Chapter 12: Inquiry in the Natural Science Part I: Basic Concepts

Haixia Zhong 2012 03 19

Announcement
Two mid-terms and parts of two final exams from former offerings of the course, with answers at the end, are now posted on Avenue (under contents > basic course information > old tests and exams). Also, by April 10 there should be posted the frame of our final exam, giving the form of the questions without the content. (Please check Avenue regularly.)

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?

Nature of Scientific Inquiry

Issue:
Scientific inquiry deals with questions of fact and the explanation of facts.

Method:
Scientific disciplines ground their claims on systematic and precise observations. Scientists establish and test their theories through argument to the best explanation.

A scientific theory/hypothesis is testable.

Scientific claims must face the test of expert peer review.

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.

Scientific Law Causal Explanation Generalized descriptions of An antecedent event regularities that have been (events) or thing(s) cause found to occur in some area something happen. of nature. a law notes that something happens
E.g. Newtons second law of motion: The acceleration a of a body is parallel and directly proportional to the net force F and inversely proportional to the mass m, i.e., F = ma.

an explanation explains why and how something happens

E.g. Earthquakes occur in plate boundaries because of the release of built up stress between the rocks constituting each plate, as they snap into a new position relative to each other, or fracture.

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
E.g. the Gaia hypothesis

received, established, generally accepted

E.g. the evolution theory

Arguments and Explanations in Natural Science

Wegeners observations and an increasing collection of surprising anomalies
(Phenomena to be explained)
explains

The continents moved over time.

(A hypothesis, before its confirmation)
argues for argues for argues for

A model that explains how the continents moved

The explanation of magnetic striping of the seafloor

The seafloor becomes older with distance away from the ridge crests.

Improved seismic data, etc.

Why do tyrannosaurus have small arms?

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 another animal, T-Rex pivoted at the hip, like a lever at it's fulcrum. The massive and heavy head was counterbalanced below the hips by the legs and tail. Because the head and jaw muscles were so large, there was selective 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

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 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. Because the head and jaw muscles were so large, there was selective pressure to reduce the size of the arms in order to minimize the animal's weight above the hip. I. It contains an explanation. II. It contains an argument.

A. B. C. D.

I only II only Both I and II Neither I nor II

Argument to the Best Explanation

Simplicity (also called Parsimony, Occam's razor) discouraging the postulation of excessive numbers of entities Scope the apparent application of the theory to multiple cases of phenomena Fruitfulness the prospect that a theory may explain further phenomena in the future Conservatism the degree of "fit" with existing recognized knowledge-systems. (Context of the issue, Burden of proof, etc. More on these in the next class.)

Testability
Testability requires that a theory or claim must be 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".

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.

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

There are other inhabited planets in the universe. Is this claim testable?
A. Yes B. No

Our universe is surrounded by another, larger universe, with which we can have absolutely no contact. Is this claim testable?
A. Yes B. No

All human action is motivated by unconscious sexual desires. I.e. If these desires are not apparent and are not admitted by people, that is just because they are repressed. But they are still there. (Freud) Is this claim testable?
A. Yes B. No

For Wednesday
Exercises for tutorial 10 (March 23-29): posted on Avenue
chapter 12 end-of-chapter exercises (pages 233234 print and coursesmart, 253-254 create): 2; 4 ii), iii), v), vii)

Read the rest of chapter 12 (the process of inquiry into the natural science) Answer quiz for Ch. 12 on Avenue Enjoy the rest of your day!