ANSWERS: 2
  • Observation comes first. First you observe something happening. It can be anything from plants that turn white when they don't get sun to bees that behave a certain way around flowers of a certain color. You formulate a hypothesis based on your observation of a behavior, a pattern, an event, etc. saying what you think causes that behavior, pattern, event, etc. After you form a hypothesis, then you conduct experimentation to see if your hypothesis seems correct. Usually you do a few trials. This is to ensure that your results are not unique and that performing the experiment again will produce the same results. Lastly, usually after much repetition of an experiment, you formulate a theory.
  • observation: "There are different ways of outlining the basic method used for scientific inquiry. The scientific community and philosophers of science generally agree on the following classification of method components. These methodological elements and organization of procedures tend to be more characteristic of natural sciences than social sciences. Nonetheless, the cycle of formulating hypotheses, testing and analyzing the results, and formulating new hypotheses, will resemble the cycle described below: Four essential elements of a scientific method are iterations, recursions, interleavings, and orderings of the following: - Characterizations (observations, definitions, and measurements of the subject of inquiry) - Hypotheses (theoretical, hypothetical explanations of observations and measurements of the subject) - Predictions (reasoning including logical deduction from the hypothesis or theory) - Experiments (tests of all of the above) Each element of a scientific method is subject to peer review for possible mistakes. These activities do not describe all that scientists do (see below) but apply mostly to experimental sciences (e.g., physics, chemistry). The elements above are often taught in the educational system. Scientific method is not a recipe: it requires intelligence, imagination, and creativity. It is also an ongoing cycle, constantly developing more useful, accurate and comprehensive models and methods. For example, when Einstein developed the Special and General Theories of Relativity, he did not in any way refute or discount Newton's Principia. On the contrary, if the astronomically large, the vanishingly small, and the extremely fast are reduced out from Einstein's theories — all phenomena that Newton could not have observed — Newton's equations remain. Einstein's theories are expansions and refinements of Newton's theories and, thus, increase our confidence in Newton's work. A linearized, pragmatic scheme of the four points above is sometimes offered as a guideline for proceeding: 1. Define the question 2. Gather information and resources (observe) 3. Form hypothesis 4. Perform experiment and collect data 5. Analyze data 6. Interpret data and draw conclusions that serve as a starting point for new hypothesis 7. Publish results 8. Retest (frequently done by other scientists) The iterative cycle inherent in this step-by-step methodology goes from point 3 to 6 back to 3 again. While this schema outlines a typical hypothesis/testing method, it should also be noted that a number of philosophers, historians and sociologists of science (perhaps most notably Paul Feyerabend) claim that such descriptions of scientific method have little relation to the ways science is actually practiced." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_method

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