scientific method

There's a good article by Adam Gopnik in the BBC's online magazine - A Point of View: Science, Magic and Madness - that may be of interest to some here. A clear and simple explanation of what the scientific method is, why it's important, and how it differs from simply absorbing information...

I set the context with the following exchange of opinions from the "Lambda-CDM theory - Woo or not?" thread. However, as we can see, the comments in fact have a wide ranging effect on what we can consider to be "scientific". So what we have here is a contest between "observation" and...

- Identifying a Problem (Can the Scientific Method be understood?) -Forming a hypothesis (It is a phrase with many meanings, understanding difficult) -Collecting and Analyzing Data (Do research, see links below) - Designing and Performing Experiments (start discussions on science based Internet...

To give some context: From the WP article on Interpretivism. Bold added to show what is seens as Interpretivism in Social Sciences. From my reading of these forums (which I do vicariously) I have seen that there is some opposition to the idea of post-modernism and interpretivism. Now my...

Nowadays we assume that Science - narrowly defined here as a system of gathering knowledge based on the scientific method - is some form of universally applicable system that is nearly flawless. There's no question that it's better than what came before, but just because Aristotle came up with...

<h2 class="title"><a href="http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2008/02/18/is-science-faith-based/" rel="bookmark">Is science faith-based?</a></h2> No. Oh, you want details? OK then. If you read any antiscience screeds, at some point or another most will claim that science is based on faith...

One thing has bugged me is the term "Conspiracy Theory". Yea, I know it is a permanent part of the conversational lexicon as we know it, but I can't help referring back to the scientific method that defines the the term "theory" as something that has been proven via the rigors of the scientific...

The first rule of science is that whenever you hear of a scientist talking of being "absolutely certain" of something, or a study indicates that "something is obvious" etc, you can be "certain" of one thing: That statement has been bought and paid for by groups that have a significant financial...

Hot off the presses a new paper by Stephen Jones...apparently he has discovered the scientific method (finally) and now wishes to apply it to analysis of the events of 9/11 **NOte this is a PDF Link**...

First: I'm not claiming any supernatural abilities! You'll understand when you read what my "special powers" are ;) First, I want to provide a small anecdote which I will use as a basis for my question. It seems that my brain often is bloody good at keeping track of time. I can set the timer...

Question for the paranormalists out there. If something doesn't have any provable effect on the universe or the world around us, why should we spend time on it? If we can't show definitively that ghosts, goblins, crystals, or the "spirit world" actually DO anything, how do we benefit from...