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?