The Scientific Method

Paper Summary:

This paper presents a history of the scientific method of thought and explains its purpose, as well as the steps involved in the scientific process. The paper further explains that the scientific method is very closely related to science, the process of human inquiry that is a major aspect of today's modern world and, that, despite the fact that this method appears simple and logical in its explanation, we should still recognize the complexity that is involved in gaining new knowledge that can be applied to other situations in the future.

From the Paper:

"The term "science" denotes both a certain type of activity and its results (Wolman 1960, p. 497). Frequently, delineation is made between the actual "research" conducted and the resulting "system," which are both described as scientific. Scientific research is aimed at the discovery of truth and a scientific system includes propositions, statements or sentences that represent this truth (Wolman 1960, p. 497). Whitehead (1911 p. 157) noted that common sense is "a bad master for the evaluation of knowledge." Science revolves around the terms "systematic" and "controlled." Scientists systematically build theoretical structures and exam them for any existing inconsistencies. Further, in scientific research, the scientist attempts to delete variables that are potential causes of the effects and not those that are hypothesized to be causes."

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