What are two characteristics of the scientific method

The nine main characteristics of science are the following: Objectivity, verifiable, ethical neutrality, systematic exploration, reliability, precision, abstraction and predictability.

1. Objectivity

Scientific knowledge is objective. Simple objectivity means the ability to see and accept facts as they are, not as one might wish they were. To be objective, one has to protect oneself against one’s own prejudices, beliefs, desires, values and preferences. Objectivity requires that one should set aside all kinds of subjective considerations and prejudices. If you are afraid that your work will not be objective enough, then you can ask us to “write my paper” or order proofreading.

2. Verifiable

Science rests on sensory data, that is, data collected through our senses: eye, ear, nose, tongue and touch. Scientific knowledge is based on verifiable evidence (concrete objective observations) so that other observers can observe, weigh or measure the same phenomena and verify the observation to verify its accuracy.

Is there a god? Is the Varna system ethical or the questions related to the existence of the soul, heaven or hell are not scientific questions because they can not be treated objectively? The evidence regarding its existence can not be gathered through our senses. Science has no answers for everything. Deal only with those questions about which verifiable evidence can be found.

What are two characteristics of the scientific method

3. Ethical neutrality

Science is ethically neutral. It only seeks knowledge. How this knowledge will be used, is determined by the values of society. Knowledge can be used for different uses. Knowledge about atomic energy can be used to cure diseases or to wage an atomic war.

Ethical neutrality does not mean that the scientist does not have values. Here it only means that you should not allow your values to distort the design and conduct of your research proposal. Therefore, scientific knowledge is value-neutral or value-free.

4. Systematic exploration

A scientific investigation adopts a certain sequential procedure, an organized plan or a research design to collect and analyze data about the problem under study. In general, this plan includes some scientific steps: formulation of hypotheses, compilation of facts, analysis of facts (classification, coding and tabulation) and generalization and scientific prediction.

5. Reliable or reliable

Scientific knowledge must occur under the prescribed circumstances not once but repeatedly. It is replicable in the indicated circumstances in any place and at any time. The conclusions based on casual memories are not very reliable.

What are two characteristics of the scientific method

6. Accuracy

Scientific knowledge is precise. It is not vague as some literary writings. Tennyson wrote: “Every moment a man dies; Every moment that one is born, it is good literature but not science. To be a good science, it should be written as: “In India, according to the 2001 census, every tenth, on average, a man dies; every fourth second, on average, a baby is born «. Accuracy requires giving the exact number or measure. Instead of saying “most people are against marriages for love,” says a scientific researcher, “ninety percent of people are against marriages for love.”

7. Accuracy

Scientific knowledge is precise. A doctor, like a common man, will not say that the patient has a mild temperature or that he has a very high temperature, but after measuring with the help of the thermometer, he will declare that the patient has a temperature of 101.2 F.

Precision simply means truth or correction of a statement or description of things with exact words as they are without jumping to unjustified conclusions. Every essay helper on our team always works by this rule.

8. Abstraction

Science proceeds on a plane of abstraction. A general scientific principle is highly abstract. He is not interested in giving a realistic image.

What are two characteristics of the scientific method

9. Predictability

Scientists not only describe the phenomena that are studied, but also try to explain and predict. It is typical of the social sciences that have a much lower predictability compared to the natural sciences. The most obvious reasons are the complexity of the subject and the insufficiency in the control, etc.

Scientific method is concerned with the realities that are observable through “sensory experiences.” It generates knowledge which is verifiable by experience or observation. Some of the realities could be directly observed, like the number of students present in the class and how many of them are male and how many female. The same students have attitudes, values, motivations, aspirations, and commitments. These are also realities which cannot be observed directly, but the researchers have designed ways to observe these indirectly. Any reality that cannot be put to “sensory experience” directly or indirectly (existence of heaven, the Day of Judgment, life hereafter, God’s rewards for good deeds) does not fall within the domain of scientific method.

  1. Verifiable

Observations made through scientific method are to be verified again by using the senses to confirm or refute the previous findings. Such confirmations may have to be made by the same researcher or others. We will place more faith and credence in those findings and conclusions if similar findings emerge on the basis of data collected by other researchers using the same methods. To the extent that it does happen (i.e. the results are replicated or repeated) we will gain confidence in the scientific nature of our research. Replicability, in this way, is an important characteristic of scientific method. Hence revelations and intuitions are out of the domain of scientific method.

  1. Cumulative

Prior to the start of any study the researchers try to scan through the literature and see that their study is not a repetition in ignorance. Instead of reinventing the wheel the researchers take stock of the existing body of knowledge and try to build on it. Also the researchers do not leave their research findings into scattered bits and pieces. Facts and figures are to be provided with language and thereby inferences drawn. The results are to be organized and systematized. Nevertheless, we don’t want to leave our studies as stand alone. A linkage between the present and the previous body of knowledge has to be established, and that is how the knowledge accumulates. Every new crop of babies does not have to start from a scratch; the existing body of knowledge provides a huge foundation on which the researchers build on and hence the knowledge keeps on growing.

