Test 2

Question 1

How do you define science briefly?

Answer 1

Science is the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation, experimentation, and the testing of theories against the evidence obtained

Question 2

What is the purpose of science?

Answer 2

To discover and understand the natural world

Question 3

What is a peer review system in science?

Answer 3

Peer review is the evaluation of work by peers, who are people with comparable experience and competency. Peers assess each others’ work in educational settings, in professional settings, and in the publishing world. The goal of peer review is improving quality, defining and maintaining standards, and helping people learn from one another.

Question 4

Write a hypothesis that you might test?

Answer 4

“If I water plants daily, they will grow faster.”

Question 5

What characterised the ancient greek view of the world?

Answer 5

Distinguished between two fundamentally different approaches to viewing the World

mythos : approach based on supernatural explanations (irrational) (hence mythology)

logos : approach based on logical or rational explanations

• Other implications of this view associated with:
• Observation of natural world as material rather than as mythical or supernatural (in part at least)
• Shift from observing the universe as a manifestation of mystical forces to seeing things as material objects – describable and knowable
• They were in search of explanations within the universe itself
• No longer satisfied with entirely religious explanations

Question 6

What key shifts occurred in the nature of scholarship that allowed the scientific revolution to occur?

Answer 6

The Scientific Revolution was a series of events that marked the emergence of modern science during the early modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology (including human anatomy) and chemistry transformed the views of society about nature

• Willingness to admit ignorance
• Includes the idea that what we think and know can be proven wrong. Explanations not scared and beyond challenge
• Centrality of experimentation, observation and mathematics
• Gathering of data (observations) using mathematical tools to connect observations into comprehensive and generalizable explanations (explanations have predictive power)
• Development of technologies to explore and test these explanations.
• Technologies may lead to acquisition of new powers by political structure

Reductionism:
* Introduced the idea of dividing large and complex problems into smaller, more manageable units

• Reductionism closely associated with the idea
• Simple ideas are superior to complicated ideas (Occam’s Razor)

Occam’s razor is the problem-solving principle that recommends searching for explanations constructed with the smallest possible set of elements. It is also known as the principle of parsimony or the law of parsimony

Question 7

Explain the difference between induction and deduction logic

Answer 7

Deductive reasoning (top-down logic) contrasts with inductive reasoning (bottom-up logic), and generally starts with one or more general statements or premises to reach a logical conclusion. If the premises are true, the conclusion must be valid. Deductive resasoning is used by scientists and mathematicians to prove their hypotheses.

Question 8

What is the distinction between a theory and an hypothesis?

Answer 8

Theories are broader; they generally combine multiple hypotheses into a general explanation for a wide range of phenomena.

Question 9

What is meant by the process of science said to be iterative?

Answer 9

The process of science is iterative, meaning it circles back on itself1. It is non-linear, with repetitive investigations leading to deeper understanding and continuous development2

Question 10

What is the paradigm shift in science?

Answer 10

A major change in the worldview, concepts, and practices of how something works or is accomplished.

The replacement of one dominant paradigm theory with another.

Occurs when current theories can’t explain new phenomena, leading to the adoption of a new theory.

Fundamental shifts in the way normal science proceeds within a scientific community.

Question 11

Explain deductive logic?

Answer 11

Deductive logic is a type of reasoning that starts from general premises and draws specific conclusions.

Question 12

What are the 3 most important areas of scientific misconduct?

Answer 12

Falsification: (changing data)

Fabrication: (making up data)

Plagiarism: using words or ideas without proper attribution on (Copying)

Misconduct extends beyond these areas

Question 13

What is a problem with reasoning?

Question 14

What is an hypothesis?

Answer 14

A supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation:

A scientific hypothesis is a tentative, testable explanation for a phenomenon in the natural world

Question 15

Why is it important to be scientifically literate?

Answer 15

• Science and technologies that arise from science:
• Affects all of our lives
• The most prominent differences between our lives and those of earlier generations are due to differences brought about by discoveries, investigations, explorations and inventions in the sciences
• Therefore should know basis of:
• How it works
• From where it came
• What is its underlying method and purpose

Question 16

Place the following the correct order: test (or experiment), prediction, theory , hypothesis, conclusion, analysis .

