Sciene and scientific methods

Since the terms science and scientific method are both used in a number of different ways, an
examination of some of these different usages will help help us understand the nature of the
processes and the terms involved.

Three possible meanings of the term science

The word science is used, first, to denote the many fields of sciences. These bodies of knowledge
include physics,chemistry, astronomy,geology, biology, and pyschology. Mathematics and ogic are
sometimes reffered to as formal or abstract sciences, and fields like botany and mineralogy are often
called descriptive or empirical sciences. There are, then, a great many sciences, and their fields
overlap.

In the second place, the term science maybe used for a body of systematic knowledge including the
hypotheses, theories, and laws which have been built up by the work of numerous scientist through
the years. This knowledge is mainly theoretical, in contrsst with the partical skills and the arts.
Conant appears to have this use of the term in mind when he defines science as “an interconnected
series of concepts and conceptual schemes that have developed as a result of experimentation and
observation and are fruitful of further experimentation and observations.

In the third place, for a considerable number of persons the term science is used to designate a
method of obtaining knowledge that is objective and verifiable. In the sense the term is practically
sysnonymus with scientific method.

A variety of scientific methods

There is no universal agreement, even among scientists, as tho what is meant by scientific method.
Science has evolved from common sense, and the transition from one to the other is radual and
continuous. As careful examination of the sciences such, physics, astronomy, and psychology, fails to
reveal any single method in use. Sciences like astronomy proceed by means of observation. other
sciences, like physics and chemistry, place emphasis upon experimentation. In other sciences, trial
and error, statistic, and sampling are used. We need then,to speak about scientific methods rather
than the scientific method. The method used depends upon the nature of the material or the
problem to be studied.

Observation

Some sciences, such as astronomy and botany, have been built up by means of careful and
methodical observation. Observation includessense perception : we see, hear, touch, feel, or smell
something. It also includes inference by means of which we wake up, as it were the meaning of the
situation and relate its various elements.

The methods of agreement, which is one of the induvtive methods, is sometimes called the
observational method of agreement. The principle of reasoning involved is that the sole invariable
circumstance accompanying a phenomenon is causally cenected with the phenomenon. For example
some years ago eigth well known leaders in the united states lumbar in dustry became ill and died.
Even though they live in widely separated area of the country, their deaths coming so near together
in time led to the beliel that there might be a common cause. On examination of the circumstances
of the deaths and the evens leading up to them. It was noted not only that each man had died of
amoebic dysentery but also that all of them had attended a conference of lumbar dealers in the
same city a few weeks before. All of them had stayed at the same hotel use water which was later
found to be contaminated withdisentery germs resulting from the backing up of the sewage system.
In the light of all the circumstances, the contaminated water at the hotel was identified as the cause
of the untimely deaths or the sole invariable circumstance.

Accurate observation is necessary in scientific investigation. The following conditions are

exceedingly important.

1. Normal or sound sense organs while all the senses aid in observation, a keen sense of sight
and sharpness of hearing are especially needed.
2. Mental maturity. This includes not only the ability to think but familiarity with the necessary
intellectual instruments, such as terms and concepts and the ability to use symbols in
general.
3. The aid of physical instruments. Telescopes, microscopes, and devices for the accurate
measurement of time, space, weight, and the like are necessary for accurate results. The
story of some sciences is in considerable part the story of the improvement of certain
instruments. For example, the development of astronomy is closely related to the
improvement of the telescope. Progress in biology is similarly related to the improvement of
the microscope.
4. The appropiate position, place, or condition for accurate observation. The point of view of
the observer is receiving more and more attention, as we shall see. We need to be
concerned about the proper conditions for observation to gibe attention to factors of time,
palce, motion, temperature, light, atmospheric conditions, and noise. Faulty observation,
which may be due to some distrorting factors, can easily lead us astray in our conclusions.
5. A knowledge of the field other thins being equal, the person who knows the field, its history,
and its relationship to other fields of study and experience will have an advantage.

Trial and error

The method of trial and error, or of trial and succes, is quite universal and well known and does not
need lengthy discussion. Trial and error is found amang the animals as they try to solve their
problems. It is technique used by the psychologist as he works with animals and with men. We see
the method in operation as the rat tries to get out of a maze or around some obstacles in his pathwe
see it used a the chimpanzee tries various means to secure food not within ordinary reach. A man
often use this method to find out how some new gadget works. The method is thus used
unconsciously by animals, more deliberately by the handyman trying to open a lock for which the
key has been lost, and most deliberately by scientific geniuses as they try different hypotheses and
by men of philosophic insight as they test ideas and systems of thought for their factual nd logical
consistency. The happy solution which gives satisfaction is likely to become part of our body of
accepted beliefs.

While the trial and error method may be called learning by doing rather than learning by thinking, in
all but its simplest forms it does n volve reflection. Reflective thinking has been called trial and error
by ideas. In reflective thinking, the fumbling is done in imagination. We may carry out in reflection
an imagination a number of proposals or hypotheses and see that some of them will work and
others will not. Trial and error in the ideological and imaginative stage save time, energy, and often
life it self.

Experimentation

Ative experimentation is the principal method of causal discovery and verification. Experimentation
involves manipulation and control. While observation and trial and error have been widely used,
they have their limitations. A great advance in scientific research was made possible when
techinques of controls the conditions relating to the ubject of his study. He then manipulates these
conditions, changing one factor one at a time so that he may record the results.

The method of difference, sometimes called the experimental method of difference, is widley used
in science. The rule for this method is ti vary only one factor or condition at a time, while keeping all
other factors unchanged os constant. The investigator make a difference to see whether it will make
a difference in the result.

A simple illustration of the method of diference is the cin and feathes experiment in physics. Why
does the featrher fall to the ground more slowly than the coin? An experiment is designed to see if
the cause is the resistance of the air. A coin and a feather are droped at the same time in the
chamber of an air pump in which air is present. The coin drops quickly and the feathr is retaeded.
With the other factors kept constant, the air is pumped from the chamber. The coin and the feather
are dropped again. This time they reach the botton of the recceiver at the same time. When the air
is removed, the two drop to the bottonm together. This indicate that the air presssure slows the fall
of the feather.

Another method, concomitant variation, which deal with the relationship between two phenomena
that vary as a result of some causal connection. Ma be either observational or experimental. This
method may show that twou phenomena increase or diminish together, or that one increases as the
other diminishes. The metod of concomintant variation is used in the experiment with the bell jat
which shows that air is a necessary medium for the trasmission of sounds waves. When the ball is
struck with air in the bell jar. Souns is heard. As the air is pumped out, the sound diminishes until the
air and the sound disappear at the same time. Thus we see the accompanying variation.

Statistical method

The term statistics refers to the science of the collection, analysis and classification of numerical data
s a basis for induction. Statistical methods arose in early time to help rulers and states gather
information about population, births, deaths, wealth, taxes, and the like. These methods have been
developed and made more precise, until today statistical methods are used in everyday affairs in
bussiness and financial activities and in many of the sciences. Counting, measurement, averages,
means, medians, and other measures of correlation enable us to make our information exact and to
bring order into the mass of detail.

Statistics enable us to see processes which we could not observe throughthe ordinary use of the
sense. Statitics enable us to explain causes and effects, to describe types of phenomena, and to
make comparisons through the use of tables, charts, and graphs. They also enable us to predict
some future evenys with a high degree of accuracy.