The Scientific Method
A short explanation of the scientific method prepared by DMAC CEO, Fred Tarbox

Paraphrased from Compton’s Encyclopedia

Basic Approach to Problems
Separates People from Animals

Man has always had problems. If he solved a problem, he made progress. If he found no solution, he did not make progress. It always has been important, therefore, for man to be able to get the information needed to solve problems. Over the centuries man has developed some excellent methods of obtaining the right information and of using it to find solutions. Today’s technology is based upon using the Scientific Method to solve problems. A review of this method is valuable.

Wanting to Know Comes First

A person must want to know before he can develop ways of finding answers. When this want leads to answering questions, is properly channeled, is combined with skill and applied to the problems of science and technology, the processes are called Scientific Attitudes and Methods. The things man has achieved have resulted largely from these attitudes and methods.

Scientific Attitudes

1. Curiosity and Imagination

science and technology begin to develop rapidly when people lay aside their individual and collective superstitious beliefs and actively begin to seek true explanations.

2. Belief in Cause and Effect

Scientifically minded people believe in a "cause-and-effect" relationship. They feel there is a perfectly natural explanation for everything. To believe that effects have causes is an important part of a scientific attitude. It influences one’s reactions to certain problems.

3. Being open-minded

Open-mindedness is also vital to a scientific attitude. This means the ability to face the facts as they are, regardless of what one has previously thought. It includes an ability to accept new and sometimes even distasteful ideas. One must expect many failures and be willing to try again. The mind cannot be made up once and for all. New knowledge may make a change in thinking necessary. This is another way of saying that man’s understanding is always less than perfect. What is accepted as true often is relatively, and not absolutely, true. A scientific truth offers an explanation that is acceptable only in the light of what is known at a particular time.

4. Respect for the Views of Others

Another important part of a scientific attitude is respect for the views of others. This is easy when these views are like one’s own. The difficulty arises when their ideas are different. Views which are entirely new or foreign may also be hard to accept.

Opinions Based on Evidence

Sometimes evidence is incomplete. It may take time for new facts to become available. When they are available, a person my have to change his mind. New findings may also require a "wait-and-see" attitude.

The Scientific Method

There are scientific ways in which people solve problems. Although the methods are not always the same, there are usually certain elements in the procedures that are similar.

Recognizing the Problem

Problems must first of all be recognized. The right answers can be obtained only if the right questions are asked .

Collecting Information

Once the problem is firmly grasped, the scientist attempts to learn as much as possible about it. Frequently this means going to the Web or library and studying accounts of man’s accumulated experience and knowledge of the problem. This is called searching the literature. The scientist may find that others have already solved all or a part of the problem. Occasionally a scientist finds answers to closely related questions, which give hints for solving the new one. In his search the scientist accumulates much background information. With these new ideas and facts he builds a firm foundation for attacking the problem.

Organizing the Information

After the scientist has finished this part of his work he will probably take the many facts (data) which he has collected and organize them into some kind of system. This may be a logical classification scheme or it may be a mathematical analysis. Usually the analysis will show unanswered questions. Sometimes it will suggest areas that are in need of further study.

Perhaps one of the most important results of such an analysis is that it indicates certain significant facts. These generally are called inferences, because they are inferred from the data.

Making the "Best Guess" ( Formulating a Hypothesis)

In making an inference, the scientist has formulated a hypothesis. A hypothesis is only an "educated" or "best" guess. It must next be tested. If it is correct, then certain things should follow. This means if a particular experiment is performed certain observations ought to be possible or it should be possible to make certain predictions.

Should the observations or predictions turn out to be as expected, the scientist has added confidence in the probable truth of the hypothesis. If, however, observations cannot be made or the predictions are unreliable, then the hypothesis will probably be discarded or at least modified. The scientist is to be highly critical of his own work. It must stand these tests. Otherwise he should be the first to recommend that the hypothesis be rejected.

The Experiment

The hypothesis must check with the facts. Scientific facts are usually established by work in the laboratory. Experiments have to be performed under carefully controlled circumstances. Thorough and accurate records must be kept.

In making certain kinds of experiments in science, variables are used. A variable is something which has different values under different conditions. In one type of laboratory test all the variables but one are controlled. The uncontrolled variable is known as the experimental variable, and the others are the control variables. This method of testing is called controlled experimentation.

Need for Other Kinds of Experimentation

Controlled experimentation works reasonably well when there is no direct relationship between the individual control variables. Such variables are called independent variables. Variables , however, are sometimes related to one another. This then is known as interaction. Such relationships are complex.

Verifying the Hypothesis

Once the scientist has checked his own hypothesis is every possible way, it is submitted to other scientists who also test it. Such testing is called verification.

Publish the Findings

If a scientist has made an important discovery, he needs to share his work with the appropriate people. Most information belongs to those who foot the bill for getting the findings. This group will decide how the Findings are to be published.

Why is this relevant?

The relevance of reviewing the scientific method and attitudes is great. People today are benefiting from the fruits of science and technology. When these people come in contact with the creators of this fruit, they must learn to adjust to the scientific attitudes and methods, or they will be excluded from such contact.

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