Understanding Scientific Concepts and Methods
Scientific Terms and Methods
Key Scientific Terms
Scientific Law
Scientific Law: A statement expressing universal constant relations between natural phenomena or events, whose truth has been sufficiently proved by experience and observation.
Scientific Theory
Scientific Theory: A set of statements that can systematically compute or contrast, making possible the explanation and prediction of natural phenomena.
Hypothesis
Hypothesis: A supposition or assumption made in order to explain something.
Paradigm
Paradigm: A set of beliefs, values, and techniques shared by a scientific community.
Contrasting
Contrasting: A set of theoretical and experimental operations in which a scientific hypothesis or a theory is tested.
Falsification
Falsification: A methodological procedure to determine whether a theory, hypothesis, or statement is false.
Verification
Verification: It is the verification of the truth of an empirical scientific hypothesis. It is the process of seeking evidence to support the truth of the hypothesis.
Refutation
Refutation: One of two possible results from the contrast of the hypothesis.
Axiom
Axiom: A statement or initial proposition within a deductive system.
Theorem
Theorem: A term specific to mathematics, which means a conclusion proven from axioms and definitions.
Hypothetical-Deductive Method
Hypothetical-Deductive Method: A scientific method, opposed to factual and inductivism, which holds that scientific hypotheses are products of human creativity.
Minus
Minus: A mental operation by which we affirm the truth of a statement based on the truth of known statements.
Induction
Induction: Encompasses the idea of self-direction or directing others towards a general concept or a universal truth derived from less general or universal cases.
Falsificationism
Falsificationism: A scientific theory based on its conception of science as a system of conjectures and refutations.
Indeterminism
Indeterminism: The statement that not all events of the universe are subject to causal laws.
Progress
Progress: Development, progress, or change forward towards something better, comparatively better than the current state.
Scientific Methods
Deductive Method
It involves extracting a particular or concrete conclusion from data or general principles. However, this method presents a problem: strictly speaking, it is only feasible in the formal sciences.
Inductive Method
It consists in drawing a general conclusion from individual data or instances.
Hypothetical-Deductive Method
The Hypothetical-deductive method is a combination of the deductive and inductive methods. Its steps are:
- Definition of the Problem: It begins with the discovery of a problematic situation for humans.
- Formulation of Hypothesis: A possible explanation is proposed.
- Deduction of Consequences: Using the deductive method, the consequences are drawn if the hypothesis is true.
- Testing the Hypothesis: It is checked whether or not the expected consequences occur. This requires relying on observation of reality and experimentation.
- Refutation of Hypothesis: When the provided consequences are not met, the hypothesis must be rejected, and the process starts again by formulating a new one.
- Confirmation of Hypothesis: When the provided consequences are met, the hypothesis is confirmed.
- Obtaining Results: A new law or theory is formulated, or a theory is confirmed or proposed.
Further Concepts
Hypothesis
A hypothesis is an assumption about what happens in the world and its causes.
Statistical Hypotheses
Verification
Verification: This consists of verifying the truth of a hypothesis. To do so, one checks if the scenario happens in reality.
Falsification
Falsification: Proposed by Karl Popper as an alternative to problematic verification. It consists of testing hypotheses against facts to show that they are false.