What is Science?
Science is a methodical approach to studying the natural
world. Science asks basic questions, such as how does the world
work? How did the world come to be? What was the world like
in the past, what is it like now, and what will it be like in the
future? These questions are answered using observation, testing,
and interpretation through logic.
Most scientists would not say that science leads to an
understanding of the truth. Science is a determination of what is
most likely to be correct at the current time with the evidence at
our disposal. Scientifi c explanations can be inferred from con-
fi rmable data only, and observations and experiments must be
reproducible and verifi able by other individuals. In other words,
good science is based on information that can be measured or
seen and verifi ed by other scientists.
The scientifi c method, it could be said, is a way of learning
or a process of using comparative critical thinking. Things that
are not testable or falsifi able in some scientifi c or mathematical
way, now or in the future, are not considered science. Falsifi -
ability is the principle that a proposition or theory cannot be scientifi
c if it does not admit the possibility of being shown false.
Science takes the whole universe and any and all phenomena in
the natural world under its purview, limited only by what is feasible
to study given our current physical and fi scal limitations.
Anything that cannot be observed or measured or shown to be
false is not amenable to scientifi c investigation. Explanations
that cannot be based on empirical evidence are not a part of science
(National Academy of Sciences, 1998).
Science is, however, a human endeavor and is subject to
personal prejudices, misapprehensions, and bias. Over time,
however, repeated reproduction and verifi cation of observations
and experimental results can overcome these weaknesses. That
is one of the strengths of the scientifi c process.
Scientifi c knowledge is based on some assumptions (after
Nickels, 1998), such as
• The world is REAL; it exists apart from our sensory perception
of it.
• Humans can accurately perceive and attempt to understand
the physical universe.
• Natural processes are suffi cient to explain or account
for natural phenomena or events. In other words, scientists
must explain the natural in terms of the natural (and
not the supernatural, which, lacking any independent
evidence, is not falsifi able and therefore not science),
although humans may not currently recognize what those
processes are.
• By the nature of human mental processing, rooted in
previous experiences, our perceptions may be inaccurate
or biased.
• Scientifi c explanations are limited. Scientifi c knowledge
is necessarily contingent knowledge rather than absolute,
and therefore must be evaluated and assessed, and
is subject to modifi cation in light of new evidence. It is
impossible to know if we have thought of every possible
alternative explanation or every variable, and technology
may be limited.
• Scientifi c explanations are probabilistic. The statistical
view of nature is evident implicitly or explicitly when
stating scientifi c predictions of phenomena or explaining
the likelihood of events in actual situations.
As stated in the National Science Education Standards for
the Nature of Science:
Scientists formulate and test their explanations of nature using
observation, experiments, and theoretical and mathematical
models. Although all scientifi c ideas are tentative and subject
to change and improvement in principle, for most major ideas
in science, there is much experimental and observational con-
fi rmation. Those ideas are not likely to change greatly in the
future. Scientists do and have changed their ideas about nature
when they encounter new experimental evidence that does not
match their existing explanations. (NSES, 1996, p. 171)
Nature of Science and the Scientifi c Method
“The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible.”
—Albert Einstein
Layers rocks making up the walls of the Grand Canyon.
The Nature of Science and the Scientifi c Method 2
The Standards for Science Teacher Preparation correctly
state that
Understanding of the nature of science—the goals, values and
assumptions inherent in the development and interpretation of
scientifi c knowledge (Lederman, 1992)—has been an objective
of science instruction since at least the turn of the last century.
