What are the Rules of the Scientific Method?

The Rules of scientific method Which are more important for its correct application are reproducibility and refutability.

He scientific method Is a procedure used to carry out scientific research on empirical phenomena of nature in which a solid knowledge about the phenomenon studied can be established.

Scientific Method Experimental researcher

This method is made up of a series of steps that, when followed within a research, increase productivity and improve the perspective of those who carry it out.

The scientific method has been used to ensure that the results of research can be supported by empirical evidence that can be verified by the scientific community in general. Therein lies its importance.

In addition, it provides Branches of science A common way of understanding and communicating the general scientific principles that will be used by all of them.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), one of the largest and most prestigious scientific associations in the world, states that within the scientific methodology, the scientific method, which is of a general nature, is combined With the specialized techniques of each science in particular for the production of knowledge.

The most important rules of the scientific method

The scientific method has a set of rules with which all research and experimentation must fulfill, which are the ones that guarantee that its results meet the necessary criteria to be recognized as scientific knowledge, that is, knowledge supported by evidence.

These rules are the Reproducibility and the Refutability .

Reproducibility

The first rule is reproducibility. It is the process by which the procedure, the evidence and the results obtained in an investigation are made public and transparent, so that they become accessible to the scientific community in general.

The credibility of the scientific statements is based on the evidence that supports them, since they have been obtained through a certain applied methodology, a series of data collected and analyzed, and the interpretation of them.

Therefore, the principles established on the basis of an investigation that can be reproduced on different occasions and yield the same results, will be reliable principles.

The importance of this rule lies in the fact that, when applied, it allows the investigation procedures to be diffused and known by other researchers, and this allows them to experience the same processes, and thus to verify them.

When applying the scientific method, it is necessary that the research and all the methodology used in it can be later reviewed, criticized and reproduced. Only in this way can your results be credible.

Without this transparency that allows the rule of reproducibility, the results can only achieve credibility based on the confidence one has in the author, and transparency is a means superior to trust.

Refutability

Refutability is a rule in which it is established that any truly scientific statement is susceptible of being refuted.

If science were to establish absolute truths, it would be implicitly affirmed that the knowledge demonstrated can never be contradicted in the future.

The scientific method rejects the existence of this possibility, since it is thought that a way could always be devised to contradict, with experimentation, specific or isolated parts of an investigation.

This would produce different results than expected, and with this, would generate an impossibility and relativity when establishing scientific knowledge.

Therefore, the desirable status of a scientific statement will always be that of"not refuted,"not"completely verified." To the extent that a scientific statement goes beyond several analyzes, critiques and experimental processes to contradict it, its reliability will be increasingly being tested and strengthened.

Another important aspect of this rule is that, since scientific knowledge is based on experimental demonstration, the refutability of a scientific statement is possible only in the same way through experience.

Consequently, if a postulate could not be denied through experience, it would not really be a rigorous postulate.

A common example to illustrate this is the following: the statement"tomorrow will rain or not rain here"can not be affirmed or empirically denied, and therefore, the rule of refutability, according to which every statement must be susceptible Of being refutable.

Just as a theory can only be proved on the basis of evidence produced in experimentation, a truly scientific statement can not be so enunciated that it is impossible to refute it by experimentation.

Any scientific claim must meet the requirement of the rule of refutability, and if it does not, it can not be considered to meet the criteria of the scientific method.

conclusion

In conclusion, the scientific method, made up of the rules of reproducibility and refutability, guarantees to a researcher that in the process of solving the problem that is posed will yield a result worthy of being reliable to the scientific community.

Through these rules, the scientific method aims to construct a model of study, research and work through which we can offer accurate answers, as far as possible, to various questions that we raise about the order that follows the nature and the Of its components.

The application of the scientific method to carry out this objective will give our work the merit that it has been carried out in a rigorous and scientifically responsible way, and therefore, its results will have an acceptable level of reliability and acceptance.

References

  1. CAMPOS, P.; BAZÁN, B.; SAN MARTIN.; TORRES, M.; MINGO, B.; FERNÁNDEZ, M.; BOIXADERAS, N.; DE LA RUBIA, M.; RODRÍGUEZ, R.; PINTO, R. & GULLÓN, M. (2003). Biology 1 [online]. Accessed June 27, 2017 on the World Wide Web: books.google.com
  2. CAREY, S. (2011). A beginner's guide to scientific method [online]. Accessed June 28, 2017 on the World Wide Web: books.google.com
  3. FOUREZ, G. (1994). The construction of scientific knowledge: sociology and ethics of science [online]. Retrieved July 3, 2017 on the World Wide Web: books.google.com
  4. GAMA, M. (2004). Biology 1 [online]. Accessed June 28, 2017 on the World Wide Web: books.google.com
  5. GAUCH, H. (2003). Scientific method in practice [online]. Accessed June 28, 2017 on the World Wide Web: books.google.com
  6. Nature Human Behavior (2017). A manifesto is reproducible science [online]. Accessed July 5, 2017 on the World Wide Web: nature.com
  7. Schuster, G. (2005). Chapter VI - Explanation and Refutability [online]. Accessed July 5, 2017 on the World Wide Web: biblioteca.clacso.edu.ar.


Loading ..

Recent Posts

Loading ..