Scientific Method

According to philosopher of science Kuhn (1962), research takes place within paradigms. These are scientific findings that are recognized by the scientific community as the foundation for further work and that are summarized in textbooks. The development of science takes place in a cyclical pattern: Kuhn (1962) made a distinction between ‘‘normal science’’, which is guided […]

The history of science has produced several general theories about how science develops and evolves over long periods of time. A 19th century view is that of Auguste Comte, who argued that there is a hierarchy of the sciences, from the most general (astronomy), followed historically and in other ways by physics, chemistry, biology, and […]

We experience the world in a time-oriented manner through cause and effect. We get into trouble when the mind seeks or creates an artificial cause/effect relationship that doesn’t actually exist. After something especially beneficial or harmful occurs, we want to know what caused it. We tend to focus on the first action we noticed before the […]

From The Oxford English Dictionary (OED); to induce (in relation to science and logic) means “to derive by reasoning, to lead to something as a conclusion, or inference, to suggest or imply,” and induction “as the process of inferring a general law or principle from observation of particular instances.” Science is all about predicting the […]

As a process, certain rules must be followed, but there is NO one “scientific method”, contrary to its popular treatment in textbooks. The rules of science are intended to make the process as objective as is humanly possible, and thereby produce a degree of understanding that is as close to reality as possible. Challenging itself […]