Scientific Method Topics

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• bayesian analysis
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Scientific Method, Scientific Method

As William Whewell (17941866) noted in his History of Inductive Science (1837) and in Philosophy of Inductive Science (1840), "invention, sagacity, genius" are required at every step in scientific method. It is not enough to base scientific method on experience alone "...the statement of a lawA depends on Balways transcends experience." ; multiple steps are needed in scientific method, ranging from our experience to our imagination, back and forth.

A. Einstein; M. Janssen, R. Schulmann, et al., eds. )However, as pointed out by Carl Hempel (1905-1997) this simple Popperian view of scientific method is incomplete; the formulation of the conjecture might itself be the result of inductive reasoning. Thus the likelihood of the prior observation being true is statistical in nature http://www.iep.utm.edu/h/hempel.htm and would strictly require a Bayesian analysis. To overcome this uncertainty, experimental scientists must formulate a crucial experiment , in order for it to corroborate a more likely hypothesis.

Peirce, C.S. (1878), "The Doctrine of Chances", Popular Science Monthly v. 12, pp. 604-615, Internet Archive PSM 12 . Reprinted ( Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce 2.645-668), ( The Essential Peirce v. 1, 142-154). "...death makes the number of our risks, the number of our inferences, finite, and so makes their mean result uncertain. The very idea of probability and of reasoning rests on the assumption that this number is indefinitely great. .... ...logicality inexorably requires that our interests shall not be limited. .... Logic is rooted in the social principle." Paying special attention to the generation of explanations, Peirce outlined scientific method as a collaboration of kinds of inference in a purposeful cycle aimed at settling doubts, as follows Peirce, C.S. (1908), "A Neglected Argument for the Reality of God", Hibbert Journal v. 7, 90-112. Reprinted often, including ( Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce 6.452-485), ( The Essential Peirce v. 2, 434-450).

We find that we sometimes disagree with others as to the facts of the things we see in the world around us, and we find that there are things in the world that are at odds with our present understanding. The scientific method attempts to provide a way in which we can reach agreement and understanding. A "perfect" scientific method might work in such a way that rational application of the method would always result in agreement and understanding; a perfect method would arguably be algorithmic, and so not leave any room for rational agents to disagree. As with all philosophical topics, the search has been neither straightforward nor simple. Logical Positivist, empiricist, falsificationist, and other theories have claimed to give a definitive account of the logic of science, but each has in turn been criticized.

Polanyi cast this view as a misunderstanding of the scientific method and of the nature of scientific inquiry, generally. He argued that scientists do and must follow personal passions in appraising facts and in determining which scientific questions to investigate. He concluded that a structure of liberty is essential for the advancement of science - that the freedom to pursue science for its own sake is a prerequisite for the production of knowledge through peer review and the scientific method.

Such cooperation can be regarded as one of the defining elements of a scientific community. Various techniques have been developed to ensure the integrity of the scientific method within such an environment.

Ancient Egyptian documents, such as early papyri, describe methods of medical diagnosis. In ancient Greek culture, the method of empiricism was described. The first experimental scientific method was developed by Muslim scientists, who introduced the use of experimentation and quantification to distinguish between competing scientific theories set within a generally empirical orientation, which emerged with Alhazen's optical experiments in his Book of Optics (1021). Rosanna Gorini (2003), "Al-Haytham the Man of Experience, First Steps in the Science of Vision", International Society for the History of Islamic Medicine , Institute of Neurosciences, Laboratory of Psychobiology and Psychopharmacology, Rome, Italy: David Agar (2001).

Source: Wikipedia > Scientific Method