3.2: Resources

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Summary

Science attempts to describe and understand the nature of the universe in whole or in part. Science has many fields; those fields related to the physical world and its phenomena are considered natural sciences. A hypothesis is a tentative explanation for an observation. A scientific theory is a well-tested and consistently verified explanation for a set of observations or phenomena. A scientific law is a description, often in the form of a mathematical formula, of the behavior of an aspect of nature under certain circumstances. Two types of logical reasoning are used in science. Inductive reasoning uses results to produce general scientific principles. Deductive reasoning is a form of logical thinking that predicts results by applying general principles. The common thread throughout scientific research is the use of the scientific method. Scientists present their results in peer-reviewed scientific papers published in scientific journals. Science can be basic or applied. The main goal of basic science is to expand knowledge without any expectation of short-term practical application of that knowledge. The primary goal of applied research, however, is to solve practical problems.

Lesson Review Questions

What is science?
Describe the process of scientific method.
What are inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning?
Describe the goals of basic and applied science.
Give one example of the link between basic and applied research.
What are peer-reviewed articles?
Explain the following terms: hypothesis, falsifiability, scientific law.

Attributions

OpenStax College. (2013). Concepts of biology. Retrieved from http://cnx.org/contents/b3c1e1d2-839...9a8aafbdd@8.10. OpenStax CNX. Available under Creative Commons Attribution License License 3.0 (CC BY 3.0). Modified from Original.

Contributors and Attributions

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