# Scientific Methods/Subject Index

Subject Index
A
academic freedom, 4, 6, 7, 135, 212 accident, 21, 32, 69, 93, 115, 139, 141, 177, 178, 204
    also see: chance
accuracy, 17, 18, 20, 25, 27, 29, 45, 102, 103, 113,
    114, 120, 122, 137, 146, 148, 175
    compared to precision, 20, 103
    definition of, 17
    quantitative, 148-151
    scientific value, 146, 148, 151
algebra, 7 analogy, see: comparison anthropology, 98, 126, 136, 137 applied research, see: science - applied astronomy, 1, 4, 6, 10, 44, 45, 68, 90, 98-101, 122, 151, 157, 188, 194, 208, 212 axiom, 4, 13
B
basic research, see: science - basic bias, 5, 17-20, 25, 34, 35, 50, 51, 91, 114, 116, 118, 120, 125-127, 129, 131, 136-143, 148, 164, 165, 207
    removal via randomization, 19, 42, 67, 118
biology, 60, 90, 98, 139, 149, 151, 177, 178, 209 brain, 51, 132, 133, 142, 176, 177, 204
C
calibration, 18, 114
    standard, 102, 112, 118, 121
career, 165, 186, 189, 195, 199, 200, 206, 210, 211 causality, 7, 13, 43, 60-64, 68, 89, 90, 94, 118, 129,
    136, 146, 157
    definitions of, 60-64
    determining cause and effect, 42, 60-67, 70, 89,
    120
    scientific, 62-64
chance, 16, 19, 20, 21, 26, 30, 38, 41, 45, 46, 57, 72,
    84, 97, 100, 101, 108, 114, 136, 140, 147, 159,
    161, 171, 172, 178, 196, 206
    also see: accident
change
    artifical variation, 119
    detection of, 13, 15, 37, 65, 69, 139
    scientific, 1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 11, 161, 163, 164
    also see: experiment – changes to
chemistry, 9, 45, 151, 166, 206 classification, 4, 43, 45, 55, 84, 99
    classification statement, 75-82
    definition of, 44
    lumpers and splitters, 45
    us/them, 183
comparison, 43, 44, 61, 62, 115, 148
    analogy, 43, 44, 131, 132, 137, 156, 163, 167, 174
    symmetry, 31, 32, 43, 80
competition, 194
    competitive strategies, 203, 204
    cooperation and, 202-204
    industrial, 190
computers, 15, 34, 102, 116, 121, 122, 173, 205
    backups, 115
    information handling, 123
    software proficiency, 121, 198
    troubleshooting, 104, 105
concept, 12, 13, 136 concept map, 153-155 confidentiality, 190, 207 confirmation and refutation, 13, 94, 147, 150, 159, 160
    confirmation bias, 209, 138, 140, 142, 145
    conventionalism, 160
    definition of, 13, 20
    diagnostic experiment, 111, 123, 158, 159, 212
    falsificationism, 14, 156-158, 161
    justificationism, 156-158
    of hypotheses, 42, 146-148, 156-159, 164
    power of evidence, 46, 67, 68, 76, 147, 150, 157, 159, 161
    techniques of, 152
correlation, 43, 46, 55, 58, 60, 67-70, 119, 165
    causality and, 60, 65-70
    coincidence, 45, 46
    confidence levels for, 57
    correlation coefficient (R), 55-60
    rank correlation coefficient, 55, 59
creativity, see: insight
    curiosity, 8, 9, 198
D
data, 12
    accuracy, see: accuracy
    collection of, 136, 161, 162, 169
    definition of, 13
    handling, see: computers - information handling
    interpretation of, 140-142
    recording, 114, 119, 123 ​
    reduction, 116
    rejection of, 121, 138, 140, 164
deduction: Chapter 4
    formal, 74, 75
    scientific, 71, 74
    square of opposition, 80, 81
    substitution, 77, 79
    Venn diagrams, 76, 78, 81
    also see: classification, fallacy, syllogism
dependent variable, 46, 112, 139
    definition of, 117
deviation, 55, 56 discovery, 17, 46, 139, 157, 162, 169, 173, 178, 179
    also see: insight
E
economics, 55, 63, 96 education, scientific, 1, 186, 192 empiricism, see: experiment equation, 6, 150 equipment, see: instruments error, 17, 55, 179
    checking, 16
    definition of, 16
    experimental design and, 18, 29
