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editThe scientific method is a scholarly method for acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of the sciences since at least the 17th century.[a] It is often characterized by systematic observation coupled with rigorous scepticism; the formulation of hypotheses via inductive reasoning; as well as deductively reasoned testing through experimental and statistical analysis.[1]
In the iterative process of scientific inquiry, the standing hypotheses are then either confirmed, refined, or eliminated based on the experimental findings.[2][3][4] And, though these are often presented as a fixed sequence of steps, they represent rather a set of general principles.[5] Not all steps take place in every scientific inquiry (nor to the same degree), and they are not always in the same order.[6][7]
Discussion on the method of science first regained prominence during the scientific revolution with the advancement of early empiricism, as argued for by Francis Bacon, rationalism, especially as advocated by René Descartes and inductivism, rising to particular prominence with Isaac Newton and his followers.
Current, and recent, discussion includes falsificationism,[b] an early proponent of which was Frank Popper; postpositivism replacing neopositivism,[c] a sometimes heated debate influenced by Thomas Kuhn; the post-modern refutations of formalised method,[d] proposed by Paul Feyerabend; and the continuing discussion on the imagined universality of scientific method in science education,[e], as advocated by John Dewey and Karl Pearson, which is built on hypothetico-deductivism developed on the ideas of C. S. Peirce.
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editScientific method is the systematic approach used by scientists to investigate phenomena, formulate hypotheses, and draw conclusions. It involves careful characterizations, coupled with rigorous scepticism because cognitive assumptions can distort initial perceptions and compromise the integrity of inferences.
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The discussion on how to best advance knowledge has defined the sciences since at least the 17th century,(insert previous note on the scientific revolution) and has at all points in time been subject to debate and disagreement.
[Current (and recent) discussion]
Notes
edit- ^ The discussion on the method of science first regained prominence during the scientific revolution; for notable practitioners, including ones in earlier centuries, see history of scientific method.
- ^ ... Popper proposes that if a statement cannot be logically deduced (from what is known), it might nevertheless be possible to logically falsify it.[8]
- ^ Post-positivists, contrary to the neo-positivists of the early 20th century, suggest that theories, hypotheses, background knowledge and values of the researcher can influence what is observed,[9] and try to pursue objectivity by recognizing the possible effects of biases.[9][10][11]
- ^ ... Feyerabend asserts that it is not useful to impose any single methodological rule upon scientific practices, going as far as to jokingly suggest that "Anything goes!"[12]
- ^ (I do not know what to include here that might be considered useful.) relevant works Dewey: How We Think (1910) and Pearson: Grammar of Science (1892) // also: [13]
References
edit- ^ Hepburn, Brian; Andersen, Hanne (1 June 2021) [13 November 2015]. Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). "Scientific Method". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2021 Edition). Archived from the original on 12 March 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
The [philosophical] study of scientific method is the attempt to discern the activities by which [the success of science] is achieved. Among the activities often identified as characteristic of science are systematic observation and experimentation, inductive and deductive reasoning, and the formation and testing of hypotheses and theories.
- ^ Newton, Issac (1999) [1726 (3rd ed.)]. Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica [Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy]. Translated by Cohen, I. Bernard; Whitman, Anne; Budenz, Julia. Includes "A Guide to Newton's Principia" by I. Bernard Cohen, pp. 1–370. (The Principia itself is on pp. 371–946). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. 791–796 ("Rules of Reasoning in Philosophy"); see also Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica#Rules of Reasoning in Philosophy. ISBN 978-0-520-08817-7.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ "scientific method", Oxford Dictionaries: British and World English, 2016, retrieved 28 May 2016
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2014.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ Gauch (2003), p. 3: "The scientific method 'is often misrepresented as a fixed sequence of steps,' rather than being seen for what it truly is, 'a highly variable and creative process' (AAAS 2000:18). The claim here is that science has general principles that must be mastered to increase productivity and enhance perspective, not that these principles provide a simple and automated sequence of steps to follow."
- ^ Gauch (2003), p. 3.
- ^ William Whewell, History of Inductive Science (1837), and in Philosophy of Inductive Science (1840)
- ^ cite Popper (19...65?)
- ^ a b Robson, Colin (2002). Real World Research. A Resource for Social Scientists and Practitioner-Researchers (Second ed.). Malden: Blackwell. p. 624. ISBN 978-0-631-21305-5.
- ^ Miller, Katherine (2007). Communication theories : perspectives, processes, and contexts (2nd ed.). Beijing: Peking University Press. pp. 35–45. ISBN 9787301124314.
- ^ Taylor, Thomas R.; Lindlof, Bryan C. (2011). Qualitative communication research methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE. pp. 5–13. ISBN 978-1412974738.
- ^ Feyerabend, Paul K. (1975). Against Method (1 ed.). p. 12.
- ^ Dewey, John (1916) The Need of an Industrial Education in an Industrial Democracy, Quote: "It is no accident that all democracies have put a high estimate upon education; that schooling has been their first care and enduring charge. Only through education can equality of opportunity be anything more than a phrase. Accidental inequalities of birth, wealth, and learning are always tending to restrict the opportunities of some as compared with those of others. Only free and continued education can counteract those forces which are always at work to restore, in however changed a form, feudal oligarchy. Democracy has to be born anew every generation, and education is its midwife."