How Does Science Work

Science is Method Based

The Scientific Method is Slow

Conducting a scientific research project is extremely difficult and time consuming.  A properly conducted research study can take from 2 to 5 years to complete.  It is very rare that a researcher can complete a project in less than 2 years.
 

The steps in conducting a research project include the following:

  1. Review the previous literature and find out what other researchers who have looked at this topic have found.  The researcher must read virtually everything that has ever been written on her/his topic befoe she/he can be sure her/his research is properly designed and original.  This process can take years, particularly if the researcher is starting into an unfamiliar research area.
  2. Generate hypotheses based on the current theories.  The researcher must evaluate the various theories, find gaps or conflicts in the theories, and then come up with a proposed hypothesis to fill the gap or resolve the conflict
  3. Develop a method to test the hypothesis.  If people already knew how to test the hypothesis, or if the methods had already been tried in this area, there would be little need for additional research, so, researchers are frequently having to develop new research methods and techniques, invent new equipment and machinary, develop new apparatus, construct and validate new tests,  measurement techniques, computer programs, etc., before they can even start their research.  This can add years to the project.
  4. Collect data designed to test the hypothesis.  Frequently, the methods and techniques developed by the researcher don't work on the first try.  Sometimes it takes months or years of practice and refinement of the equiment, tests, or apparatus until the data can be collected successfully.
  5. Analyzie the data.
  6. Write up the results for publication

Science is Competitive

Publish Or Perish Environment

    Scientists work in a publish or perish environment.  All scientists must conduct new and original research and publish the results regularly in order to keep their jobs, get raises, or be eligible for promotions.  Scientists are constantly looking for new things to research.

    Coming up with new research projects is extremely difficult.  If a scientist must publish 2 or 3 articles a year and it takes 3 to 6 years to get each article, the scientist and his students must have 6 to 12 projects going at all times.
 

Peer Reviewed

    In order to get an article published, the project must be reviewed by a panel of other scientists who check the work to be sure every step has been properly followed, that each conclusion is justified, that the explanation offered by the author is the best explanation of the data, etc.  Frequently, the panel reviewing the article includes scientists who are on the other side of the issue.  Editors deliberately send an article to reviewers who are likely to disagree with the conclusions since they are most likely to find flaws in the project.

    The critical thing is that each project must be reviewed by knowledgable scientists who know the theories, know the methods, know the data, and are in a position to determine if the conclusions in the article are justified by the data.

Self Correcting

    No scientific finding is accepted after only one research project.  When a researcher publishes a finding, scientists at other laboratories are quick to "replicate" or repeat the study to verify that they get the same result.  Many scientists run several replications of their own studies to verify that they can get the same result at least 3 times in a row before they will send the results off for publication.

    The easiest way to get a publication is to find an error in someone elses research, repeat their research correcting the error.  The other researcher has already reviewed the literature, generated the hypothesis, developed the methods, and done all the hard and slow stuff.  All you have to do is correct the flaw in their research method, collect new data, analyze it, and write it up.  This can still take a couple of years but it is quicker than starting from scratch.

    One of the surest ways to get a publication is to prove some other researcher wrong.  One of the quickest ways to develop a national reputation (ie:get famous) is to prove that some well known theory is wrong.  That will quickly guarantee the scientist a raise and a promotion.

    As soon as an article is published in a scientific journal, a dozen other scientists in a dozen other laboratories are all over it "like white on rice" looking for flaws and errors so they can get a quick publication by proving it wrong.

    So while sometimes, scientific methods lead to wrong conclusions, within a couple of years of publishing them, they are usually corrected.  In some cases, wrong conclusions cannot be disproved until some new method is invented.  The invention of the laser, for example, alowed us to re-evaluate a number of hypotheses that could not be properly tested until the laser was invented.
 

Based on High Ethical Standards

    Scientists are held to the highest ethical standards.  A scientist engaging in dishonest or unethical behavior will lose his or her job, reputation, and credentials as a scientist.  Scientists reviewing other scientists research look for flaws in the method and flaws in the logic but they do not reject an article just because it disagrees with their own favorite theory.  Scientists encourage the development of competing theories because it leads to advancement in their field of research.
 

Science Works

    Because of the self correcting structure of the scientific method, science works.  False conclusions can be part of science for years but eventually they are identified and corrected.

    Science works but it works slowly.

    The advancements of science and technology have revolutionized life on this planet.

    Unfortunately, the media do not understand science very well.  When a new finding is published, the media are quick to put out a headline to the effect that "Scientist report yada yada yada"  then two years later when the first follow up studies are published, the media is quick to report "Scientists reverse earlier conclusions, now they say yada yada yada."  This makes it sound like scientists can't make up their mind, that once they say one thing then they say the opposite.  Some people even say things like, "You can prove anything with science."  Of course that is simply not true and it is based on a misunderstanding of the slow, self-correcting, method used in science.

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Steve Falkenberg

Steve.Falkenberg@eku.edu

Copyright © 2005 Steve Falkenberg