    mistake, 16, 17, 20, 71, 72, 86, 88, 102, 138, 139, 144, 151
    random, 17-19, 22, 23, 28, 36, 56, 118, 122
    statistics and, 25-30, 32, 56
    systematic, see: bias
    value of, 16
ethics, 32, 93, 201, 205, 206 evidence, evaluation of: Chapter 7 evolution, biological, 14, 17, 60, 62, 99, 133, 149, 157, 163, 170, 172, 186, 187, 200, 203, 204, 208, 209 experiment, 12-14, 16-18, 20, 64, 83, 99, 117
    changes to, 37, 98, 100, 102, 105, 112-116, 118
    control group, 66, 118, 140
    control of variables, see: variable – control of
    definition of, 97
    diagnostic, see: confirmation and refutation – diagnostic experiment
    observation process, 131
    pilot, 102-104
    pitfalls, 98, 117, 137-141, 178
    planning, 16, 65, 72, 97, 98, 101, 113, 138
    replication, see: replication
    seizing an opportunity, 101
    troubleshooting, 104, 105, 109, 117
experimental design, 16, 18, 46, 64-66, 70, 79, 98, 100, 110-118, 121, 138-142, 148, 159, 160
    pitfalls, 137, 138
experimental science, see: science - experimental experimental techniques: Chapter 5 explanation, scientific, see: causality, classification,
    comparison, concept, correlation
exploration, 9, 14, 105, 109 extrapolation, 18, 19, 51, 53-55, 60, 95, 96
F
facts, see: data fallacy, 42, 44, 77, 82, 87, 91-96, 134, 156 falsifiability, see: confirmation and refutation falsifiability fraud, 206 freedom, see: academic freedom funding, see: science - funding
G
generalization, 4, 5, 13, 18, 20, 43, 45, 46, 73, 74, 87, 94-96, 127, 134, 136, 147, 156 genetics, 20 genius, see: intelligence geography, 4, 96 geology, 99, 101, 144, 157, 177-179 goals of science, 2, 20, 43, 136, 143, 158, 175, 191, 207, 212
H
Heisenberg uncertainty principle, 130 histogram, 22, 23 history of science, 3-12 history of scientific methods, 3-12 hypothesis
    confirmation, see: confirmation and refutation – of hypotheses
    creation of, 10, 12, 14, 42, 44, 46, 99, 143, 148, 156, 176, 177
    definition of, 13
    experiment and, 10, 13, 99
    method defined, 13, 14
    modification of, 17, 68, 159-162, 165
    null, 30, 43
    predictions of, 14, 151
    refutation of, 10, 14, 42, 64, 94, 156-160
    reinforcement, 128, 138, 164
    testing of, 12-14, 30, 46, 64, 66, 68, 71, 72, 74, 86, 89, 90, 100, 111, 123, 124, 138, 146-149, 151, 153, 156-160, 164, 165, 188, 200 ​
    hypothetico-deductive method, 13, 82
I
ideal class, 45 imagination, see: insight independent variable, 46, 108, 139
    definition of, 117
induction: Chapter 3
    scientific, 42, 86
industrial research, see: science - applied innovation, see: insight insight: Chapter 8
    characteristics of, 170, 173, 177
    concentration and, 176
    conviction of truth, 174
    factors fostering, 6, 44, 45, 99, 115, 117, 139, 171173, 176, 178-180, 200
    inhibiting factors, 173, 174, 179
    joy of, 170, 180-182, 210, 212
inspiration, see: insight instrument, 101, 102
    borrowing or buying, 112
    computer interface, 102
    drift, 36, 112, 118, 121, 137
    new vs. used, 102
    prototype, 103
    troubleshooting, 104-109, 117
    use, 112
intelligence, 69, 184, 199, 200
    artificial, 148
    IQ, 142, 200
interpolation, 53-55, 60 invention, see: discovery, insight
J
jargon, scientific, 163, 184 journals, see: literature judgment, 10, 11, 146, 160, 205
    values, 147-151
justificationism, see: confirmation and refutation-justificationism
K
kinship theory, 203 knowledge, 2, 5, 6, 8, 211, 212
    new, 7, 153, 161
    objective, 2, 125, 135, 137, 145
    organized, 155
    reliable, 2, 14, 96, 136, 160, 191
    specialized, 192
    useful, 2, 189, 191
L
law, 4, 13, 61
