Features of Science

Paradigm

A set of shared assumptions and agreed methods within a scientific discipline

Paradigm shift

The result of the scientific revolution: A significant change in the dominant unifying theory within a scientific discipline

Objectivity

When all sources of personal bias are minimized so as not to distort or influence the research process

Empirical method

Scientific approaches that are based on the gathering of evidence through direct observation and experience

Replicability

The extent to which scientific procedures and findings can be repeated by other researchers

Falsifiability

The principle that a theory cannot be considered scientific unless it admits the possibility of being proved untrue