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The Scientific Method
Anthropology 1
Lecture 1
Why does the Scientific Method Exist?
• It allows scientists a means to independently evaluate an idea.
• It distinguishes scientific ideas from non-scientific ideas.
Non-scientific ideas: religious propositions and beliefs, models coming from the humanities (e.g. structuralism, Marxism).
Elements of the Scientific Method
• Observations.• Facts – verifiable truths.• Hypotheses – idea in the form of an explanation:
it establishes a connection between facts - testable
• Theories – hypotheses that have been supported through testing – falsifiable. It is also desirable that theories be powerful and elegant.
• Laws.• Testing.• Test implications.
Who is the Better Scientist?
Jenny McCarthy vs. Sigmund Freud
The Winner!
The Scientific Method in Action
Observations: core samples of sediments from North America reveal a very dark layer.
Core sample from
Arlington Springs
Santa Rosa
Island
Facts about this dark layer:- It dates to 12,900 years ago.- Similar soil has been found at 10 other
contemporary sites in North America.- Contains the element iridium.- Contains Ash.- Carbon spherical fullerenes “bucky balls” containinghelium-3
• Hypothesis: A comet exploded over North America 12,900 years ago, during a glaciation. It incinerated forests over the face of the continent and caused a glacier at the center of the impact zone to melt.
• Testing: Since an experiment is precluded, scientists generate test implications:
If a event of this order had occurred it….
Younger Dryas Event Hypothesis Test Implications
• Would have left a crater?
• Would have caused mass extinctions, including local extinctions of humans.
• Would have created nanodiamonds.
Scientists argue that the massive amounts of water released by the melting glaciers caused the Younger Dryas Ice Age that lasted 1,300 years.
• Does the discovery of nanodiamonds in the black sediment elevate this hypothesis to the level of a theory?
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