientific Method steps Science Buddies
- ↑ Eadweard Muybridge American History
- ↑ Introduction to the Scientific Method Frank Wolfs. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester.
- ↑ Campbell, Reece, Taylor, Simon, et al. Biology: Concepts and Connections 5th edition; Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ (2005)
External Links
- Scientific method Discovery School
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Riverside
- The Scientific Method, from Clermont College
- Introduction to the Scientific Method
- Biology for Kids
- Example of the Scientific Method used, from NASA
- [1]
- [2]
See Also
- Science
- Falsifiability
- Science's method rules out design Response to Talk.Origins
- Philosophy of science
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