scientific method

Question 1

Science is a process of

Answer 1

understanding phenomena through observation, generalization, and verification.

Question 2

Scientific thinking
Is based on:

Answer 2

– Empiricism (using empirical evidence)
– Rationalism (practicing logical reasoning)
- Skepticism (having a skeptical attitude)

Question 2

3. Scientific thinking is empirical because

Answer 2

it relies on experimentation and observation. The products of experiments and observations are scientific data.

Question 2

The goal of science is to produce reliable

Answer 2

knowledge about the observable world.

Question 3

6. Good scientists and critical thinkers are

Answer 3

skeptics. They question their assumptions, evidence, and explanations. However, skeptics are not nihilists.

Question 3

5. Scientific thinking is

Answer 3

rational; it is based on logical reasoning.

Question 4

7. The scientific method is

Answer 4

the recipe for using scientific thinking to discover reliable knowledge about the natural world.

Question 4

There are many kinds of evidence that are not empirical and cannot be used when thinking scientifically.

Answer 4

• Hearsay evidence – what someone says they heard another say – is not good scientific data unless you can verify it.
• Revealatory evidence – what someone says was revealed to them by a deity – is not empirical because you cannot verify it.
• Emotional evidence – as derived from one’s own subjective feelings – is not empirical because only you can experience it.

Question 5

A hypothesis is a

Answer 5

provisional explanation of a phenomenon. A hypothesis explains observed data.

Question 6

A good hypothesis is

Answer 6

logical, falsifiable, consistent with other knowledge, and simple.

Question 7

Science (and its method) does not relate to

Answer 7

(religious) belief or questions of (God’s) existence