Observation: The Viewing and Recording of. Data

Observation is the process of viewing and recording events. Viewing and recording are basically watching a phenomenon and recording the observation.

There are limits to the accuracy of observations because real world observations some times miss stuff. A critical event may occur when observations are not being made. A critical event may occur outside the range of the observer’s sight. As a result observations can be some what subjective since it is too easy for an observer to see what he wants to see because the observer is looking for what he wants to see So patterns resembling what the observer wants to see are more likely noticed. It is also  too easy for an observer to not see what he does not want to see because the observer is not looking for what he does not want to see and patterns not resembling what the observer is not looking for can be over looked. Knowing of such problems helps avoid them.

 As important scientific as Observations  are in science but it does have its limitations and pitfalls. Being aware of those limitations helps one to avoid them.

Experimentation a Process of Science

Experimentation is the investigation of the causal relationships among variables or the testing of a hypothesis.

Albert Michelson and Edward Morley performed the Michelson-Morley Experiment in 1887 by splitting a beam of light in two sending in two directions to measure by interference the difference in the transition of the two beams. It is considered the first strong evidence against the theory of a luminiferous aether helping lead to the development of Special Relativity.

Controlled Experimentation is fundamental to the ideal of science. It is where the scientific method and repeatability works best. However not all area of scientific study lend them selves to experiments. Most real world observations are beyond the possibility of a controlled experiment do to things like distance, size and time. In many case experiments can only be used to test the possibility of a hypothesis which is some times done in historical sciences. Trying to replicate a past event to show it could have happened.

The Ideal Experiment should reduce the number of variable to one and be easily repeated by other scientists to increases the likely hood that someone will try to repeat it. It also makes it more likely that the attempt to repeat it will succeed. It should also limit complexity and cost so as to increase the likely hood that someone will try to repeat it making it more likely that the attempt to repeat it will succeed.

The Importance of Repeatability in Science

Repeatability is the replication of a scientist’s experiments and results by other scientists. The can be done because the physical laws are the same every place so an experiment conducted by one scientist should work for any other scientist so as to double check the results. Repeatability is not to be confused with replicating passed events which is done to show the possibility or feasibility of that event which is a totally different from the repeatability being discussed.

Repeatability works best with experiments with well controlled variables so that replication can be as completely as possible. It does not work well in situations where there are difficulties in controlling variables. In such cases results are not easily replicated. The degree of repeatability varies from field to field.

So while repeatability is important to science it is not the absolute principle some make it out to be and some fields are more repeatable than others.