Answer 16

• Hypothesis
• Prediction
• Analysis
• Theory
• Conclusion

Question 17

Can you define the hypothetico-deductive method? Who more formally identified the elements of the method?

Answer 17

• A method in which a hypothetical model based on observations or theoretical considerations is proposed and is then tested by the deduction of consequences from the model.
• No theory/hypothesis can ever be proved.
• Can only disprove or falsify theories/hypotheses.
• The strength of a theory/hypothesis lies in its continued survival while being open to being falsified.
• Once falsified: the theory collapses

Karl popper.

Question 18

Explain the following statement: The principle of falsification is central to the hypothetic deductive method of Science.

Answer 18

Karl Popper’s theory of falsification contends that scientific inquiry should aim not to verify hypotheses but to rigorously test and identify conditions under which they are false.
For a theory to be valid according to falsification, it must produce hypotheses that have the potential to be proven incorrect by observable evidence or experimental results.
Unlike verification, falsification focuses on categorically disproving theoretical predictions rather than confirming them.
Summary
* Karl Popper believed that scientific knowledge is provisional – the best we can do at the moment.
* Popper is known for his attempt to refute the classical positivist account of the scientific method by replacing induction with the falsification principle.
* The Falsification Principle, proposed by Karl Popper, is a way of demarcating science from non-science. It suggests that for a theory to be considered scientific, it must be able to be tested and conceivably proven false.
* For example, the hypothesis that “all swans are white” can be falsified by observing a black swan.
* For Popper, science should attempt to disprove a theory rather than attempt to continually support theoretical hypotheses.

Question 19

Can you outline briefly how the Scientific philosopher Thomas Kuhn viewed the progress of science?

Answer 19

• Science is not a steady, cumulative acquisition of knowledge (steady testing and rejection of hypotheses)
• “Series of peaceful interludes punctuated by intellectually violent revolutions“
• Hypotheses which survive initial testing and hence generality : become well established theories (paradigms)
• Survive even when evidence against them
• Theory (Paradigm) may be refined in an attempt to fit available evidence
• When negative evidence builds and becomes overwhelming : paradigm shift (old paradigm rejected and replaced by new paradigm)

Question 20

What are the important components of a simple experiment ?

Answer 20

Observation, Question, Hypothesis, Method, and Results

Test Group & Control group

Question 21

In practice scientists are often faced by incomplete or competing explanations. What are some of the principles used that scientists use in making decisions about what explanations are more likely?

Answer 21

• Scientists are more likely to trust ideas that:
• explain observations that were previously inexplicable, unknown, or unexpected
• generate more specific expectations (i.e., are more testable).
• Are more parsimonious
• Given competing explanations – any of which would, if true, explain a given puzzle – we should initially opt for the explanation that itself contains the least number of puzzling notions. (Occam’s razor)
• Are more consistent with well-established theories in neighbouring fields

Question 22

Explain deductive logic ?

Answer 22

Deductive reasoning is a logical process in which:
You start with a general statement or premise.
You then move towards a specific conclusion that logically follows from the initial statement.
It involves drawing conclusions based on premises generally assumed to be true.

Question 23

Contrast deductive and inductive reasoning.

Answer 23

Deductive reasoning

• A logical approach where you progress from general ideas to specific conclusions

Inductive reasoning

• Starts from empirical (observation based) premises and draws conclusions that provide additional/ new knowledge.
• Generalizes from a number of observations

Question 24

What key shifts occurred in the nature of scholarship that allowed the Scientific revolution to occur?

Answer 24

The Scientific Revolution was a series of events that marked the emergence of modern science during the early modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology (including human anatomy) and chemistry transformed the views of society about nature

• Willingness to admit ignorance
• Includes the idea that what we think and know can be proven wrong. Explanations not scared and beyond challenge
• Centrality of experimentation, observation and mathematics
• Gathering of data (observations) using mathematical tools to connect observations into comprehensive and generalizable explanations (explanations have predictive power)
• Development of technologies to explore and test these explanations.
• Technologies may lead to acquisition of new powers by political structure

Reductionism:
* Introduced the idea of dividing large and complex problems into smaller, more manageable units

• Reductionism closely associated with the idea
• Simple ideas are superior to complicated ideas (Occam’s Razor)

Occam’s razor is the problem-solving principle that recommends searching for explanations constructed with the smallest possible set of elements. It is also known as the principle of parsimony or the law of parsimony

Question 25

Comment on the statement: “Newton’s view of the process of science was very similar to our modern of science”

Answer 25

Responsible for discoveries in math, physics, and optics, his 1687 work Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica is considered one of the greatest scientific works ever written and lays the foundations for classical mechanics and the theory of gravity, which dominated the field of physics until Einstein’s theory of relativity took its place in the early 20th century.

