How do you define science briefly?
Science is the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation, experimentation, and the testing of theories against the evidence obtained
What is the purpose of science?
To discover and understand the natural world
What is a peer review system in science?
Peer review is the evaluation of work by peers, who are people with comparable experience and competency. Peers assess each others’ work in educational settings, in professional settings, and in the publishing world. The goal of peer review is improving quality, defining and maintaining standards, and helping people learn from one another.
Write a hypothesis that you might test?
“If I water plants daily, they will grow faster.”
What characterised the ancient greek view of the world?
Distinguished between two fundamentally different approaches to viewing the World
mythos : approach based on supernatural explanations (irrational) (hence mythology)
logos : approach based on logical or rational explanations
- Other implications of this view associated with:
- Observation of natural world as material rather than as mythical or supernatural (in part at least)
- Shift from observing the universe as a manifestation of mystical forces to seeing things as material objects – describable and knowable
- They were in search of explanations within the universe itself
- No longer satisfied with entirely religious explanations
What key shifts occurred in the nature of scholarship that allowed the scientific revolution to occur?
The Scientific Revolution was a series of events that marked the emergence of modern science during the early modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology (including human anatomy) and chemistry transformed the views of society about nature
- Willingness to admit ignorance
- Includes the idea that what we think and know can be proven wrong. Explanations not scared and beyond challenge
- Centrality of experimentation, observation and mathematics
- Gathering of data (observations) using mathematical tools to connect observations into comprehensive and generalizable explanations (explanations have predictive power)
- Development of technologies to explore and test these explanations.
- Technologies may lead to acquisition of new powers by political structure
Reductionism:
* Introduced the idea of dividing large and complex problems into smaller, more manageable units
- Reductionism closely associated with the idea
- Simple ideas are superior to complicated ideas (Occam’s Razor)
Occam’s razor is the problem-solving principle that recommends searching for explanations constructed with the smallest possible set of elements. It is also known as the principle of parsimony or the law of parsimony
Explain the difference between induction and deduction logic
Deductive reasoning (top-down logic) contrasts with inductive reasoning (bottom-up logic), and generally starts with one or more general statements or premises to reach a logical conclusion. If the premises are true, the conclusion must be valid. Deductive resasoning is used by scientists and mathematicians to prove their hypotheses.
What is the distinction between a theory and an hypothesis?
Theories are broader; they generally combine multiple hypotheses into a general explanation for a wide range of phenomena.
What is meant by the process of science said to be iterative?
The process of science is iterative, meaning it circles back on itself1. It is non-linear, with repetitive investigations leading to deeper understanding and continuous development2
What is the paradigm shift in science?
A major change in the worldview, concepts, and practices of how something works or is accomplished.
The replacement of one dominant paradigm theory with another.
Occurs when current theories can’t explain new phenomena, leading to the adoption of a new theory.
Fundamental shifts in the way normal science proceeds within a scientific community.
Explain deductive logic?
Deductive logic is a type of reasoning that starts from general premises and draws specific conclusions.
What are the 3 most important areas of scientific misconduct?
Falsification: (changing data)
Fabrication: (making up data)
Plagiarism: using words or ideas without proper attribution on (Copying)
Misconduct extends beyond these areas
What is a problem with reasoning?
What is an hypothesis?
A supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation:
A scientific hypothesis is a tentative, testable explanation for a phenomenon in the natural world
Why is it important to be scientifically literate?
- Science and technologies that arise from science:
- Affects all of our lives
- The most prominent differences between our lives and those of earlier generations are due to differences brought about by discoveries, investigations, explorations and inventions in the sciences
- Therefore should know basis of:
- How it works
- From where it came
- What is its underlying method and purpose
Place the following the correct order: test (or experiment), prediction, theory , hypothesis, conclusion, analysis .
- Hypothesis
- Prediction
- Analysis
- Theory
- Conclusion
Can you define the hypothetico-deductive method? Who more formally identified the elements of the method?
