Re: "first form an hypothesis..."

[Robert A Cohen <bbq@ESU.EDU>]

I see the scientific method as more of a circle than a straight line with
a beginning (hypothesis?) and an end.  How does one form an hypothesis
without having any observations on which to based the hypothesis?  On the
other hand, how does one know what to look for (observe) without some idea
of what one expects to see?  Observations and hypothesis go hand in hand.

If I had to choose, however, I suspect observations are a more crucial
first step. Suppose I am in a world where our the laws of nature are
completely different.  What do you think will happen if I fdshz a xzycx (a
"xzycx" is a strange-acting object only found in this place and "fdshz" is
something one can only do with a "xzycx")? One can say that we could start
by predicting that the motion will be the same as if someone drops a ball
here on earth, but who cares? The first step is really just to try the
darn experiment and see what happens.

P.S. I believe there are similarities with science teaching as well (as in
the learning cycle or similar approaches).

----------------------------------------------------------
| Robert Cohen               Department of Physics       |
|                            East Stroudsburg University |
| bbq@esu.edu                East Stroudsburg, PA  18301 |
| http://www.esu.edu/~bbq/   (570) 422-3428              |
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On Fri, 24 Sep 1999, Lois Breur Krause wrote:

> 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.