Science as a process

The assignment requires three full pages of writing, double-spaced with starndard margins and miminal headings. Choose on of the unit objectives or guiding questions (“Think About It” questions) and write the entire three pages on this single topic, and its relationship to the principles and practices of scientific inquiry.

You must use two outside sourcrs of infomration, and these sources must be acknowledged with in-text citations and listed in a Literature Cited Section at the end of the Reflective Journal eassay. You may also use your textbook (Goldstein and Goldstein, 1989) as a source, if appropriate.

The in-text citations should be of the format (author’s last names, years of publication) enclosed within parentheses and within the sentence that includes the information. Two examples follow:

Goldstein and Goldstein (1980) indicated that there is no prescribed process for experimentally testing a hypothesis.

Although it is commonly understood that theories cannot be proven correct; they also cannot be proven wrong (Goldstein & Goldstein, 1980).

 

Prepare a brief response, discussion, or essay for each of the four remaining items of no more than 250 words each, citations are not necessary, but may be used.  The four shorter essays will also be submitted with the longer essay (see above) as part of the JOURNAL assignment.  The longer essay should be listed first, followed by the four shorter essays.  Please use the original numbering system (that is, if you use item 3 for the longer essay, it should be numbered “3.”, even though it is first).  If you choose to use citations in the shorter essays, they must be in the format used throughout the course, and you may use a common Literature Cited section for all the essays.  As before, do not leave more than a single blank line between the last essay and Literature Cited.

 

1. Compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of empirical knowledge, and its application to science.
2. The statement, “Evolution is just a theory,” is a criticismthat has been leveled at the field of evolutionary anthropology and evolutionary biology.  Discuss why most scientists and everyone who understands scientific methodology would consider this statement to be strong praise indeed.
3. Science is based on observation and experience—the basic data(= facts) used by all the sciences (natural sciences and social sciences) are derived from observation.  However, scientists are also engaged in identifying, interpreting, and explaining patterns among those facts.  Explain how applicable inferences, hypotheses, theories, and paradigmsinfluence decisions concerning which facts to gather and their interpretation.
4. Science, engineering, and technology are three quite distinct, but highly inter-related, enterprises.  Discuss and explain how the three fields differ and interactions among these three endeavors.
5. Art, Philosophy, and Science are each committed to the critical examination of the universe (including our species) and to the search for better, deeper, more general, and more meaningful understanding of our universe.  However, these fields also differ in fundamental ways.  Discuss how science differs from either the arts or the humanities, and how they are similar.  Do Art and Philosophy use observation as a tool?