knowledge, often as opposed to intuition, belief, etc.;...systematized knowledge derived from observation, study, and experimentation carried out in order to determine the nature or principles of what is being studied;...the systematized knowledge of nature and the physical world. (p. 1622, emphasis in the original) Bronowski (1978) suggests that the basic purpose of science is "to describe the world in an orderly scheme or language which will help us look ahead....[and] as an aid to decision and action" (p. 69). There are several ways in which this goal of systematic description can be accomplished "scientifically," as suggested by Webster's definition in which observation and study are placed on a par with experimentation. Astronomy and anthropology, for example, are two respected sciences that rely more on observation and study than on experimentation per se. Hypothesis testing, which can be thought of as a form of experimentation, plays an important role in these sciences, but it certainly does not involve experimental manipulation in the normal sense. The specific methods and procedures best suited for scientific investigation depend on the nature of the problem being investigated, and in most instances, different methods are most appropriate for studying different aspects of the problems facing a particular area of research such as human cognition. Often there is a tendency for people to focus on the products of scientific investigation (i.e., the body of accumulated knowledge) rather than on the process of observation, study, and critical thinking that served to verify that knowledge. In the final analysis,