The Nature of Science

What makes a Science a science? (science is more than facts to memorize)

Everyone knows the sciences, regardless of their focus of study. Examples?

Professionals: medical fields, doctors, dentist, pharmacists, physical therapists, psychologist, and occupational therapist.

Research scientists: ecologists, geologist, chemist, and physicist.

Applied science fields: engineers (ME, CE, PE, EE), environmental scientist, wilderness managers, and athletic trainers

Ask anyone to name the sciences, and everyone can do so without hesitation. Even non-science type people have no problem recognizing the sciences! Try it with a friend! Name some non-sciences!

Those same people readily recognize the non-sciences such as linguistics, the fine arts, philosphy, religion, history, and sociology. No one would consider Political Science a Science even though it has “science in its name.

The problem comes when asked, what differentiates the sciences from the non-sciences? Typical answers include the study of nature, or natual processes. However, if that is the key, why is history not a science, after all human are part of nature?

What links such different disparate fields as astrophysics, microbiology, ecology, geology, plate tectonics, biochemistry, quantum physics, physiology, and many more into something called sciences?

Further, where do the social sciences fall in terms of sciences and non-sciences?

What makes Biology, chemistry, physics, etc. sciences, and HIstory, Art, Philosphy, etc. not sciences? What makes science, science?

Sciences are bases on doing research. The key is that all these fields use the same method when doing research. It is the Scientific Method!

What supports that all these fields use the same method when doing research?

Science Council: “Science is the pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence”

What is science?

A field that obtains information through research using the scientific method. Fields that obtain information through research using the scientific method are sciences.

Scientific Method has 4 steps. What are they?

Theory - A Model about how we conceive a phyenomenon

Hypothesis - a Prediction about what will occur based on the Model

Experiment - Observation to see if the prediction comes true

Conclusion - Decision about accuracy of the model

What is the power of the scientific Method? What does it provides? What does it act like? What does it replace them with?

A specific method for discarding theories that don’t predict what is observed.

It acts like a ratchet continuously discarding theories that don’t work, and replacing them with theories that explain more and more nature

What is the difference between a theory and Hypothesis?

Theory - Model that is capable of making predictions under a variety of conditions

Hypothesis is a prediction based on a teory that says what will happen in a very specific case (time, temperature, etc.

Experiment is just a fance name for what?

Observation.

What is wrong with the statement “I haypothesize that…” ?

Problem is that models (theories) make predictions, it is not the person. What if there are two models? A and B Would you say I predict this and also that? The statement shows clearly no understanding of the basis of science, but it does show a personal bias about what the results should be.

Scientific Theories? The question naturally arises as to whether all theories are scientific theories, and if not the what makes a theory a scientific Theory?

Intuitively we suspect that not all theories are scientific theories, but probably cannot pinpoint the reason. So, the simple answer is no!

Is the theory disproven when 10 of the defined crosses (Paint x Quarter) yield Quarter Horses and no Paint Horses?

Is the theory disproven when 100 of the defined crosses (Paint x Quarter) yield Quarter Horses and no Paint Horses?

Is the theory disproven when 1000 of the defined crosses (Paint x Quarter) yield Quarter Horses and no Paint Horses?

The answer is no in each case because we do not know what “some” means quantitatively. Some could mean 1 in 4 or 1 in a million.

No possible observation can disprove this Hypothesis! Why?

Thus, to be a scientific theory there must be some potential observation that could disprove the theory should it be observed.

Scientific theory is defined by making…What is the key?

Quantitative predictions.

Predictions are Risky. A risk is the result of making quantitative predictions that create a situation where some theoretical observation would disprove the model.

Risk increases as the number of….. increases

Quantitative predictions increase

Return to the Paint X Quarter Horse example:

What are the Conclusions?

a) Science is based on Research using the Scientific Method
b) The Scientific Method is based on Scientific Theory.
c) A Scientific Theory is just a Model that makes quantitative predictions.
d) The cornerstone of the Scientific Method is Theories. Without a Theory there would be no Scientific Method.
e) The cornerstone of the Sciences is thus Theories.

Sometimes social scieces are actually sciences. example?

Psychology is a hard science when dealing with learning theories such as Pavlov
conditioning, or neural connections. However, psychology is not a science when it deals with untestable ideas. Important here is the theory must come before (a priori) to the experiment

Exploration?

When there is no a prior model it is not science. What is found may lead to a
model, which is then tested. But, there is no true test of a model if the model comes after the finding – and so there is no science. This is why much of Political Science and Sociology is not science.

Consider the example. I come to class and say next weekend I will explore Turkey Mountain. Of course, your response is that you hope I had a good time – but who really cares.

In contrast, I come to class and say the unique geology of Turkey Mountain predicts that there should be only different species of fern living there! I will see if that is true next weekend. This is of interest come Monday!

Hypotheses come from models based on what? However, inductive reasoning can lead to…

Deductive Reasoning

New theories

Deductive? example?

Statement makes predictions that is then tested through observation.

Energy Maximization Theory

What is the Energy maximization theory?

Predicts that animals should choose the reward offering the most calories per unit work. Observing honeybees visiting flowers we then would expect them to visit the flower type with the greater reward.

Inductive?

Obswervation leads to theory

Example: A honeybee has 6 legs so I suspect that all hymenoptera (bees, wasp and ants) have 6 legs