The Scientific Method/s

In science classes today we still teach the "scientific method" but have started to also present the concept of "scientific methods" as an alternative approach. This change reflects the reality that many scientists do not use the scientific method in the traditional sense. The traditional steps: make observations, formulate a question, conduct research and collect data, form a hypothesis, test the hypothesis (which leads to more observations and data) and then to draw a conclusion can now be restructured in many forms. It is still important to know the standard "scientific method" but it is now very important to know that all scientists are searching for answers to questions through a process that used proper data collection methods to create valid conclusions.

When scientific study examines questions that will be applied in everyday life, then this is called "applied science" or "technology", but some scientific study is done simply for knowledge and is not expected to have any use in everyday life and this type of scientific study is called "pure" science. The use of the word "pure" seems to imply that it is somehow more important, which is generally not true. It is pure in the sense that it is unpressured to find application. Sometimes we may think of the study of very distant stars for example as being "pure" science because such stars are light years away from us and will never affect our daily life, but pure science can examine things right here on Earth. One scientist observed that the distance a butterfly has just traveled through the air is proportional to the time that it rocks back and forth when it lands. It is not likely that this kind of scientific study will lead to any application on the Earth and then falls into the area of "pure" scientific study. Some scientific study starts as pure science and later finds application.

Observe: It is important to use all of our senses to make observation and now it is increasingly important to expand our observation through the use of equipment that essentially extends our range and accuracy of our observations.

Formulate a Question: Getting a clear statement of what you actually want to know provides more focus on the way to proceed. It is common to formulate a whole series of related questions.

Research and Collect Data: Research and collecting data is important to build on the work of others that have studied the same question, but it is important to not let this research or collection of data to lock your own study into a particular direction. You would not want to spend years of research on a topic to find that others had already conducted the same research and reached a solid conclusion.

Form the Hypothesis: A hypothesis is an "educated guess" intended to solve or explain the observation or solve the problem. Some educated guesses may seem wild initially, but could be valid. The hypothesis that the sun was the center of our solar system was considered a "wild" hypothesis when first proposed.

Experiment: When possible experiments are designed to test they hypothesis. In some cases more and more observations can be performed to create a level of validity. For example when we study the stars in the night sky a hypothesis has been formed about how stars are born and change over time. We will probably never be able to fully conduct experiments on a level of star formation, but experiments with "plasma" will give some validity to any hypothesis about stars.

Conclusion: Drawing conclusions help to set the groundwork for future study, for understanding, and help explain the essential truth of nature.

This means that a scientist that skips steps in the typical scientific method is still a scientist and is still conducting proper scientific study if the result provides valid answers to initial questions or needs. This new view of the scientific method should be thought of more as a process of more open minded approaches toward the scientific endeaevor.