The Scientific Method

Back in the 4th Century B.C., people based their beliefs on their interpretations of what they saw going on in the world. There was no testing to determine if their theories were correct, instead they drew a conclusion of their own and called it fact. Since then scientists have come up with the scientific method, which encourages the scientist to test out his hypotheses before it can even become a theory.

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines scientific method as principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses. As we know the scientific method involves: observation, hypotheses, experimentation, data, and a conclusion.

As is our nature, the human race is curious, thus making observations second nature. When we observe something we don't understand, we come up with a problem which we need answered. What better way to truly understand something, except through research. Researching what others have come up with as well as making our own observations helps us come up with a hypothesis. In layman's terms a hypotheses is an educated guess. We can also come up with inductive reasoning, which means we base our argument on our observations. For example we can say that if we throw a rock in the air it is going to come back down, we gather this information from the fact that we have seen rocks come back down after they have been tossed in the air.

That brings us to the experimentation part of the scientific method. The objective of experimenting is to make further observations, and test the hypotheses we had come up with. One way of testing that hypotheses is by using deductive reasoning, which involves "if, then" logic. In using the previous example; if we throw the rock in the air, then the rock will come back down. Using Isaac Newton's Law of Gravity, what goes up must come down, is also using deductive reasoning. During the experiments we record the results we come up with, these results are referred to as data. Data should be objective rather than subjective. Using our data we can see the results of both dependent and independent variables. A dependent variable is the variable that is manipulated by the researcher, and the dependent variable is the response that is measured. From the data recorded scientists analyze to reach a conclusion of whether the hypotheses are supported or not. Scientist use scientific journals, so that the data may be available to others who are researching the same topic. With that said, an experiment should be repeatable; in other words if the scientist repeats the experiment he will obtain the same results.

The ultimate goal of a scientist is to understand the world through scientific theories. A scientific theory is an explanation of a set of related observations events based upon proven hypotheses and verified multiple times by detached groups of researchers. In other words one scientist cannot make a scientific theory, he can only create a hypotheses. Usually the word theory is taken as a guess or unproven fact, in actuality the scientific theory implies that something has been proven and is generally accepted as being true.

The biggest theory out there is the theory of evolution. Many people require proof before accepting anything as a fact. Proof to most people, must consist of seeing it with their own eyes, and since a large evolutionary change cannot be seen over one lifetime, it is said that evolution cannot be proven. Of course this argument ignores the great number of data that has been recorded over the years, which supports that present life forms did indeed evolve form primitive ancestors.

The theory of evolution has been tested for over 100 years, and has been supported by many observations and experiments, some biologists have considered making it a scientific law. A scientific law is a statement of fact meant to explain, in concise terms, and action or set of actions. Scientific law is accepted to be true, and is accepted at face value based upon the fact that they have always been considered true. Bottom line, both scientific theory and scientific law are accepted to be true by the scientific community. The biggest difference between a theory and a law is that a theory is more complex, as for a law covers only a single action. Theories can be "tweaked", but not entirely replaced.

If we only observed and concluded we would not know what most of this world has to offer. Before it was okay to come up with a conclusion and make it the final answer. Today we observe and test everything before we come up with our answer and even then, someone else will come in behind us and test it again. The scientific method has taught us that there is a possibility of having more than one answer, and that it is alright for someone to challenge a theory.

"Kills 99% of Germs" or "Antibacterial", if you were to look around your house right now how many products would have these or similar phrases? Now what would you say if I told you that by using these products you are helping in the production of "super bugs"?

In the mid 1990s there were a few dozen product containing antibacterial agents introduce to the house hold, there are more than 700 products today. The surprising factor is that there has not been any added benefit proven. Antibiotic products were developed to prevent disease-causing organisms from transmit to patients. Antibiotics are critical to the treatment of bacterial infections. However, since the misuse of antibacterial products, bacteria have developed a resistance.

The antibacterial substances that are added to household cleaning products are very much like an antibiotic. The difference of course is the fact that