The Scientific Method

The scientific method is a structured way to explore questions and test ideas. Here’s how it works:

  1. Ask a question: Start with curiosity, good questions are specific and testable.

  2. Research: Gather existing information that may answer or provide insight into your question.

  3. Form a Hypothesis: Establish an educated guess on the potential answer with an explanation that can be tested.

  4. Experiment: Conducting tests will demonstrate whether your hypothesis is supported or not, which typically contain a control test and a variable. Note all steps taken so experiments, successful or not, can be reproduced.

  5. Analysis: Collect and analyze the data you collected to verify whether or not your hypothesis is valid. If contradictions arise, return to step 3 and proceed until a working hypothesis is supported by experiments. Ensure notes are taken noting successes, failures, etc.

  6. Conclusion: Communicate your results to others. This is typically done through reports and peer-reviewed scientific journals.

  7. Retest: Even when experiments support a hypothesis, continue conducting tests and experiments to further support claims.

Philosophy of Science

Science isn’t a belief system, a religion, or simple steps — it’s a methodology and process built on deep ideas like:

Falsifiability

  • A hypothesis must be disprovable

  • Example: All goldfish are orange can be falsified by finding one goldfish that isn’t orange.

  • Bad Science: Astrology works because you can’t prove it doesn’t.

Empiricism

  • Knowledge comes from observable evidence, not gut feelings or dogma.

  • “I know the world is round because I can calculate the curvature.”

Theory vs Hypothesis

  • Hypothesis: A testable prediction (“Gravity pulls objects at 9.8 m/s²”)

  • Theory: A well-tested framework (Evolution, Quantum Mechanics).

  • Fun Fact: “Just a theory” is a myth. Theories are science’s strongest explanations!

Truth & Verification

  • Science never “proves” truth, it corroborates (supports with evidence).

  • Example: Newton’s gravity laws seemed perfect until Einstein.

Ethical Responsibility: Science & Conscience

Scientific responsibility and ethics are important elements in technological progress, though this has been a point of contention in college campuses, individual research, and institutional initiatives in the past and present. This perceived moral ambiguity was demonstrated in the Manhattan Project, colleges conducting military research, and other STEM-based institutions.

In the modern era, we contend with CRISPR gene editing which could cure diseases or create designer babies, artificial technology that streamlines processes at great environmental cost, or electric vehicles that depend on abhorrent working conditions and resource extraction.

We believe in holding ourselves and others accountable for the policies, procedures, and research we formulate and conduct. We are not only responsible for what we create, but how these creations are used. Hiding risks is a betrayal to all those effected and slows down our ability to make the world a better place.

Review Questions

  • What is the scientific method? Explain the process.

  • Which ideas make up some of the core tenets of science?

  • Explain the difference between a hypothesis and a theory.

  • What are two important elements in technological progress?

  • Describe two examples of moral ambiguity in STEM-based institutions?