3-doing-science

DoingScienceWeallknowthatscienceplaysanimportantroleinthesocietiesinwhichwelive.Manypeoplebelieve,however,thatourprogressdependsontwoaspectsofscience.Thefirstofwhichistheapplicationofthemachines,theproductsandsystemsofappliedknowledgethatscientistsandtechnologistsdevelop.Throughtechnology,scienceimprovethestructureofsocietyandhelpsmantogainincreasingcontroloverhisenvironment.Thesecondaspectistheapplicationbyallmembersofsocietyfromthegovernmentofficialtotheordinarycitizen,ofthespecialmethodsofthoughtandactionthatscientistuseintheirwork.Humanbeingshavedistinguishedthemselvesfromotheranimals,andindoingsoensuredtheirsurvival,bytheabilitytoobserveandunderstandtheirenvironmentandtheneithertoadapttothatenvironmentortocontrolandadaptittotheirownneeds.Theprogressofcarefulobservation,perceptionofapatterninthephenomenaobserved,followedbyexploitationofthisknowledge,havelargelyinspiredtheareaofhumanactivityknownas“science”.Ithasalsoprovidethebasesforthetraditionalmethodologyofscience:objectiveobservationanddescriptionofsomephenomena,theformulationofahypothesisorhypothesesabouttheeventsobservedandpossiblerelationshipsamongthem,theuseofthesetopredictfutureevents,theverificationofthehypothesesand,onthisbasis,theconstructionofatheoryofsomeareaofnaturalactivity.Whilethisprocesswillstillunderliesmostscientificactivity,theclassic“scientificmethod”hasbeencriticizedfromavarietyofperspectives.Tobeginwith,itisapparentthatthe“objectivity”ofscienceandscientistsstrictlycharacterizesonlythelowestoforderofscientificactivity–observation.Evenhereitisdoubtfulwhetheranyonecanbeatrulyimpartialobserverofevents.Whatsomeonechoosestoobserverandthewayoneobservesitmust,afterall,inpartbeareflectionofexperienceandofideaastowhatissignificant.Consider,forexample,thedifferentwaysinwhichanartistandlaymanlookatapaintingandthedifferentreactionstheyhavetothesamework.Theconstructionofhypothesesandtheoriesreflectsthescientist’sinterpretationsofwhatheorshehasobservedevenmoreclearlythanobservation.Atthisstageofthescientificmethod,anelementofsubjectivityisinevitablypresent.Thiscanmosteasilybeseenintheextremecaseofscientistsoftrulycreativegenius.Galileo,forinstance,challengedthescientist(andthechurch)ofhisdaywithhishypothesisthattheearthrevolvedaroundthesun.AtwentiethcenturyexampleisWatsonandCrick’sdiscoveryofthemolecularstructureofDNA.Clearly,sciencemayinvolvenotonlycarefulobservationbutalsoawillingnesstobecreative;thismayentaillookingbeyondexistingparadigmsgoverningresearchinagivenareaofstudy.Afurthercriticismofthescientificmethodinvolvesthesubjectmattertowhichitisapplied.Themethodwaslargelydevelopedbyphysicists,chemistsandbiologists;itwaslateradoptedbypeopleworkinginsuchareasaseducation,psychologyandsociology,wherethesubjectsofresearchwereoftenpeople.Althoughlargelysuccessfulwhileusedtostudythepropertiesofinanimateobjectsorplants,thetraditionalapproachtodoingscienceisarguablylessappropriateforusewithhumanbeings.Thisisduefundamentallytuthefactthathumanbeingsaredifferent;eachisuniqueand,therefore,bydefinition,unpredictable.The“average”person,afterall,doesnotexist.Unlikechemicals,lightraysandplants,peoplehavefeelingsandfreewill.Theirexperiencesaredifferent,too.Thus,theresultsofanexperimentwitha“sample”ofhumanbeingcanneversafelybegeneralizedtothe“population”fromwhichthesamplewasdrawn,howeversimilartheotherindividualsinitmayappear.Partlyasaresponsetocriticismssuchasthese,alternativeapproachestoinvestigatinghumanbehaviorhavebecomeincreasinglypopularinthetwentiethcentury.Theyincludetheproductionofethnographies,oreyewitnessaccountsoflifeingroupsandcommunitieswrittenfromnotestakenbyindividualswhooftentookpartintheeventstheydescribe.Thusanthropologists,suchasthelateMargaretMead,thavestudiedprimitivesocietiesinthisway.Ethnographicprocedureshavealsobeenappliedinurbansettingsinthestudyofeducationalinstitutions,professionsandinformalgroups,likestreetsgangsanddrugaddicts.Whetherornotethnography,introspection,casestudies,participantandnonparticipantobservation,andsimilaractivitiesconstitute“science”dependsonone’sdefinitionofwhatscienceis.Unliketraditionalscientificundertakings,researchwhichusesthesemethodsrarelystartsoutwithhypothesistotest,althoughitmayinvolvesomeinformalhypothesistestingafterastudyhasbegun.Mostsuchworkisdescriptivenotexperimental.Practitionersexplicitlyinterpretwhattheyobserve,andoftencategorizetheirdataafterthedatacollectionprocessiscompleteandfromtheperspectivesofthepeopletheywereobserving.Theirfindingareoftenclosely,eveninextricablytiedtothecontextinwhichthedatawereobtained.Forthisreason,theycannotbegeneralizedtoothersettings,evenifthiswasthepurposeofsuchwork.Unlikesometraditionalscientificresearch,however,whatislostinrigorandgeneralizabilityisperhapsgainedinunderstanding.Thewillingnesstorecognizethevalueofthesenewer“unscientific”waysofdoingsciencemaybeanotherinstanceofthehumanabilitytoadaptandsurvive,ofwhichwespokeearlier.