What is the Scientific Method?

Scientific methods are the various ways and means that people follow or apply in understanding and transforming the world and conform to the general principles of science, including ideas, procedures, rules, and techniques used in scientific activities such as theoretical research, applied research, development and promotion And patterns. In psychology, it mainly refers to using scientific thinking to engage in scientific research, so as to derive the nature and laws of the research object.

To use scientific methods to study the nature and laws of things, scientific thinking is the primary prerequisite. In general, scientific thinking has the following characteristics in psychology ^[1]

The scientific method is a relatively advanced and complicated method among all human cognitive methods. It has the following characteristics:

(1) Fresh

The scientific method is a system of rules and means used by people to obtain scientific knowledge. it is

Scientific method general steps

The so-called scientific research method is obviously the method used by scientific workers when they are engaged in a scientific discovery. This too simple explanation does not help us much. Can you elaborate on this issue? Ok! We can describe an ideal answer to this question.

(1) When conducting scientific research, we should first recognize the existence of problems.

For example, when studying the motion of an object, you should first notice why the object moves as it happens, that is, why the object moves faster and faster (accelerated movement) under certain conditions, and in another Under these conditions, it will run more and more slowly (decelerating motion).

(2) The non-essential aspects of the problem must be identified and eliminated. For example, the smell of an object has no effect on its movement.

(3) Collect all the data you can find that are related to this problem. In ancient and medieval times, this simply meant a keen observation of natural phenomena. But in modern times, the situation is different because people have learned to imitate various natural phenomena since then. That is to say, people have been able to deliberately design various conditions to force objects to move in a certain way. To get various data related to the issue.

For example, you can intentionally let some balls roll off some slopes; in doing so, you can use balls of various sizes, change the surface properties of the balls, or change the slope of the slopes, and so on. This deliberately designed situation is an experiment, and the effect of the experiment on modern science is so great that it is often called "experimental science" to distinguish it from ancient Greek science.

(4) With these collected data, some preliminary generalization can be made in order to explain them as concisely as possible, that is, to summarize in some concise language or some mathematical relationship. This is also a hypothesis or hypothesis.

(5) With the hypothesis, you can make inferences about the results of experiments you did not plan to perform before. Next, you can start these experiments to see if your hypothesis holds.

(6) If the experiment has obtained the expected results, then your hypothesis has obtained a strong factual basis and may become a theory or even a "law of nature."

Specifically from the perspective of psychology, psychological research often adopts two research approaches ^[1] :

(1) Descriptive study

It refers to the collection of data in a natural state and a systematic description of the phenomenon to reveal certain patterns and connections that may not be noticed. It includes not only standardized natural observations, questionnaires or interviews, but also related research, non-intervention case studies, and qualitative research. The common feature of descriptive research is that it only objectively records and describes a certain phenomenon without changing its current status.

(2) experimental study

Experimental research is interested in causal relationships between variables. The characteristic of this method is that the system manipulates or changes one variable, observes the effect of this manipulation or change on another variable, and then reveals the causal relationship between the variables based on this. Related to the control variable method below.

