1.3.2: The Scientific Process

Learning Objectives

• Explain different steps within the process of science.

The scientific method alone is not enough to make real progress in accumulation of scientific knowledge, but using it as the hub of a cyclic process has led to the massive rate of scientific and technological advancement we have seen over the last century. Science can be thought of as a continuous process guided by the scientific method, as discussed earlier in this text. Modern science is done according to a complex process of checks and balances, such as replication and peer-review. This complexity emerged to help ensure the integrity of scientific results, but the process remains rooted in the basic scientific method. Notice in Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): the large amount of work done within the boxes. The results of that work must be combined with the work of many other scientists to result in either a law or theory.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): The complex modern scientific process built around the basic scientific method (within dashed lines).

In some fields of research, no single scientist can even keep up with the work inside of the dashed lines. The process of science involves many people working together to better understand the world. Some scientists are very good at making observations (often involving complex or expensive instrumentation). Others are great at finding models (usually mathematical, and sometimes requiring expensive computer programs) that explain the data that have already been collected. In some cases it is not possible to design an experiment that will test everything you would like to. For example, we cannot create another Earth populated with dinosaurs in order to test the impact theory we discussed in the previous subsection. And oftentimes the most interesting results are not at all related to the hypothesis but hints at some aspect of reality that nobody would have imagined otherwise. Some scientists have even won Nobel Prizes for discovering things they were not even looking for! Two examples of this are the Big Bang and buckyballs.

The previous diagram illustrates the complex scientific process, but also highlights the basic scientific method on which the whole process is built. After observation, the basic scientific method follows the green and yellow boxes within the dotted line in the diagram below. Generally speaking, the green boxes comprise theoretical science and the yellow boxes comprise experimental science. Because of the degrees of specialization in each of these areas, the need to collaborate with other scientists to complete the process is quite important.

The uncertainty associated with all measurements means that science cannot prove anything, despite what the media often claims. Instead, the scientific process produces reviewed and reproduced conclusions that account for uncertainty. Scientific conclusions provide evidence for or against hypotheses.

The following video includes some additional ways of thinking about the process of science:

Section Summary

• The scientific method guides the progress of much of the progress of science.
• There is often specialization among researchers which focuses their work on a limited number of the steps within the process.
• Not all scientific questions can be answered with experiments, and not all experiments lead to the expected results.
• Science does not prove something is true, but can provide evidence in support of or opposed to a given hypothesis.

Contributions and Attributions

• Remixed and edited by Jamie MacArthur (Madera Community College)
• Adapted from The Scientific Process by Lawrence Davis (Umpqua Community College)