Question 26

Give some examples of “big science”

Answer 26

Big Science is a term used to describe a series of changes in science which occurred in industrial nations during and after World War II

• Practice of science became professionalized and institutionalized in 19th C (continues through to day).
• Increasing role of scientific knowledge in society, incorporated with many aspects of the functioning of nation-states.
• Large scale science possible

Examples –

Large Hadron Collider

• Human Genome Project
• Start 1990, Complete April 2003
• Sequencing of the complete human genome
• Cost : $ 2.7 billion
• Hubble Space telescope
• Cosmology
• Launch 1990
• Main mirror repair: 1993
• Initial cost: $1.5 billion
• Still operational (2030-2040?)

Question 27

What are the three most important areas of scientific misconduct?

Answer 27

• Falsification: (changing data)
• Fabrication: (making up data)
• Plagiarism: using words or ideas without proper attribution on (Copying)

Misconduct extends beyond these areas

Question 28

Why is it important to be scientifically literate?

Answer 28

• Science and technologies that arise from science:
• Affects all of our lives
• The most prominent differences between our lives and those of earlier generations are due to differences brought about by discoveries, investigations, explorations and inventions in the sciences
• Therefore should know basis of:
• How it works
• From where it came
• What is its underlying method and purpose
• How confident can we be above scientific conclusions
• And how does scientific knowledge advance.
• Allows rational and effective contribution to debate around issues of public interest (that have a basis in science)

Question 29

Outline a simple conceptual model as to how science is done (i.e. how do we acquire knowledge).

Answer 29

A simple conceptual model of how science is done involves asking testable questions, making systematic observations, and collecting relevant evidence1. Models are mentally visual ways of linking theory with experiment, guiding research by being simplified representations of an imagined reality that enable predictions to be developed and tested by experiment2.

Question 30

Can you define the hypothetico-deductive method? Who more formally identified the elements of the method?

Answer 30

• A method in which a hypothetical model based on observations or theoretical considerations is proposed and is then tested by the deduction of consequences from the model.
• No theory/hypothesis can ever be proved.
• Can only disprove or falsify theories/hypotheses.
• The strength of a theory/hypothesis lies in its continued survival while being open to being falsified.
• Once falsified: the theory collapses

Karl popper.

Question 31

Explain the following statement: The principle of falsification is central to the hypothetic deductive method of Science.

Answer 31

Karl Popper’s theory of falsification contends that scientific inquiry should aim not to verify hypotheses but to rigorously test and identify conditions under which they are false.
For a theory to be valid according to falsification, it must produce hypotheses that have the potential to be proven incorrect by observable evidence or experimental results.
Unlike verification, falsification focuses on categorically disproving theoretical predictions rather than confirming them.
Summary
* Karl Popper believed that scientific knowledge is provisional – the best we can do at the moment.
* Popper is known for his attempt to refute the classical positivist account of the scientific method by replacing induction with the falsification principle.
* The Falsification Principle, proposed by Karl Popper, is a way of demarcating science from non-science. It suggests that for a theory to be considered scientific, it must be able to be tested and conceivably proven false.
* For example, the hypothesis that “all swans are white” can be falsified by observing a black swan.
* For Popper, science should attempt to disprove a theory rather than attempt to continually support theoretical hypotheses.

Question 32

Can you outline briefly how the Scientific philosopher Thomas Kuhn viewed the progress of science?

Answer 32

• Science is not a steady, cumulative acquisition of knowledge (steady testing and rejection of hypotheses)
• “Series of peaceful interludes punctuated by intellectually violent revolutions“
• Hypotheses which survive initial testing and hence generality : become well established theories (paradigms)
• Survive even when evidence against them
• Theory (Paradigm) may be refined in an attempt to fit available evidence
• When negative evidence builds and becomes overwhelming : paradigm shift (old paradigm rejected and replaced by new paradigm)