    definition of, 13
    universal vs. statistical, 146
library, 7, 8
    of Alexandria, 5, 88
linear regression, see: statistics - linear regression literature, scientific, 9
    publication, see: publication
    reading of, 2, 89, 123, 138, 147, 150, 188
logic: Chapters 3 & 4
    argument, 73
    deduction vs. induction, 73, 74
    definition of, 73
    logical equivalence, 64, 78, 79
    also see: deduction, induction
M
mathematical description of nature, 4, 7, 13, 148 mathematics, 76, 129, 194, 200, 208
    development of, 4, 6, 8, 10, 208
measurement types
    interval, 15
    nominal, 15
    ordinal, 15, 50, 55
    ratio, 15
medicine, 4, 67, 139, 191 memory, 131-134 meteorology, 178 Mill’s Canons, 64, 65, 72
    joint method of agreement and difference, 67
    method of agreement, 65
    method of concomitant variations, 67
    method of difference, 66
    method of residues, 67
model
    definition of, 13
    quantitative, 45, 100, 122
model/observation table, 152, 153
N
National Science Foundation, 104, 203 note taking, 104, 114, 115, 123, 155, 169, 208 numbers
    Arabic system, 7
    significant digits, 123
    also see: measurement types ​
O
objectivity, 2, 91, Chapter 6
    abandonment of, 144
    group, 143-145, 151
    individual subjectivity, 151
    lapse of, 89, 140-145, 164, 188
    myth of, 12, 125, 126, 137, 138, 141, 199
    perception and, see: perception
    postmodernism and, see: postmodernism
observational science, see: science - observational Occam’s razor, 149 oceanography, 101, 106, 122, 178, 193 outline, 153
P
paradigm
    anomaly, 162
    change or overthrow, 162, 163, 209
    definition of, 161
    effects on hypotheses, 99, 162
    effects on scientific change, 161, 162
    examples of, 11, 59, 161, 164, 178, 207, 208
    pitfalls, 164, 165
    pre-paradigm, 161, 188
    testing paradigm, 158
pattern recognition: Chapter 3 perception, 125
    assumptions of, 62, 129
    bias of, 125-129, 139
    expectation and, 125, 126, 128, 129, 135
    memory and, 131-135
    schema, 44, 132-135, 177
philosophy, 4, 136 philosophy of science, 1, 2, 10, 12-14, 61, 72, 143, 146, 156, 157, 159, 163, 164, 188 physical science, 15, 62, 125, 164, 189, 194 physics, 10, 11, 20, 44, 59, 61, 63, 125, 129, 130, 132, 146, 149, 161, 178, 179, 187, 194, 206, 208 pilot study, 27, 29, 102, 103 plagiarism, 207 planning, see: experiment - planning plotting of data, 36, 50
    plotting hints, 52, 53
postmodernism, 135, 136
    postmodern critique, 135, 136
precision, 17, 18, 20, 26, 27, 102, 103, 113, 120, 122, 143
    definition of, 17
prediction, 13, 14, 20, 43, 139, 147, 148, 156, 160, 162, 164 preparation, 98, 111, 169-171 probability, 20, 108
    combined, 21
    definition of, 20
    logical, 156
problem
    problem solving methods, 104, 105, 109, 169, 171-173, 180
    recurrence of, 109
    reformulation of, 64, 111
    setback, 98
    statement of, 111, 171
proof, 160 pseudoscience, 187, 188 psychology, 55, 96, 98, 100, 118, 126, 139, 181, 188 publication
    case studies of, 207-210
    concept mapping of, 154
    necessity of, 197, 207
    pitfalls, 140, 209
    productivity, 198, 205
    style, 12, 123, 140, 184, 205, 207
    writing, 155
pure research, see: science - basic puzzle solving, 180, 181
R
random sampling, see: sampling - random Raven’s Paradox, 158 reading, see: literature – reading of regression analysis, see: statistics – linear regression reliability, 18, 20 religion, 5, 6
    Christianity, 5-9, 88
    Islam, 6-9
    relationship to science, 8, 9, 60
