Scientific Method
From The Chemistry Book
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| Chemical research follows an approach to study known as the scientific method. |
"Intuition and imagination play an important part in the scientific method" -- Linus Pauling
Definitions:
- The process of studying a phenomena
- A systematic procedure for solving problems and exploring natural phenomena
- A procedure, involving testing hypotheses derived from theories in order to test those theories
The Process
Observations
Data are quantitative or qualitative.
Quantitative data may rely on the metric system
Hypothesis
A testable and tentative statement.
The statement may be written in an "if... then..." format. In this type of statement, the researcher considers the independent and dependent variables. For example, if a student studies then the student will pass chemistry.
Experiments
Dependent
Independent
Conclusions
A hypothesis may be accepted on rejected but never proven.
Theories
A theory is a framework or model in which observations are explained and predictions are made.
- Well tested explanations
- Refined or discarded when new experimental results conflict
- Three aspects to a theory: philosophical, mathematical, and empirical.
A good theory:
- Explains current data
- simple as possible
- predicts results of future experiments
- suggests new lines of research
Laws
A summary of observations (i.e., Law of Conservation of Matter, Boyle's Gas Law ).