Introduction to the Scientific Method :: essays research papers

Introduction to the Scientific MethodThe scientific rule is the process by which scientists, collectively and over time, endeavor to construct an accurate (that is, reliable, consistent and non-arbitrary) design of the world. Recognizing that personal and cultural beliefs influence both our perceptions and our interpretations of natural phenomena, we aim by the use of standard procedures and criteria to minimize those influences when developing a hypothesis. As a famous scientist once said, "Smart people (like smart lawyers) can lift up with very good explanations for mistaken points of view." In summary, the scientific method attempts to minimize the influence of bias or prejudice in the experimenter when scrutiny an possibility or a scheme. I. The scientific method has four move1. Observation and description of a phenomenon or group of phenomena. 2. Formulation of an hypothesis to explain the phenomena. In physics, the hypothesis often takes the form of a causat ive mechanism or a mathematical relation. 3. Use of the hypothesis to look for the existence of other phenomena, or to predict quantitatively the results of new-fashioned observations. 4. cognitive operation of experimental tests of the predictions by several independent experimenters and properly performed experiments. If the experiments bear let out the hypothesis it may come to be regarded as a theory or law of nature (more on the concepts of hypothesis, model, theory and law below). If the experiments do not bear out the hypothesis, it must be rejected or modified. What is key in the description of the scientific method just disposed is the predictive power (the ability to get more out of the theory than you put in see Barrow, 1991) of the hypothesis or theory, as tested by experiment. It is often said in science that theories can never be proved, only disproved. There is always the possibility that a new observation or a new experiment will interlocking with a long-standi ng theory. II. Testing hypothesesAs just stated, experimental tests may hightail it either to the confirmation of the hypothesis, or to the ruling out of the hypothesis. The scientific method requires that an hypothesis be ruled out or modified if its predictions argon clearly and repeatedly incompatible with experimental tests. Further, no matter how luxe a theory is, its predictions must agree with experimental results if we are to deliberate that it is a valid description of nature. In physics, as in any experimental science, "experiment is supreme" and experimental verification of hypothetical predictions is perfectly necessary.