  1. Deterministic

Science is based on the assumption that all events have antecedent causes that are subject to identification and logical understanding. For the scientist, nothing “just happens” – it happens for a reason. The scientific researchers try to explain the emerging phenomenon by identifying its causes. Of the identified causes which ones can be the most important? For example, in the 2006 BA/BS examination of the Punjab University 67 percent of the students failed. What could be the determinants of such a mass failure of students? The researcher may try to explain this phenomenon and come up with variety of reasons which may pertain to students, teachers, administration, curriculum, books, examination system, and so on. Looking into such a large number of reasons may be highly cumbersome model for problem solution. It might be appropriate to tell, of all these factors which one is the most important, the second most important, the third most important, which two in combination are the most important. The researcher tries to narrow down the number of reasons in such a way that some action could be taken. Therefore, the achievement of a meaningful, rather than an elaborate and cumbersome, model for problem solution becomes a critical issue in research. That is parsimony which implies the explanation with the minimum number of variables that are responsible for an undesirable situation.

  1. Ethical and Ideological Neutrality

The conclusions drawn through interpretation of the results of data analysis should be objective; that is, they should be based on the facts of the findings derived from actual data, and not on our own subjective or emotional values. For instance, if we had a hypothesis that stated that greater participation in decision making will increase organizational commitment, and this was not supported by the results, it makes no sense if the researcher continues to argue that increased opportunities for employee participation would still help. Such an argument would be based, not on the factual, data based research findings, but on the subjective opinion of the researcher. If this was the conviction of the researcher all along, then there was no need to do the research in the first place.

Researchers are human beings, having individual ideologies, religious affiliations, cultural differences which can influence the research findings. Any interference of their personal likings and dis-likings in their research can contaminate the purity of the data, which ultimately can affect the predictions made by the researcher. Therefore, one of the important characteristics of scientific method is to follow the principle of objectivity, uphold neutrality, and present the results in an unbiased manner.

  1. Statistical Generalization

Generalisability refers to the scope of the research findings in one organizational setting to other settings. Obviously, the wider the range of applicability of the solutions generated by research, the more useful the research is to users. For instance, if a researcher’s findings that participation in decision making enhances organizational commitment are found to be true in a variety of manufacturing, industrial, and service organizations, and not merely in the particular organization studied by the researcher, the generalisability of the findings to other organizational settings is enhanced. The more generalizable is the research, the greater its usefulness and value.

For wider generalisability, the research sampling design has to be logically developed and a number of other details in the data collection methods need to be meticulously followed. Here the use of statistics is very helpful. Statistics is device for comparing what is observed and what is logically expected. The use of statistics becomes helpful in making generalizations, which is one of the goals of scientific method.

  1. Rationalism

Science is fundamentally a rational activity, and the scientific explanation must make sense. Religion may rest on revelations, custom, or traditions, gambling on faith, but science must rest on logical reason.

There are two distinct logical systems important to the scientific quest, referred to as deductive logic and inductive logic. They can be described as follows:

Logicians distinguish between inductive reasoning (from particular instances to general principles, from facts to theories) and deductive reasoning (from the general to the particular, applying a theory to a particular case). In induction one starts from observed data and develops a generalization which explains the relationships between the objects observed. On the other hand, in deductive reasoning one starts from some general law and applies it to a particular instance.

In practice, scientific research involves both inductive and deductive reasoning as the scientist shifts endlessly back and forth between theory and empirical observations. There could be some other aspects of scientific method (e.g. self-correcting) but what is important is that all features are interrelated. Scientists may not adhere to all these characteristics. For example, objectivity is often violated especially in the study of human behaviour, particularly when human beings are studied by the human beings. Personal biases of the researchers do contaminate the findings. Looking at the important features of scientific method one might say that there are two power bases of scientific knowledge:

  • Empiricism i.e. sensory experiences or observation, and
  • Rationalism i.e. the logical explanations for regularity and then consequential argumentation for making generalizations (theory).

Finally, it may be said that anybody who is following the scientific procedure of doing research is doing a scientific research; and the knowledge generated by such research is scientific knowledge. Depending upon the subject matter, we try to divide the sciences into physical or natural sciences and the social sciences. Due to the nature of the subject matter of the social sciences, it is rather very difficult to apply the scientific method of research rigorously and that is why the predictions made by the social researchers are not as dependable as the predictions made by the natural scientists.

What are the main characteristics of scientific method?

Among the activities often identified as characteristic of science are systematic observation and experimentation, inductive and deductive reasoning, and the formation and testing of hypotheses and theories.

What are two characteristics of the scientific method quizlet?

What are the characteristics of science? Objectivity: Scientific knowledge is objective. Verifiability: Science rests upon sense data, i.e., data gathered through our senses—eye, ear, nose, tongue and touch.

What are the two types of scientific method?

There are two basic types of research associated with the scientific method. Quantitative research is based on collecting facts and figures. This type research is common in biology. Qualitative research is based on collecting opinions and attitudes.

What are four characteristics of scientific method?

Scientific method is characterized by systematic observation, measurement experimentation, formulation and testing of hypothesis and its modification.