Scientific Methods/Subject Index

by Richard D. Jarrard

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

χ² 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