It is regarded in contemporary documents as a fundamental
attribute of science literacy and a defense against unquestioning
acceptance of pseudoscience and of reported research. Knowledge
of the nature of science can enable individuals to make
more informed decisions with respect to scientifi cally based
issues; promote students’ in-depth understandings of “traditional”
science subject matter; and help them distinguish science
from other ways of knowing…
Research clearly shows most students and teachers do not
adequately understand the nature of science. For example,
most teachers and students believe that all scientifi c investigations
adhere to an identical set of steps known as the scientifi c
method, and that theories are simply immature laws. Even when
teachers understand and support the need to include the nature
of science in their instruction, they do not always do so. Instead
they may rely upon the false assumption that doing inquiry leads
to understanding of science. Explicit instruction is needed both
to prepare teachers and to lead students to understand the nature
of science. (NSTA, 2003, and references therein, p. 16)
Scientifi c Method
Throughout the past millennium, there has been a realization
by leading thinkers that the acquisition of knowledge
can be performed in such a way as to minimize inconsistent
conclusions. Rene Descartes established the framework of the
scientifi c method in 1619, and his fi rst step is seen as a guiding
principle for many in the fi eld of science today:
…never to accept anything for true which I did not clearly know
to be such; that is to say, carefully to avoid precipitancy and
prejudice, and to compromise nothing more in my judgment
than what was presented to my mind so clearly and distinctly
as to exclude all ground of methodic doubt. (Discours de la
Méthode, 1637, section I, 120)
By sticking to certain accepted “rules of reasoning,” scientifi
c method helps to minimize infl uence on results by personal,
social, or unreasonable infl uences. Thus, science is seen as a
pathway to study phenomena in the world, based upon reproducibly
testable and verifi able evidence. This pathway may take
different forms; in fact, creative fl exibility is essential to scientifi
c thinking, so there is no single method that all scientists use,
but each must ultimately have a conclusion that is testable and
falsifi able; otherwise, it is not science.
The scientifi c method in actuality isn’t a set sequence of
procedures that must happen, although it is sometimes presented
as such. Some descriptions actually list and number
three to fourteen procedural steps. No matter how many steps
it has or what they cover, the scientifi c method does contain
elements that are applicable to most experimental sciences,
such as physics and chemistry, and is taught to students to aid
their understanding of science.
That being said, it is most important that students realize
that the scientifi c method is a form of critical thinking that will
be subjected to review and independent duplication in order to
reduce the degree of uncertainty. The scientifi c method may
include some or all of the following “steps” in one form or
another: observation, defi ning a question or problem, research
(planning, evaluating current evidence), forming a hypothesis,
prediction from the hypothesis (deductive reasoning), experimentation
(testing the hypothesis), evaluation and analysis,
peer review and evaluation, and publication.
Observation
The fi rst process in the scientifi c method involves the
observation of a phenomenon, event, or “problem.” The discovery
of such a phenomenon may occur due to an interest on
the observer’s part, a suggestion or assignment, or it may be
an annoyance that one wishes to resolve. The discovery may
even be by chance, although it is likely the observer would be
in the right frame of mind to make the observation. It is said
that as a boy, Albert Einstein wanted to know what it would be
like to ride a light beam, and this curious desire stuck with him
throughout his education and eventually led to his incredible
theories of electromagnetism.
Question
Observation leads to a question that needs to be answered
to satisfy human curiosity about the observation, such as why or
how this event happened or what it is like (as in the light beam).
In order to develop this question, observation may involve taking
measures to quantify it in order to better describe it. Scientifi
c questions need to be answerable and lead to the formation
of a hypothesis about the problem.
Hypothesis
To answer a question, a hypothesis will be formed. This is
an educated guess regarding the question’s answer. Educated
is highlighted because no good hypothesis can be developed
without research into the problem. Hypothesis development
depends upon a careful characterization of the subject of the
investigation. Literature on the subject must be researched,
which is made all the easier these days by the Internet (although
sources must be verifi ed; preferably, a library data base should
be used). Sometimes numerous working hypotheses may be
used for a single subject, as long as research indicates they are
all applicable. Hypotheses are generally consistent with existing
knowledge and are conducive to further inquiry.
A scientifi c hypothesis has to be testable and also has to be
falsifi able. In other words, there must be a way to try to make