Science is a method of inquiry that sets up
falsifiable hypotheses and tests them.
No statement is scientific unless it is falsifiable.
Methods used to test hypotheses may be naturalistic
or experimental or both.
- Science:
a method of investigation that proposes
testable statements (hypotheses)
and then subjects the statements to rigorous testing.
- No statement can be a hypothesis unless it is falsifiable.
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A falsifiable statement is one that is incompatible with certain possible data or conditions
that can be specified in advance of data collection; the finding of such data would falsify the hypothesis.
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"If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed
by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down."
—Darwin, 1859, Origin of Species (1st ed.), p. 189.
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Pasquale's idea
Danae's idea
- Scientific method:
- Facts are gathered.
- A problem is stated.
- A hypothesis is proposed. It must be falsifiable.
- The hypothesis is tested (with rigor and objectivity).
- A scientific theory includes one or more related hypotheses
that have been repeatedly tested and never falsified.
Most theories also contain explanations in terms of unseen,
underlying ("theoretical") phenomena such as atoms or forces or genes.
- Experimental testing: scientist controls as many variables
as possible, allowing only one to vary at a time.
Usually an experimental group is compared to a
control group.
- Naturalistic testing: used for phenomena that cannot be
experimentally controlled, as in astronomy, paleontology,
or biogeography.
Natural scientists are restricted to those experiments that
nature performs; they must often wait patiently for
the right conditions.
REVIEW:
Study guide and vocabulary
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