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2.1 How We Do Science: Scientific MethodVersion 1.3 June 2015                                                 (Previous Version) These are the questions we ask in the introduction (Section 0.1.6), paragraph 7. Is there a simple definition of the scientific method? Aren’t most scientific beliefs and theories only tentative? They will all be superseded one day! How can we distinguish between real science and bogus science? Can science tell us what is true? Can science tell us what is ultimately true? Can science tell us everything that is true? Are there truths that science cannot tell us? Why believe in science, especially when in the past science got it all wrong? How can we possibly believe that science suddenly got it right this time? How can we know that science is right, when scientists disagree with each other and get it wrong so frequently? How can we tell what is bogus science? Are you lost in the maze of science and technology, confused by all the pseudo-science and plain fraud? Are you uncertain about what really is scientifically proved, how it all fits together, or how to integrate new facts into what you already know? This chapter covers the methods we use in science to determine scientific truths. Though there are a variety of methods, we often refer to these collectively as the scientific method. In these pages, we are not concerned with the details of the whole field. We want to know how we know scientific truths, so that we can decide what to do on the basis of factual knowledge, in our day to day life, and in the big decisions of life. We look at how we know what we know, in science, under the following topic headings:
After we have gone through these topics, we conclude that the methods of science are useful for helping to make valid action choices. This is the current summary of our conclusions in this area, as stated in the overview: Science investigates reality to develop shared explanations and models of how things work, by reasoning about the evidence and debating the process, results and conclusions; but science doesn’t give us core values, what we should do; rather it helps us know what actions are skillful and practical to achieve our aims.  more (later)                                                             Statement 7 The following pages explain how we justify these conclusions.
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