Description of the Scientific Process: Introduction
Description of the Scientific Process
John Stewart, Robert Burnap, Julie Angle, and Andrew Doust
The textbook description of the steps of the scientific process seems straightforward: observe, hypothesize, experiment, analyze, theorize, and communicate, but every one of those steps is fraught with misconceptions and difficulties, and science doesn't always follow those steps as neatly as we would like. What experiment is the paleobotanist doing when she digs up a plant fossil and analyzes it? It's not exactly a controlled experiment, but it is science nonetheless. She can generate perfectly valid theories and communicate those to her peers. Still, the textbook guidelines for scientific work are valid and provide a great framework for your own science fair project.
In this document, we will explore the steps of scientific processes in a practical way. We will give you advice about what to do and warn you of common pitfalls along the way. We will show you examples of success and failure—and really, failure is often the best, if cruel, teacher. We will show you alternative approaches that you may take. While this guide is laid out in the order in which you will be doing your work, everything is connected, and you should read the whole thing before you get started doing your research. Well, at least read ahead a section or two, since it might help.
We are assuming that you will be doing original research and not just mixing baking soda, vinegar, and food coloring to make a "volcano." Original research is harder than just showing off some well-known scientific principle. You have to think independently and creatively. Possibly the very best thing about original science, though, is that when you do it, you become the first person to know a piece of the truth about the universe that no one else has ever known. Then, you get to tell the world about your discoveries. Trust us—that's rewarding. It's like delicious lemonade after an afternoon of yard work but way better. In these pages, we will treat you as someone who wants to achieve that. The language will be informal and (I hope) warm. We will avoid getting overly technical when possible, but we don't want to talk down to you. If you have decided to do a science fair project, we truly respect you and your efforts. Now, get cracking.
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Before you dig into this document, you should consider who “we” are in the text. We can’t help but to let our backgrounds affect our examples and outlooks. John Stewart: I’m the primary writer, and I’m a plant guy and a genetics guy. Maybe you’re a physics or geology person. That’s fine and great. Just know that my examples might skew toward the biological and botanical. I don’t want to exclude your interests, but the examples that I include are just the ones that came to mind and that I am more excited about. Try to think about examples from your field of interest when you see what I write. It’s a great exercise, and if you can’t think of one straight away, it’s a good chance for you to brainstorm with your peers. Andrew Doust: I am also a plant guy and geneticist, but with a strong interest in the genes that control development of organisms. In particular I am interested in the genes that underlie human domestication of crops such as wheat, rice, and corn. We will try and include examples from each of our areas of expertise and interest so that you get a broader range of views on what science is and what interesting projects you might tackle. Julie Angle: I am a science educator. As a high school science teacher I taught chemistry and biology, and mentored students in science research and coached students to regional, state, and international science and engineering fair competitions. Now that I teach at the college level I am interested in how to better prepare individuals to become excellent science teachers and help them become proficient in the three constructs of science literacy. Rob Burnap: I am interested in basic molecular aspects of how cells function and most of my work involves the study of photosynthesis. We use model bacteria, known as cyanobacteria, that possess essentially the same mechanism of photosynthesis found in plants and algae, but because of the genetic simplicity of these bacteria, we are able to detailed molecular mechanisms to test our hypotheses on how photosynthesis works and how it is used to drive the growth of the organism. |