Introductory Science and Scientific methods

1. PBG-606: Concept of Science and Scientific Methods
SCIENCE:
• The term science is applied to systematized knowledge and the
procedure to acquire it.
– Systematized knowledge
– procedure to acquire it
• Empirical science is the classification of
– observed events,
– recognition of their sequences
– evaluation of their relative significance

2. Methods of scientific inquiry: Early Experimentation
• In 1747, a doctor on Sip HM Bark Salisbury, carried out a controlled
experiment to develop a cure for scurvy (Vitamin C deficiency).
• Surveyed previous experiences/literature and suggested 6 suitable
remedies
• assuming that all treatments will cure scurvy or at least one
treatment will be better than the other
1. A quart of cider (fermented apple juice) per day
2. Twenty five gutts of elixir vitriol three times a day upon an empty stomach
3. Half a pint of seawater every day
4. A mixture of garlic, mustard and horseradish
5. Two spoonfuls of vinegar three times a day
6. Two oranges and one lemon every day.
• Selected 12 men from the ship, all suffering from disease,
• The men were paired, which provided replication.

3. Two weeks later
• The men who had been given citrus fruits recovered dramatically
within a week.
– One of them returned to duty after 6 days
– and the other became nurse to the rest.
• The others experienced some improvement, but nothing was
comparable to the citrus fruits,
• Citrus fruit proved to be substantially superior to the other
treatments.

4. • This query started from a PROBLEM
• Survey of the information regarding the problem and its solution
• Made a planned query with a certain HYPOTHESIS
• Took observations
• Compared the results
• And Concluded the query with a SOLUTION
• Science is applied to systematized knowledge and the
procedure to acquire it.
– Systematized knowledge SOLUTION
– procedure to acquire it PLANNED EXPERIMENT

5. Some basic explanations
• Planned inquiry or EXPERIMENT is conducted to
• discover new facts, or
• to confirm or deny the results of previous investigations.
• Testing of predictions based on hypothesis,
• Necessary observations to ascertain whether or not event
occurred as predicted.
• Statistical Hypothesis:
– There are generally two forms of a statistical hypothesis
• Null (H0) : no differences exit among treatments or treatments are
similar
• alternative (H1 - this is the research hypothesis - the one we are
really interested in showing support for!)
– At least one of the treatment is significantly different

6. STEPS OF A PLANNED QUERY
• Identification of problem
• Review
• Treatments
• Hypothesis
• Observation
• Results
• Comparison of results
• Conclusion leading to solution

7. What Is Research?
• In simple words it is a question which needs
an answer
– It may be simple as finding a suitable auto
mechanic
– Or it may be as complex as finding origin of life
• Writing a report about question to answer
(research) is required because others will only
believe when they know how it was achieved.

8. What is a Research Report?
• It is a condensed form or a brief description of the work done from
question to answer
OR
• Systematic write up on findings of the study including introduction,
methodologies, results, discussion, conclusions etc.
• In fact report is a combination of Science & Art
– Science: systematized Knowledge acquired through Planned
query
– Art: quality of write up and presentation
• Characteristics of a Report :
– A report is structured with the use of headings and subheadings.
– It is comprised of various independent sections
– A report is supposed to be unbiased communication based on
facts with objectivity in language.

9. • No matter how carefully research work is conducted,
it is judged by how well the report is written.
Types of Research Reports:
• There are many different types. It may be
– Research project report
– journal articles/ Research papers
– Monographs or books
– graduate theses or dissertations
– Policy Reports
– Survey Reports etc. and many more depending
upon type of research

10. TYPES OF RESEARCH
1. Basic Research or Theoretical Research: It is an investigation
into basic principles. Investigation of some natural
phenomenon are termed as basic research.
2. Applied Research: It is aimed to solve certain problems
employing well known and accepted theories and principles.
Its examples include experimental research, case studies and
inter-disciplinary research.
– Basic and applied research are further sub-divided into
three types
• Quantitative Research
• Qualitative Research and
• Mixed Research (a combination of above)
– Every report consists of invariably specific parts