Science and its Characteristics

Science is a method of inquiry, or a way of asking questions. It is a particular way of asking questions that will be fully described in this section. A good way to start is to show you another method of inquiry that is used that is not scientific. That method is the legal system, and it is described as an adversarial system, a system in which two adversaries meet, argue in front of a judge and/or jury, and hope that their arguments will reveal to the judge and jury which of the adversaries is correct. The two adversaries are the prosecution and the defense. The prosecution argues that the accused, the defendant, is guilty, and will marshall arguments to prove that case. The defense, on the other hand, may or may not believe that the defendant is guilty, but, will argue that the defendant is innocent. The judge or the jury must then decide which of the adversary's arguments is correct, and decide accordingly. Interestingly, the legal system is relying more and more on scientific evidence, such as DNA analysis and expert witnesses, in formulating its arguments. That practice has led to a number of analyses, both pro and con, about that trend.

Whether or not the "truth" emerges most of the time in legal proceedings is an interesting question. But, all of us have the potential, at least, someday to come into contact with this method of inquiry and its results.

Characteristics of Science

Science is a method of inquiry with the following characteristics:

  1. Its methods and results are subject to public scrutiny via publication.
  2. The results it accepts as valid are those that are reproducible. Other results are discarded.
  3. Data are collected empirically, that is, scientists gain information by going to the world and checking for themselves.

As an example of the last point, if a group of scientists had been indoors in a room without windows for a few hours, they would not have voted to determine if it were raining outside. That would not be scientific. Rather, they might send a volunteer outdoors to check the weather. Checking for one's self would be empirical data collection.

Note, however, that I am not arguing that science is the best way or the only way to gain knowledge; it is not. It is one way to gain knowledge, and it is a way that confers some advantages over other methods of inquiry. Those advantages and some disadvantages will be discussed below.

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