Dimensional Analysis in Research

We have witnessed above that speed can be expressed in different units; the same speed can be expressed, if we wish, in miles per second, meters per day, inches per year, or in any other units we choose. In each case, the number will be different, combined with the corresponding unit. But there is

Accuracy versus Approximation of the Research

Being accurate and being scientific are often taken to be synony­mous. And similarly, being approximate is taken to be contrary to being scientific. Neither of these beliefs is necessarily true. Imagine a piece of “scientific” information in which the distance between Boston and New York is mentioned as 221.8215 miles. The questions that should

The Purpose of Experimenting

The purpose of any experiment is to collect data, which, in turn, needs to be analyzed or processed to derive inferences. There are four ways of collecting data: observation, surveys, computer sim­ulation, and experiment. Though analyses of data using these methods share common features, our interest here is confined to the collection of data

Cause and Effect in Experimental Research

Debate on the relation between cause and effect, causality, as it is known in philosophy, is more than two hundred years old and was prominently projected by Hume, a British philosopher. Light­ning and thunder follow a sequence, lightning before thunder. In normal commonsense language, we may say that a particular lightning “caused” the subsequent

Pertinence and Forms of Cause in Experimental Research

A bundle of isolated facts is not science any more than a heap of bricks is the wall of a house. An “ordering” of the bricks, placing them side by side, some on top of others, is essential for building a wall. Likewise, science calls for an ordering among events; that order is mostly

Mill’s Methods of Experimental Inquiry

Occasions in which only two events, isolated from all other events, are causally connected with each other are rare. More often than not, two events mixed among many need to be detected as causally connected, and others need to be ignored as insignificant, if not irrelevant. Francis Bacon (1561—1626) is credited with an early

Planning for the Experiment

Experiments are often time-consuming, if not also expensive. It is reasonable, then, to plan the goal, extent, and step-by-step course of experiments before embarking on their execution. Since sci­ence is not a product of a manufacturing process, the unforeseen and the unavoidable are to be expected. But the element of con­tingency should be reduced

Standardization of Test Material(s) in Experimental Research

To the extent that the experimenter is specific about the materials involved, his experiments are likely to be reproducible. The degree of involvement may vary from the highest-extreme to the lowest: from the materials being tested as a part of the experiment to the materials used for the furniture in the room. To illustrate

Reproducibility of Experimental Research

The purpose of any experiment is observation. But it is not a casual observation, loosely related or inconsequential. It is an observation made to use as evidence in the process of building up a case, that case being the hypothesis concerning the connected­ness between selected events of nature. As a witness in a court

Number of “Experiments”

As pointed out above, absolute reproducibility is perhaps impos­sible. But reproducibility to a satisfactory level, as a matter of faith, is necessary. As to how many times a given relation between a cause and its effect needs to be confirmed to be accepted as reproducible, this is a question that should not be pressed

To Define a Problem

The word “problem,” in the context of research, defies the dictionary definition, which connotes difficulty, doubt, and hin­drance. While engaged in searching in new territory, that is, researching, a struggle involving difficulty, doubt, and hindrance is to be expected. But that is not what the word signifies. Instead, it serves as a loose definition

Relation of the Problem to Resources

Depending on the resources available and urgency experienced, it should be reasonable to expect that any given individual or organization will identify the problem or problems for research for the immediate future. Resources include willing and capable people, support facilities like lab space, a library, and the money to buy or build the required

Relevance of the Problem

Though researching is an experience over and above the subject matter, and the ability to separate the relevant from the irrelevant is a part of such an experience, the researcher’s work will be more fruitful, and his preparation time more reasonable, if the problem is within the broad domain of the researcher’s interest. Shifting

Extent of the Problem

Every problem may be visualized as a journey to be undertaken by the researcher. There is a point of departure and a point of destination. Even at the point of departure, when the researcher is likely to begin, there may be a number of uncertainties relative to the preparation necessary. The longer the journey,

Problem: Qualitative or Quantitative?

It is desirable for the experimenter to reflect on what kind of inputs and outputs he is likely to deal with in the proposed research problem. Is he going to deal with qualities or properties known to have been measured, or is he left to deal anew with qualities whose measurement is not well

Can the Problem Be Reshaped?

When we talk about reshaping a problem, we are not talking of exchanging one problem for another. If this were possible with­out obligation, the researcher’s life would be a picnic. Changing jobs where jobs are plentiful is fairly common; one is not required to explain the event. We are talking here about the pos­sibility

Proverbs on Problems

A fitting conclusion for this chapter may be a few passages taken from a very interesting little book (now a classic) by G. Polya,1 which any student of science, particularly researchers, should find instructive and interesting. Among hundreds of passages one can find worthy of using as proverbs, only twelve are given below in

The Place of Hypothesis in Research

In view of the fact that a hypothesis is central to any scientific investigation, theoretical or experimental, it is necessary to study hypotheses in more detail. In this chapter, we will see, among other things, the “provisional” nature of hypotheses, meaning that there is nothing permanent, nothing final, about any hypothesis. But without hypotheses,

Desirable Qualities of Hypotheses

The use of hypotheses are as widespread and their varieties are large. Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion were hypotheses he set himself to prove. Finding my lost set of keys also requires hypotheses. Some qualities serve as criteria to distinguish great hypotheses from trivial ones and, to an extent, to judge the soundness of

Several Problems, Several Causes in Designing Experiments

The association of one cause with one effect has historically been considered “obvious”; hence, the logic of Mill’s Methods of Inquiry (see Chapter 4). Boyle’s law (1662), for example, associates the pressure (P) of a gas with its volume (V): P o 1/V Another law, attributed to Charles (1746—1823) and Gay (1778—1850) Lus- sac,