This text originally appeared on-line at: http://www.mines.utah.edu/geo/people/faculty/jarrard/Text/booktoc.html but disappeared from the web around 2006. My efforts to contact the author had failed, but in December 2007 I was able to retrieve the text using the Web Archive Service. The original work was created by Richard D. Jarrard and remains his intellectual property. If you have comments on this restoral, please contact me at: info@EmotionalCompetency.com
Good news, as of January 16, 2008 the original work has been restored and is now available at: https://webctold.utah.edu/webct/RelativeResourceManager/288712009021/Public Files/sm/sm0.htm I have reconstructed the material here from the more recent source.
The Emotional Competency website hosts this text because of the important contribution it makes to the theory of knowledge.
SCIENTIFIC METHODS
an online book
Richard D. Jarrard
Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah
r.jarrard@utah.edu
© Richard D. Jarrard 2001
Scientific Methods is an online book about the techniques and processes of science and the experience of being a scientist. This book is written by a scientist for scientists. My hope is that it will be browsed by scientists (including graduate students) and read by undergraduates.
Why am I publishing this book online, despite having a willing soft-cover publisher? The main reason is wider availability to readers. A typical science book has a publication run of ~2000 copies, then it goes out of print. Additional factors include educational use and ease of revision. I admit that I would have enjoyed saying that I earned ~25¢/hour by writing this book.
Below the Table of Contents are Adobe Acrobat PDF files, which are more printer-friendly than the web pages. The PDF files also include a Name Index and Subject Index. Feel free to print a personal copy. Note, however, that this book is copyrighted; it is unethical (see Chapter 10) and illegal to distribute multiple printouts or digital copies or to copy any of these files to other web sites.
CONTENTS
1. Introduction
Overview
Thumbnail History of Scientific
Methods
Myth of a Scientific Method
Scientific Methods
SCIENTIFIC TOOLBOX
2. Variables
Statistics
Errors
Precision > Accuracy >
Reliability
Random
and Systematic Errors
Representative
Sampling
Replication
and Confirmation
Probability
Sampling Distribution for One
Variable
Histograms
Normal Distribution
Mean
& Standard Deviation
Normal
Distribution Function
Weighted
Mean
95%
Confidence Limits on Mean
How
Many Measurements are Needed?
Propagation
of Errors
Non-Normal Distributions
Normality
Tests
Rejecting
Anomalous Data
Median,
Range, & 95% Confidence Limits
Examples
3. Induction and Pattern Recognition
Types of Explanation
Coincidence
Correlation
Examples
Crossplots
Plotting
Hints
Extrapolation
and Interpolation
Correlation
Statistics
Nonlinear
Relationships
Correlation
Conclusions
Perspectives on Causality
Mill's Canons: Five Inductive
Methods
Method
of Agreement
Method
of Difference
Joint
Method of Agreement & Difference
Method
of Concomitant Variations
Method
of Residues
Correlation or Causality?
4. Deduction and Logic
Logic
Deduction
vs. Induction
Deductive
Logic
Classification Statements
Deductive
Aids: Venn Diagrams and Substitution
Logically
Equivalent Statements
Relationships
among Statements
Syllogisms
Categorical
Syllogisms
Hypothetical
Syllogisms
Pitfalls: Fallacious Arguments
Fallacies
Resulting from Problems in a Premise
Fallacies
Employing Extraneous Other Evidence
Faulty
Link between Premises & Conclusion
Case-dependent
Relationship between Parts & Whole
5. Experimental Techniques
Observational versus Experimental
Science
Seizing an Opportunity
Experimental Equipment
Prototypes and Pilot Studies
Troubleshooting and Search Procedures
Problem:
Find a Needle in a Haystack
Problem:
Search for the Top Quark
Tips on Experimental Design and
Execution
Pitfalls of Experimental Design
Control of Variables
Problem:
the Noisy Widgetometer
Computation and Information Handling
LIVING SCIENCE
6. The Myth of Objectivity
Perception: Case Studies
Perception, Memory, and Schemata
Postmodernism
Pitfalls of Subjectivity
Experimental
Design
Experiment
Execution
Data
Interpretation
Publication
Pitfall
Examples
Group Objectivity
7. Evidence Evaluation and Scientific
Progress
Judgment Values
Evaluation Aids
Confirmation and Refutation of
Hypotheses
Power of Evidence
Hypothesis Modification
Paradigm and Scientific Revolution
Pitfalls of Evidence Evaluation
Hidden
Influence of Prior Theory on Evidence Evaluation
Incremental
Hypotheses and Discoveries
'Fight
or Flight' Reaction to New Ideas
Confusing
the Package and Product
Pitfall
Examples
8. Insight
Role of Insight in Science
Characteristics of Insight
Conditions Favoring Insight
Obstacles to Insight
The Royal Way
How Does Insight Work?
Alternative Paths to Insight
Unexpected
Results
Transfer
from other Disciplines
Breakthroughs
by Amateurs: the Outsider Perspective
From Puzzle Solving …
… To Mystical Experience
9. The Scientist's World
Scientist and Lay Person
Science and Society
Science and the Arts
Science and Pseudoscience
Applied and Basic Research
Conflict:
Applied vs. Basic Research
Changing
Goals for Applied and Basic Research
Resolution:
Bridging the Gap
Big Science versus Little Science
Ego and the Scientific Pecking
Order
10. The Scientist
Scientists' Characteristics
Essential
Characteristics
Common
Characteristics
Cooperation or Competition?
Science Ethics
Publication
A Scientist's Life: Changing
Motivations
Process and Product
PDF FILES
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Variables
3. Induction and Pattern Recognition
4. Deduction and Logic
5. Experimental Techniques
6. The Myth of Objectivity
7. Evidence Evaluation and Scientific
Progress
8. Insight
9. The Scientist's World
10. The Scientist
References
Name Index
Subject Index
PDF of entire book (2.2 MB)