The Scientific Method
Science is taught in schools. There are lots of science programs on TV. How much do people really know about the methods of science?
The first part of the scientific method is observation. You find some object, phenomenon, or creature and observe it. You take notes on what it looks like, what it does, what its properties are. You might take samples of this object for your records, or you might take a photograph. These observations, measurements, categorizations are all the first steps in doing science. You can not use science on something if you have no data on that thing. In general, you will want to get as much data as you can in the collection phase of your work so that you have material for the next phase.
Analysis. Once you have made some observations it is time to analyze the data. This is where an education really helps. You might use mathematical methods to categorize your data. You might make a database of chemical constituents of some object. If you are studying stars or planets you will want to analyze the spectra and other observations to find out what they are made of. In the analysis phase is where you will be arranging your data to support the hypothesis you are going to make about your subject.
A hypothesis is some reasoning that tells you something about what you are studying. The data might suggest this hypothesis, but your underlying theory should be logically consistent. Your hypothesis should tell you something about your subject and be useful in predicting the behavior or properties of similar objects.
If you are studying something that can be experimented on the next step is to do an experiment. The hypothesis will need to be tested. Certain sciences such as astronomy are not necessarily the best areas for doing experiments. We cannot create a star in the lab. We can however send space probes out to perform better observations. In any case, your experiment should be set up to either prove or disprove your hypothesis. If you are studying the motion of electrons in a magnetic field you will want to know the field strength, the electron velocity, and deduce any forces encountered by this particle. If you are studying how some plants manufacture some chemical, you will want to monitor chemical production in this plant under different conditions.
Once we have proved our hypothesis with an experiment it is time to write up the paper and submit it for publication. There are many scientific journals that publish original research. Include observations, hypotheses, theories, and experiments in your report. You publish your work so other scientists and people in general can learn what you found out in your studies. Publishing is an important step in the scientific method that is often overlooked in schools.
Using the scientific method to study the universe can tell us many things about the world and creatures around us. Science is the search for truth. Any fake data or wrong assumptions made in science degrade the value of the research to any person referring to that work. The scientist will try to get to the truth of the matter and will not be manipulating his data to support his own prejudices or beliefs. This is why the scientific method is so powerful, it tells us real things about the way the world works.
