Scientific Method in Practice

Scientific Method in Practice
Author: Hugh G. Gauch
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 458
Release: 2003
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780521017084

As the gateway to scientific thinking, an understanding of the scientific method is essential for success and productivity in science. This book is the first synthesis of the practice and the philosophy of the scientific method. It will enable scientists to be better scientists by offering them a deeper understanding of the underpinnings of the scientific method, thereby leading to more productive research and experimentation. It will also give scientists a more accurate perspective on the rationality of the scientific approach and its role in society. Beginning with a discussion of today's 'science wars' and science's presuppositions, the book then explores deductive and inductive logic, probability, statistics, and parsimony, and concludes with an examination of science's powers and limits, and a look at science education. Topics relevant to a variety of disciplines are treated, and clarifying figures, case studies, and chapter summaries enhance the pedagogy. This adeptly executed, comprehensive, yet pragmatic work yields a new synergy suitable for scientists and instructors, and graduate students and advanced undergraduates.

Scientific Method in Brief

Scientific Method in Brief
Author: Hugh G. Gauch, Jr
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 501
Release: 2012-09-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1107311527

The fundamental principles of the scientific method are essential for enhancing perspective, increasing productivity, and stimulating innovation. These principles include deductive and inductive logic, probability, parsimony and hypothesis testing, as well as science's presuppositions, limitations, ethics and bold claims of rationality and truth. The examples and case studies drawn upon in this book span the physical, biological and social sciences; include applications in agriculture, engineering and medicine; and also explore science's interrelationships with disciplines in the humanities such as philosophy and law. Informed by position papers on science from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, National Academy of Sciences and National Science Foundation, this book aligns with a distinctively mainstream vision of science. It is an ideal resource for anyone undertaking a systematic study of scientific method for the first time, from undergraduates to professionals in both the sciences and the humanities.

Theories of Scientific Method

Theories of Scientific Method
Author: Robert Nola
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 343
Release: 2014-12-18
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1317493486

What is it to be scientific? Is there such a thing as scientific method? And if so, how might such methods be justified? Robert Nola and Howard Sankey seek to provide answers to these fundamental questions in their exploration of the major recent theories of scientific method. Although for many scientists their understanding of method is something they just pick up in the course of being trained, Nola and Sankey argue that it is possible to be explicit about what this tacit understanding of method is, rather than leave it as some unfathomable mystery. They robustly defend the idea that there is such a thing as scientific method and show how this might be legitimated. This book begins with the question of what methodology might mean and explores the notions of values, rules and principles, before investigating how methodologists have sought to show that our scientific methods are rational. Part 2 of this book sets out some principles of inductive method and examines its alternatives including abduction, IBE, and hypothetico-deductivism. Part 3 introduces probabilistic modes of reasoning, particularly Bayesianism in its various guises, and shows how it is able to give an account of many of the values and rules of method. Part 4 considers the ideas of philosophers who have proposed distinctive theories of method such as Popper, Lakatos, Kuhn and Feyerabend and Part 5 continues this theme by considering philosophers who have proposed naturalised theories of method such as Quine, Laudan and Rescher. This book offers readers a comprehensive introduction to the idea of scientific method and a wide-ranging discussion of how historians of science, philosophers of science and scientists have grappled with the question over the last fifty years.

Principles of Scientific Methods

Principles of Scientific Methods
Author: Mark Chang
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 243
Release: 2016-04-19
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1482238101

This book focuses on the fundamental principles behind scientific methods. The author uses concrete examples to explain principles. He also uses analogies to connect different methods or problems to arrive at a general principle or common notion. The book explores how the principles of scientific methods are not only applicable to scientific research but also in our daily lives. It shows how the scientific method is used to understand how and why things happen, make predictions, prevent mistakes, and solve problems.

Essentials of Scientific Method

Essentials of Scientific Method
Author: A. Wolf
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 165
Release: 2019-05-23
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0429622600

Originally published in 1925, when it was published, this book was intended to give an up to date, concise account of the aim and methods of science with regards to Psychology. It contains chapters on various scientific methods such as the Evolutionary or Genetic Method, the Method of Difference and The Method of Residues, and chapters on probability and the laws of nature.

Basic Science Methods for Clinical Researchers

Basic Science Methods for Clinical Researchers
Author: Morteza Jalali
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 383
Release: 2017-03-31
Genre: Science
ISBN: 012803078X

Basic Science Methods for Clinical Researchers addresses the specific challenges faced by clinicians without a conventional science background. The aim of the book is to introduce the reader to core experimental methods commonly used to answer questions in basic science research and to outline their relative strengths and limitations in generating conclusive data. This book will be a vital companion for clinicians undertaking laboratory-based science. It will support clinicians in the pursuit of their academic interests and in making an original contribution to their chosen field. In doing so, it will facilitate the development of tomorrow's clinician scientists and future leaders in discovery science. - Serves as a helpful guide for clinical researchers who lack a conventional science background - Organized around research themes pertaining to key biological molecules, from genes, to proteins, cells, and model organisms - Features protocols, techniques for troubleshooting common problems, and an explanation of the advantages and limitations of a technique in generating conclusive data - Appendices provide resources for practical research methodology, including legal frameworks for using stem cells and animals in the laboratory, ethical considerations, and good laboratory practice (GLP)

Scientific Method

Scientific Method
Author: John Staddon
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 184
Release: 2017-12-01
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1351586890

This book shows how science works, fails to work, or pretends to work, by looking at examples from such diverse fields as physics, biomedicine, psychology, and economics. Social science affects our lives every day through the predictions of experts and the rules and regulations they devise. Sciences like economics, sociology and health are subject to more ‘operating limitations’ than classical fields like physics or chemistry or biology. Yet, their methods and results must also be judged according to the same scientific standards. Every literate citizen should understand these standards and be able to tell the difference between good science and bad. Scientific Method enables readers to develop a critical, informed view of scientific practice by discussing concrete examples of how real scientists have approached the problems of their fields. It is ideal for students and professionals trying to make sense of the role of science in society, and of the meaning, value, and limitations of scientific methodology in the social sciences.