Types and Applications of Scientific Methods

Method	Application of methods in textbooks	Explain
Wait effect law	(1) In the synthesis of forces, several components acting together can be equivalent to a combined force with the same effect; on the contrary, a force can also be decomposed into several components with the same effect. (2) In the circuit, several resistors can be equivalent to a suitable resistor. On the contrary, the total resistance of the series circuit and the total resistance of the parallel circuit all use the equivalent idea. (3) The equivalent of replacing elephants with stones in "The Elephant is Called by Cao Chong" has the same effect. (4) In the study of plane mirror imaging experiments, two identical candles are used, one of which is equivalent to the image of the other.	In physics, one or more physical quantities, a physical device, a physical state or process is replaced with another physical quantity, a physical device, a physical state or process, and the same conclusion is reached. Such a method is called Equivalent (replacement) method. The use of this method can make the problem to be studied simple and intuitive.
Reason miss you mold type law	(1) Uniform linear motion is an ideal model. In real life, strictly uniform linear motion cannot be found, but there are many motion situations that are similar to uniform linear motion. Processing according to uniform linear motion greatly simplifies the difficulty, and the results obtained have extremely high accuracy. Consistent with the actual within the allowable error range. (2) Leverage is also an ideal model. In actual use, due to the effect of force, the lever will cause large or small deformations, which can be ignored. Therefore, we idealize the leverage and consider it to have no deformation. (3) During the flood season, the water in the river sometimes emerges from the ground outside the dam through the bottom layer of the dam, forming a "pipe surge". The physical model of the "pipe surge" is a connector. (4) Light and magnetic lines are hypothesized, but they express the physical situation and facts intuitively and vividly to solve the problem conveniently. The magnetic field is used to study the distribution of magnetic fields, and the path and direction of light propagation are studied through light.	It is an important physical idea to simplify complex problems, abandon minor conditions, grasp the main factors, idealize the actual problems, and construct idealized physical models. On the basis of establishing an idealized model, sometimes in order to more vividly describe the physical phenomena and physical problems to be studied, it is necessary to introduce some virtual content to express the physical situation visually and intuitively.
control system change the amount law	(1) Study the relationship between sliding friction force and pressure and contact surface (2) Study the relationship between the effect of pressure (pressure) and pressure and area under pressure (3) Study the relationship between liquid pressure and liquid density and depth (4) Study the relationship between the kinetic energy of an object and its mass and speed (5) Study the relationship between the potential energy and the mass and height of the object (6) Study the relationship between the pitch of stringed instruments and the tightness, length, and thickness of strings (7) Study the relationship between current, resistance, and voltage, that is, Ohm's Law (8) Study the relationship between the resistance of the conductor and the material, length and cross-sectional area of the conductor (9) Study the relationship between the heat generated by the current and the current, resistance and energization time (10) Investigate the relationship between the magnetism of the electromagnet and the number of turns and current of the coil (11) Study the relationship between evaporation speed and liquid temperature, liquid surface area, and the speed of air flow above the liquid	When studying physical problems, a certain physical quantity is often affected by several different physical quantities. In order to determine the relationship between different physical quantities, it is necessary to control certain quantities to make them fixed and change a certain quantity. The relationship between a physical quantity and the physical quantity. [Note] This method is often used in many exploratory experiments.
real Check Push Reason law	(1) Study Newton's first law (2) Study whether sound can be transmitted in a vacuum (3) The important conclusion that "there are only two kinds of charge in nature" is obtained through reasoning based on experiments.	The experimental reasoning method is based on a large number of reliable facts, based on real experiments, draws conclusions through reasonable reasoning, profoundly reveals the nature of physical laws, and is an important way of thinking in physics research.
turn change law	(1) The current cannot be seen or touched. When judging whether there is current in the circuit, we can determine whether the light bulb in the circuit is illuminated. That is, based on the effect of the current (2) The molecular movement is invisible and inaccessible, which is difficult to study, but it can be understood by studying the phenomenon of diffusion (3) The magnetic field cannot be seen or felt. When judging whether the magnetic field exists, use a small magnetic needle to see if it is rotating to determine. (4) When judging the magnetic strength of the electromagnet, use the electromagnet to attract the pins to determine.	In physics learning, it is sometimes necessary to study invisible substances (such as current, molecules, forces, and magnetic fields). At this time, the research direction must be shifted to various visible effects and effects produced by the substance. Analyze and study the existence, size, etc. of this substance, this research method is called conversion method. Conversion as a way of thinking is often applied to analyze and solve problems.
class ratio law	(1) Water current is compared to current when studying current (2) Analogy of "voltage" with "water pressure" (3) Analog power supply with water pump (4) Studying the speed of doing work and the speed of exercise (5) Analogy of electric potential energy and gravitational potential energy in electric field, etc.	In order to make the physical problem to be expressed clear, concrete, tangible, and well-known things are often used to analogize those abstract, intangible, and strange things to be explained. Through analogy, people can have a direct, concrete, and visual understanding of the things to be revealed, and find similar laws. [Note] An analogous two or two types of objects must have the same or similar things in common.

Scientific method description

Of course, no theory or natural law is final. This process will be repeated again and again. New data, new observations, and new experimental results will continue to appear, and the old laws of nature will continue to be replaced by more general laws of nature, because these new laws can not only explain the various phenomena that the old laws can explain, but also It can also explain some phenomena that cannot be explained by the old laws. The above, as I have said, it is an ideal scientific research method. In real practice, scientists do not need to go step by step like doing a set of calisthenics, and they usually do not this way. Factors such as intuition, insight, and even luck often play a larger role than things that go by. There are examples throughout the history of science. Many scientists based on very inadequate data and few experimental results (sometimes even no experimental results) suddenly got a clever idea and came up with useful and factual conclusions. Such an argument, if carried out step by step through the above-mentioned ideal scientific research methods, may take several years to obtain. For example, Kaikoura suddenly realized the chemical structure of benzene when he was dozing on a mail car. Lowe woke up in the middle of the night and suddenly got the answer to the question of the chemical transmission of nerve stimulation. Glaser got the idea of the bubble room because he stared boredly at a glass of beer. The best known is the 17th-century scientist and mathematician Newton one day saw apples fall to the ground, curiosity sprang up, and then he created the theory of gravity. But does this mean that everything comes from good luck and does not require thinking at all? No, absolutely not. Such "good luck" is only encountered by those with the best comprehension. In other words, some people encounter such "good luck" only because they have very keen intuition, and this kind of keenness Their intuition comes from their rich experience, deep understanding, and peace of mind.