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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page research paper that discusses the scientific method -- what it is, how it began and how it is used today by scientists in order to add to the ever-growing body of scientific knowledge. The writer outlines the steps to the scientific method of inquiry and differentiates scientific knowledge from other areas of belief. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khscith.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
destabilize the traditional methods for regarding the natural world, which were basically the medieval view, and ushered in the "modern" scientific age. In his Meditations on the
First Philosophy, Descartes laid out the parameters for what is considered to be the scientific method of inquiry. He proposed that through the use of rational thought, it would
be possible to build on a foundation of knowledge that is verifiable. As this suggests, the term "scientific method" is generally considered to be the process by which scientists
endeavor through to construct an accurate, reliable, consistent and non-arbitrary representation of reality (Wolfs, 2002). Scientists acknowledge that personal and cultural beliefs have the power to effect both the perception
of natural phenomena and its interpretation. It is for this reason that researchers endeavor through the use of standardized procedures and criteria to suppress those influences when developing a theory.
As one famous scientist once observed, "Smart people...can come up with very good explanations for mistaken points of view" (Wolf, 2002). The scientific method was devised to keep personal influences
and bias to a minimum, so that results reflect reality rather than the expectations of the experimenters (Wolf, 2002). The scientific method for determining the nature and causes of
natural phenomena consists of four steps: 1. Observation and description of a phenomenon of group of phenomena. 2. Formulation of a hypothesis to explain the phenomena. In physics, the
hypothesis often takes the form of a causal mechanism or a mathematical relation. 3. Use of the hypothesis to predict the existence of other phenomena, or to predict quantitatively the
results of new observations. 4. Performance of experimental tests of the prediction by several independent experimenters and properly performed experiments (Wolf, 2002). This last step in the
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