Scientific Method

Kinds of Explanations

• Commonsense
  They are based on our informal observations of the world, but not necessarily on systematic, careful observation, and not necessarily on a wide range of other available observations, They are not necessarily rigorously evaluated against competing explanations.
• Belief-based
  They are accepted because they come from a trusted source or are consistent with a larger framework of belief. Evidence may be ignored or accounted for by after-the-fact explanations, and they are treated as true rather than tentative. Unlike scientific explanations, they may be offered as explanations of anything, including questions which cannot be studied by direct observation.
• Scientific
  • Empirical
    They are based on actual experience.
  • Rational
    It follows the rules of logic and is consistent with known facts.
  • Testable
    You can verify them by experimentation. It is possible to imagine ways that they prove to be invalid.
  • Parsimonious
    They tend not to be complex, to involve fewer assumptions.
  • General
    They work for a relatively wide range of phenomena.
  • Tentaitve
    You are willing to give them up if they prove wrong.
  • Rigorously evaluated
    They are continually evaluated for consistency with available data, for parsimony, and for generality.

Methods of Inquiry

• Method of authority
  Answer your question by finding out what experts have said.
• Mthod of rationality
  Answer your question by starting with self-evident truths and making logical conclusions on the basis of them.
• Scientific method
  • Observing a phenomenon
    Observations may be made "in the wild" or in an experimental setting.
  • Formulating a tentative explanation
    You develop a hypothesis, a tentative, testable statement about the relationship between variables
  • Further observing and experimenting
  • Refining and retesting explanations

Take me back to the Rhythm and Cognition Home Page.

Last updated: 19 October 1995
URL: http://www.indiana.edu/~gasser/science.html
Comments: gasser@salsa.indiana.edu
Copyright 1995, The Trustees of Indiana University