The scientific method

The scientific method

1. Only Hippos Eat Vultures

   • Observation
     • Scientists collecting data and information by using their senses as well as scientific instruments
   • Hypothesis
     • Scientists making predictions about what may happen in their observations
   • Experiments
     • Scientists testing their hypothesis under controlled conditions
   • Verification
     • Scientists checking their results to make sure their theories hold true

2. Strengths

   • Science is grounded in fact
   • Science is impartial

3. Limitations

   • Science is provisional
   • Science is fallible
   • Mistakes can be made
   • More to the world that what is observable
   • Solipsism
     • No way of knowing for certain whether things are real or just an illusion
   • Science uses models
   • Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle
     • Science can never be completely objective or unbiased

4. Deductive reasoning

   • Drawing conclusions that must, because of logic, be necessarily true because they are based on broader true statements
     • Used to understand reasoning and to understand and clarify scientific problems
   • Doesn't really add new knowledge

5. Inductive reasoning

   • Starts with an observation and makes a conclusion on the balance of probability
     • Used to generalise from observations and to present theories
   • Involves generalising and is less certain than deductive knowledge