replicatability, 17, 20, 188 replicate measurements, 17, 18, 20, 22, 66, 105, 113, 123 replication of experiments, 20, 27, 101, 142, 143, 145, 206 representative sampling, see: sampling representative research, see: experiment, experimental design, experimental technique, science
S
sampling distribution, see: statistics - normal distribution function ​
    independent, 36, 55
    nonrepresentative, 18, 94, 96
    random, 19, 113, 118
    representative, 18, 19, 42, 46, 156
    stratification, 19
science: Chapter 9 applied, 2, 6, 8, 103, 150, 151, 185, 189-192, 194, 195, 206
    arts and, 9, 187
    basic, 2, 103, 185, 189-192, 194, 195, 206
    big and little, 193, 194
    comparison of basic and applied, 189-191
    experimental, 5, 8, 10-14, 68, 99, 101, 162, 194
    funding, 191-193
    history of, 3-12
    lay perspective, 183-187
    observational, 98-100, 194
    scope, 14
    theoretical, 10, 194
scientific freedom, see: academic freedom scientific instruments, see: instruments scientific literature, see: literature scientific method
    myth of, 12
    summary of, 12, 13, 169
    variety of, 12, 14, 100, 188
scientific pecking order, 194, 195 scientific progress, 13, 14, 74, 113, 123, 136, 146, 150, 151, 162, 164, 194, 198, 201 scientific research, see: science scientist: Chapter 10
    egotism, 195
    motivations, 184, 210-212
    personal characteristics, 184, 197-202
    variety of, 12
search procedure, 104-109 social science, 15, 19, 20, 54, 60, 62, 69, 96, 118, 136, 141, 189, 194 society and science, 189, 190 sociology, 70, 96, 136, 139, 188 standard, see: calibration statistics: Chapters 2 & 3
    arithmetic mean, 32
    Chauvenet’s criterion, 33, 35, 41
    confidence limits, 18, 25-27, 33-35
    correlation, see: correlation
    degrees of freedom, 31
    geometric mean, 32
    harmonic mean, 32
    linear regression, 55-60
    mean, 23-27, 31, 34, 35
    median, 33-35
    nonlinear relationships, 58, 60
    nonparametric, 30, 32-37, 59
    normal distribution function, 23, 24
    parametric, 30, 32-37, 50
    pitfalls, 29
    probability, see: probability
    propagation of errors, 28, 29
    quartile, 34
    range of data, 34, 51, 60
    rejecting anomalous data, 32, 33, 35
    skewness, 30, 31, 41
    standard deviation, 23-27, 34
    standard error, 25-27
    standardize, 31
    variance, 24, 26
    weighting, 26, 35, 56
    χ$^2$ test, 30, 31
stereotype, 127 syllogism, 4, 5, 72, 82-85
    categorical, 83, 84
    hypothetical, 85, 86
    substitution, 84
symmetry, see: comparison - symmetry systematic error, see: bias
T
technology
    economic effects of research, 190, 191
    effects on science, 101, 163, 179, 186
    predictions, 8
    relation to science, 4, 6, 185, 186, 190
    side effects, 185, 186
    transfer, 192
testing, see: hypothesis – testing of textbook science, 147, 161, 186, 188, 192, 210 theoretical science, see: science - theoretical theory, 148, 160
    definition of, 13
time series, 52-55, 60 troubleshooting, see: experiment – troubleshooting, instrument - troubleshooting
V
values, 184, 187, 201
    judgment, 146-151, 160
variable
    causal, 18, 46, 60-69, 117, 165
    control of, 8, 11, 12, 63, 66, 89, 98-100, 103, 108, 112, 117-119, 138, 163
    definition of, 13, 15 ​
    dependent, see: dependent variable
    explanation of, 43
    independent, see: independent variable
    intervening, 69
    isolation of, 20, 62, 103, 112, 117, 119, 143, 146
    measurement, see: measurement types, data
    quantification, 15
    relations among, 13, 15, 22, 43, 46, 50, 53-60, 119
    significant, 27
    uncontrolled, 18, 105, 116-118
    unknown, 7, 18, 20, 32, 37, 118
verification, see: confirmation and refutation
W
work
    intensity of, 197, 198
    satisfaction, 200