Observation, scientific method

New art includes a photo of a nurse making observations (scientific method) in the hospital, and a plastic strip thermometer placed on a baby s forehead to determine body temperature. 

The scientific method, as mentioned, involves observation and experimentation (research) to discover or establish facts. These are followed by deduction or hypothesis, establishing theories or principles. This sequence, however, may be reversed. The noted twentieth-century philosopher Karl Popper, who also dealt with science, expressed the view that the scientist s work starts not with collection of data (observation) but with selection of a suitable problem (theory). In fact, both of these paths can be involved. vSignificant and sometimes accidental observations can be made without any preconceived idea of a problem or theory and vice versa. The scientist, however, must have a well-prepared, open mind to be able to recognize the significance of such observations and must be able to follow them through. Science always demands rigorous standards of procedure, reproducibility, and open discussion that set reason over irrational belief. 

The scientific method is taught starting in elementary school. The first step in the scientific method is to form a hypothesis. A hypothesis is just an educated guess or logical conclusion from known facts. It is then compared against all available data and its details developed. If the hypothesis is found to be consistent with known facts, it is called a theory and usually published. The characteristics most theories have in common are that they explain observed phenomena, predict the results of future experiments, and can be presented in mathematical form. When a theory is found to be always correct for many years, it is eventually referred to as a scientific law. However useful this process is, we often use constructs that do not fit in the scientific method scheme as it is typically described. 

Adherence to the scientific method is what de fines science The scientific method has four major el ements observation law theory and hypothesis... 

It IS worth remembering that a theory can never be proven correct It can only be proven incor rect incomplete or inadequate Thus theories are always being tested and refined As important as anything else in the scientific method is the testable hypothesis Once a theory is proposed experiments are designed to test its validity If the results are con sistent with the theory our belief in its soundness is strengthened If the results conflict with it the theory IS flawed and must be modified Section 6 7 describes some observations that support the theory that car bocations are intermediates in the addition of hydro gen halides to alkenes... 

Scientific method (Section 6 6) A systematic approach to es tabhshmg new knowledge m which observations lead to laws laws to theories theories to testable hypotheses and hypotheses to expenments... 

It can be said that science is the art of budding models to explain observations and predict new ones. Chemistry, as the central science, utilizes models ia virtually every aspect of the discipline. From the first week of a first chemistry course, students use the scientific method to develop models which explain the behavior of the elements. Anyone who studies or uses chemistry has, ia fact, practiced some form of molecular modeling. 

New scientific methods (e.g. electrolysis) allowed the veteran elements to be joined stepwise by more and more unknown and unexpected substances that fulfilled the criteria for an element. In 1869, after many attempts to bring order into the growing chaos, Dimitri Mendeleev revealed a daring concept with his Periodic Table and its predictions. Each of the then known elements was assigned a place. The gaps represented elements that were not yet known. The discoveries of such elements proved that there was an order and system to the elements. This order explained much that was previously puzzling, for instance, the different atomic radii observed that same year by Julius Lothar Meyer, which seemed to follow a periodic trend. 

The scientific method begins with observation. Observation often demands careful measurement. It also requires the establishment of an operational definition of measurements and other concepts before the experiment begins. 

As will be shown below, the notion that science is objective is mistaken and the mistake contributes to many of the problems encountered when scientific reseach has immediate economic or political consequences(16-21). It should not be surprising that years after the introduction of the concept of trans-science, we still observe difficulty, conflict and general misunderstanding not of what science can or cannot do, but of what science does do and how. The reason is a general lack of appreciation that the scientific method of inquiry is inherently and specifically subjective and that it requires a value system without which it simply cannot be applied. 

How do observation and interpretation skills help when working with the scientific method ... 

Today, clinical trials must adhere to nationally and internationally agreed codes of good clinical practice, which define ethical and scientific standards. Good clinical trial design and conduct should apply scientific methods. Skilful analysis can never correct for poor design. The purpose of the trial should be defined and specific hypotheses stated in the written study protocol, which will also include details of how the trial will be conducted. Errors in the data have two components, purely random errors and systemic errors or bias, which are not a consequence of chance alone. Randomisation of subjects is important both to avoid observer bias and to prevent or minimise the influence of unknown factors that might influence the results. 

Science deals only with hypotheses that are testable. As such, its domain is restricted to the observable natural world. While scientific methods can be used to debunk various claims, science has no way of verifying testimonies involving the supernatural. The term supernatural literally means above nature. Science works within nature, not above it. Likewise, science is unable to answer such philosophical questions as What is the purpose of life or such religious questions as What is the nature of the human spirit Though these questions are valid and have great importance to us, they rely on subjective personal experience and do not lead to testable hypotheses. 

Science pursues ideas in an ill-defined but effective way called the scientific method. The scientific method takes many forms. There is no strict rule of procedure that leads you from a good idea to a Nobel prize, or even a publishable discovery. Some scientists are meticulously careful, others are highly creative. The best scientists are probably both creative and careful. Although there are various scientific methods in use, a typical approach can be visualized as a series of steps. The first step is to collect data by making observations and measurements. These measurements are usually made on small samples of matter, or representative pieces of the material we want to study. 

This, then, is the scientific method, a constant flow of information from parts of reality through observation, theorizing, predicting, a flow shared and enriched by free communication among colleagues working in that area. The whole process is... 

The diagram of scientific method presented in Figure 1-1 was quite simplified. Figure 1-3 offers a more realistic mandala of science because it puts the human realities back into the process. I have made three changes in the basic diagram to reflect these the circles around the various processes as partially open rather than closed, a clockwise flow of information is indicated in addition to the formal counterclockwise flow (from Reality to Observation to Theorizing to Prediction to Reality) flow, and a ring labeled Mind is drawn outside of, but connected to, the formal process of scientific method. 

Hypothesis In a scientific investigation, a tentative explanation of observations in a laboratory or nature. Hypotheses are then tested with the scientific method to determine their validity. If a hypothesis is highly reliable at explaining and even predicting a phenomenon, it becomes a theory. 

Scientific method The research procedures for conducting a scientific investigation, which involves laboratory or held observations, the development of multiple hypotheses to explain the observations, and the testing of the hypotheses with computers, laboratory measurements and experiments, and/or held research. The inveshgahon may result in none, one, several, or many of the hypotheses being verihed as plausible explanahons. If a hypothesis is repeatedly shown to be a reliable explanahon and can actually make reasonably accurate predichons, it becomes a theory. 

There are four basic rules of scientific method to which an investigator is committed (1) good observation, (2) the public nature of observation, (3) the necessity to theorize logically, and (4) the testing of theory by observable consequences. These constitute the scientific enterprise. I consider below the wider application of each rule to d-ASCs and indicate how unnecessary physicaliStic restrictions may be dropped. I also show that all these commitments or rules can be accommodated in the development of state-specific sciences. 

Robert Boyle (1627-1691), an English scientist, noticed that gases can be compressed. He used J-shaped tubes to show that gas pressure and gas volume at a constant temperature and amount are inversely related. His experiments were performed with one variable, and his conclusions were drawn from experimental observations. He argued that theories should be the result of experimental observations, and therefore he considered is the founder of the modem scientific method. 

Equally important to advances in chemistry, the field of biology also developed rapidly during the period of the Renaissance. More sophisticated biological techniques and an evolving scientific method allowed for improved observation and documentation of a drug s effects. 

Observations are the heart of the scientific method, but human perception is faulty when it comes to observing absolutes. That is, one may be able to say that this liquid is hotter than that liquid, but not by how much, nor... 

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