- A method in which a hypothetical model based on observations or theoretical considerations is proposed and is then tested by the deduction of consequences from the model.
- No theory/hypothesis can ever be proved.
- Can only disprove or falsify theories/hypotheses.
- The strength of a theory/hypothesis lies in its continued survival while being open to being falsified.
- Once falsified: the theory collapses
Karl popper.
Explain the following statement: The principle of falsification is central to the hypothetic deductive method of Science.
Karl Popper’s theory of falsification contends that scientific inquiry should aim not to verify hypotheses but to rigorously test and identify conditions under which they are false.
For a theory to be valid according to falsification, it must produce hypotheses that have the potential to be proven incorrect by observable evidence or experimental results.
Unlike verification, falsification focuses on categorically disproving theoretical predictions rather than confirming them.
Summary
* Karl Popper believed that scientific knowledge is provisional – the best we can do at the moment.
* Popper is known for his attempt to refute the classical positivist account of the scientific method by replacing induction with the falsification principle.
* The Falsification Principle, proposed by Karl Popper, is a way of demarcating science from non-science. It suggests that for a theory to be considered scientific, it must be able to be tested and conceivably proven false.
* For example, the hypothesis that “all swans are white” can be falsified by observing a black swan.
* For Popper, science should attempt to disprove a theory rather than attempt to continually support theoretical hypotheses.
Can you outline briefly how the Scientific philosopher Thomas Kuhn viewed the progress of science?
- Science is not a steady, cumulative acquisition of knowledge (steady testing and rejection of hypotheses)
- “Series of peaceful interludes punctuated by intellectually violent revolutions“
- Hypotheses which survive initial testing and hence generality : become well established theories (paradigms)
- Survive even when evidence against them
- Theory (Paradigm) may be refined in an attempt to fit available evidence
- When negative evidence builds and becomes overwhelming : paradigm shift (old paradigm rejected and replaced by new paradigm)
What are the important components of a simple experiment ?
Observation, Question, Hypothesis, Method, and Results
Test Group & Control group
In practice scientists are often faced by incomplete or competing explanations. What are some of the principles used that scientists use in making decisions about what explanations are more likely?
- Scientists are more likely to trust ideas that:
- explain observations that were previously inexplicable, unknown, or unexpected
- generate more specific expectations (i.e., are more testable).
- Are more parsimonious
- Given competing explanations – any of which would, if true, explain a given puzzle – we should initially opt for the explanation that itself contains the least number of puzzling notions. (Occam’s razor)
- Are more consistent with well-established theories in neighbouring fields
Explain deductive logic ?
Deductive reasoning is a logical process in which:
You start with a general statement or premise.
You then move towards a specific conclusion that logically follows from the initial statement.
It involves drawing conclusions based on premises generally assumed to be true.
Contrast deductive and inductive reasoning.
Deductive reasoning
- A logical approach where you progress from general ideas to specific conclusions
Inductive reasoning
- Starts from empirical (observation based) premises and draws conclusions that provide additional/ new knowledge.
- Generalizes from a number of observations
What key shifts occurred in the nature of scholarship that allowed the Scientific revolution to occur?
The Scientific Revolution was a series of events that marked the emergence of modern science during the early modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology (including human anatomy) and chemistry transformed the views of society about nature
- Willingness to admit ignorance
- Includes the idea that what we think and know can be proven wrong. Explanations not scared and beyond challenge
- Centrality of experimentation, observation and mathematics
- Gathering of data (observations) using mathematical tools to connect observations into comprehensive and generalizable explanations (explanations have predictive power)
- Development of technologies to explore and test these explanations.
- Technologies may lead to acquisition of new powers by political structure
Reductionism:
* Introduced the idea of dividing large and complex problems into smaller, more manageable units
- Reductionism closely associated with the idea
- Simple ideas are superior to complicated ideas (Occam’s Razor)
Occam’s razor is the problem-solving principle that recommends searching for explanations constructed with the smallest possible set of elements. It is also known as the principle of parsimony or the law of parsimony
