Friday, November 20, 2009

What are the methods in scientific research/ process? please help me!!!?

what are the methods in scientific research/ process? please help me!!!

What are the methods in scientific research/ process? please help me!!!?
The scientific method is a disciplined approach to inquiry. The links below will give you a much better idea of the process. The quick and dirty answer is ...it's how things get done in science.





http://teacher.pas.rochester.edu/phy_lab...





http://school.discovery.com/sciencefairc...





http://physics.ucr.edu/~wudka/Physics7/N...
Reply:The scientific method may be summarized as the following sequence of steps: identification of a knowledge problem; precise formulation or reformulation of the problem; examination of the background knowledge in a search for items that might help solve the problem; choice or invention of a tentative hypothesis that looks promising; conceptual test of the hypothesis, that is, checking whether it is compatible with the bulk of the existing knowledge on the matter; drawing some testable consequences of the hypothesis; design of an empirical (observational or experimental) test of the hypothesis or a consequence of it; actual empirical test of the hypothesis, involving a search for both favorable and unfavorable evidence (examples and counterexamples); critical examination and statistical processing of the data (for example, calculation of average error and elimination of outlying data); evaluation of the hypothesis in the light of its compatibility with both the background knowledge and the fresh empirical evidence; if the test results are inconclusive, design and performance of new tests, possibly using different special methods; if the test results are conclusive, acceptance, modification, or rejection of the hypothesis; if the hypothesis is acceptable, checking whether its acceptance forces some change (enrichment or correction) in the background knowledge; identifying and tackling new problems raised by the confirmed hypothesis; and repetition of the test and reexamination of its possible impact on existing knowledge.





The scientific method is not a recipe for making original discoveries or inventions; it does not prescribe the pathway that scientists must follow to attain success. The goal of the scientific method is to ascertain whether a hypothesis is true to some degree. Indeed, the nucleus of the scientific method is the confrontation of an idea (hypothesis) with the facts it refers to, regardless of the source of the idea in question. In sum, the scientific method is a means for checking hypotheses for truth rather than for finding facts or inventing ideas.


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