I disagree on the idea that a scientific method is silly. If you consider
how you approach any problem, first you recognize some event, or read a
problem, or see something wierd, then you make a guess about it, or put
together some clue as to what the explanation or answer might be, or how to
get there, (hypothesis) then you work it out, think it through, do the
calculations (gather data.) Next you compare your conclusion/answer with
the origingal event/problem/observation (analyse the results) and perhaps
revise your original idea and try again, or take a different tack.
I teach that there is no one "Scientific Method." But the idea of
scientific method certainly describes most constructive human thought in
problem solving.
Dr. Lois Breur Krause
Department of Geological Sciences
442 Brackett Hall
Clemson University
Clemson SC 29634
teaching chemistry, physics, astronomy and geology to elementary education
majors.
How We Learn and Why We Don't: Student Survival Guide,
available from International Thompson Publishing, ISBN 0324-011970