2012 03 19 inquiry in the natural sciences (i)

8/2/2019 2012 03 19 Inquiry in the Natural Sciences (I)

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Chapter 12: Inquiry in the Natural Science

Part I: Basic Concepts

Haixia Zhong

2012 03 19


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Announcement

Two mid-terms and parts of two final examsfrom former offerings of the course, withanswers at the end, are now posted on

Avenue (under contents > basic courseinformation > old tests and exams).

Also, by April 10 there should be posted theframe of our final exam, giving the form of thequestions without the content. (Please checkAvenue regularly.)


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Whats the difference between scientific

inquiry and other type of inquiry?

(reports from Monocle)

I don't see the difference between inquiry

into natural science and inquiry into anything

else , as in all cases claims must be supported

by factorial evidence and not just opinion.

Scientific inquiry is always based upon facts,

that is why it is scientific. If you bring up facts

in another type of inquiry, does it become

scientific? Or is it a blend of the two?


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Nature of Scientific Inquiry

Issue:

Scientific inquiry deals with questions offact and theexplanation of facts.

Method:

Scientific disciplines ground their claims on systematicand precise observations.

Scientists establish and test their theories throughargument to the best explanation.

A scientific theory/hypothesis is testable.

Scientific claims must face the test of expert peerreview.


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The movement of Jupiter (planet of

abundance), Taurus (the sign of money)

and Mars (planet of action) will cause the

growth of wealth for Virgos in 2012.

This causal claim is not scientific because:

A. It does not make a factual judgment.

B. It is not based on systematic and precise

observations.

C. It is not testable.

D. Well, I think it is scientific.


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Scientific Law Causal Explanation

Generalized descriptions of

regularities that have been

found to occur in some area

of nature.

An antecedent event

(events) or thing(s) cause

something happen.

a law notes that something

happens

an explanation explains why

and how somethinghappens

E.g. Newtons second law of

motion: The acceleration a of a

body is parallel and directlyproportional to the net force F

and inversely proportional to the

mass m, i.e., F= ma.

E.g. Earthquakes occur in plate

boundaries because of the

release of built up stressbetween the rocks constituting

each plate, as they snap into a

new position relative to each

other, or fracture.


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Explanation, Hypothesis, Theory

Scientific hypothesis Scientific theory

an explanation; a model that accounts for the

observation, explains it, relates it to other

observations, and makes testable predictions based

upon it.

tentative and unproven received, established,

generally accepted

E.g. the Gaia hypothesis E.g. the evolution theory


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The explanation of

magnetic striping

of the seafloor

explains

argues for argues for argues for

Wegeners observations and an increasingcollection of surprising anomalies

(Phenomena to be explained)

The continents moved over time.(A hypothesis,before its confirmation)

The seafloor

becomes older

with distance

away from theridge crests.

A model that

explains how the

continents moved

Improved

seismic data,

etc.

Arguments and Explanations in Natural Science


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The evolution of a large powerful neck, jaws, and hindlegs was determined to be a favorable adaptation.Smaller, yet powerful, forearms were part of thatadaptation.

When attacking another animal,

T-Rex pivoted at the hip, like a lever

at it's fulcrum. The massive and heavy head was counter-balanced below the hips by the legs and tail. Becausethe head and jaw muscles were so large, there wasselective pressure to reduce the size of the arms in

order to minimize the animal's weight above the hip.http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_tyrannosaurus_have_small_arms

Why do tyrannosaurus have small arms?
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_tyrannosaurus_have_small_armshttp://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_tyrannosaurus_have_small_arms


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which statement about the following passage

is true?The evolution of a large powerful neck, jaws, and hind legs was

determined to be a favorable adaptation. Smaller, yet powerful,forearms were part of that adaptation. When attacking anotheranimal, T-Rex pivoted at the hip, like a lever at it's fulcrum. Themassive and heavy head was counter-balanced below the hips bythe legs and tail. Because the head and jaw muscles were so large,

there was selective pressure to reduce the size of the arms inorder to minimize the animal's weight above the hip.

I. It contains an explanation.

II. It contains an argument.

A. I only

B. II only

C. Both I and II

D. Neither I nor II


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Argument to the Best Explanation

Simplicity(also called Parsimony, Occam'srazor) discouraging the postulation of excessivenumbers of entities

Scope the apparent application of the theory to

multiple cases of phenomena

Fruitfulness the prospect that a theory mayexplain further phenomena in the future

Conservatism the degree of "fit" with existingrecognized knowledge-systems. (Context of theissue, Burden of proof, etc. More on these in thenext class.)


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Testability

Testability requires that a theory or claim mustbe able to identify the kind of observational

evidence that will support it and the kind of

that will count against it. (B&B, page 221)

A scientific prediction suggests a test

(observation or experiment) for the

hypothesis. To say that a hypothesis

"generates predictions" means the same thing

as saying the hypothesis "is testable".


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The law of attraction: if you think positive

thought about what you want, those things will

come to you. (i.e. if the things you want dont

come to you, then you are not thinking

positively enough.)

The law of attraction is not scientific because:A. It does not make a factual judgment.

B. It does not make a causal claim.

C. It is not based on observation.

D. It is not testable.

E. Well, I think it is scientific.


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The rate at which a feather falls and a

bowling ball falls is the same because

the acceleration of the two objects is

the same.

Is this claim testable?

A. Yes

B. No


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There are other inhabited planets

in the universe.


A. Yes

B. No


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Our universe is surrounded by

another, larger universe, with whichwe can have absolutely no contact.


A. Yes

B. No


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All human action is motivated by

unconscious sexual desires. I.e. If these

desires are not apparent and are notadmitted by people, that is just

because they are repressed. But they

are still there. (Freud)


A. Yes

B. No


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For Wednesday

Exercises for tutorial 10 (March 23-29):posted on Avenue

chapter 12 end-of-chapter exercises (pages 233-

234 print and coursesmart, 253-254 create): 2; 4ii), iii), v), vii)

Read the rest of chapter 12 (the process ofinquiry into the natural science)

Answer quiz for Ch. 12 on Avenue

Enjoy the rest of your day!

2012 03 19 inquiry in the natural sciences (i)

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