The Scientific Endeavor
Part 2
Jeffrey A. Lee (2000)
Induction (empiric scientific method)
 Starting point: individuals (particulars)
Observation
Test/experiment/measurement
Analysis
Drawing conclusions / theorizing (creating a theory)
Prediction
 Example: Darwin’s finches
↓
Darwin’s conclusion: from one species,
many species evolved.
4 of the 13 variations
of finches on the
Galapagos Islands
↓
• Crashing nuts.
• Pulling insects
from the tree
bark.
Another example of inductive reasoning
 Polls (statistics)
Asking questions (examining) a certain number of individuals
Analyzing the answers
Drawing conclusions
↓
For example:
If 60% of voters between ages 18 and 27 go to vote, the Liberal Party will
win the elections.
Deduction (intuitive scientific method)
 Starting point: generalization (hypothesis/theory)
At first, a theory is a hypothesis (assumption), even a guess.
↓
Data collection (if applicable)
Analysis
Theory (proven hypothesis)
Prediction
An example of deductive reasoning in medicine:
A physician suspects/assumes that a high percentage of African
Canadians suffer from sun-related skin diseases.
 She assumes: lack of awareness → no use of sunscreen
 Data collection
Questionnaires among both African and white Canadians : using/avoiding
sunscreen.
And/or data from Statistics Canada, hospital records, and the like
 Analysis: In contrast to 80% of white Canadians who regularly use sunblock,
only 45% of African Canadians do so.
↓
 Conclusion: many African Canadians believe that dark skin protects from a
potential harm caused by sun rays.
 Prediction: without awareness campaign, the numbers will not decrease.
 Induction
From the particular (individuals) → to the general (theory)
 Deduction
From the general (hypothesis)→ to the particular (in order to prove the
(hypothesis
Common use of ‘hypothesis’ and ‘theory’
 Hypothesis: a claim before it is tested
 Theory: a claim after it has passed the test
How Does Science Progress?
 Thomas Kuhn: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962)
Key question: How does science progress?
Key terms
↓
 Paradigm: the existing way of thinking (thinking in the box)
 Paradigm shift: breaking from the traditional way (out of the box)
Example
↓
Presocratic thinkers versus myth-based explanation of nature
Two ways of scientific progress
↓
 Improvement upon an existing paradigm (theory, line of thought)
Aristotle → Ptolmey
 Scientific revolution: paradigm shift (rejection of the existing paradigm)
Ptolmey ← Copernicus