SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY AND HYPOTHESES

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 SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY AND  HYPOTHESES



Scientific inquiry refers to the diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence derived from their work. It has included the traditional science processes but also refers to the combining of these processes with scientific knowledge, critical thinking, and scientific reasoning to develop scientific knowledge. It is different from the scientific method. Scientific inquiry helps us think outside the box to understand the natural world.  And the hypothesis is a proposition made as a basis for reasoning, without any assumption of its truth. It must have the ability to identify a possible outcome of an experiment or observation that argues with predictions taken from the hypothesis. If not so, the hypothesis is not a meaningful one.

SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY


Scientific inquiry has two primary functions. First, it provides a description of how scientific inquiry is conducted in practice. And secondly, it gives an explanation of why scientific inquiry is successful in arriving at genuine knowledge at the end of its process. It extends beyond the development of process skills such as observing, inferring, classifying, predicting, measuring, questioning, interpreting, and analyzing data, which must occur in that order for proper scientific inquiry to happen.

Method of Scientific Inquiry

This process is used when conducting experiments and exploring observations. There have mainly 6 methods in scientific inquiry. There are Make an observation, ask a question, Form a hypothesis, or testable explanation, Make a prediction based on the hypothesis, Test the prediction and Use the results to make new hypotheses or predictions. 

What are the two methods of logical thinking that are used in scientific inquiry?


This process is used when conducting experiments and exploring observations. There are inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning. 
Inductive reasoning means that a form of logical thinking that analyzes trends or relationships in data to arrive at a general conclusion. 
Deductive reasoning means another form of logical thinking that begins from a general principle or law and applies it to a specific circumstance to predict specific results. 

HYPOTHESIS


A hypothesis is a precise, testable statement of what the researcher predicts will be the outcome of the study. This usually involves proposing a possible relationship between two variables: the independent variable and the dependent variable. This step in the scientific method is deriving predictions from the hypotheses about the results of future experiments and then performing those experiments to see whether they support the predictions research, there is a convention that the hypothesis is written in two forms, the null hypothesis, and the alternative hypothesis. This step in the scientific method is deriving predictions from the hypotheses about the results of future experiments and then performing those experiments to see whether they support the predictions.

Types of Hypotheses

  • Alternative Hypothesis

The alternative hypothesis states that there is a relationship between the two variables being studied (one variable has an effect on the other).It states that the results are not due to chance and that they are significant in terms of supporting the theory being investigated.

  • Null Hypothesis

The null hypothesis states that there is no relationship between the two variables being studied (one variable does not affect the other).It states results are due to chance and are not significant in terms of supporting the idea being investigated.

Hypothesis Testing



There have 5 basic steps in testing hypotheses. These are Specify the Null Hypothesis, Specify the Alternative Hypothesis, Set the Significance Level, Calculate the Test Statistic and Corresponding P-Value, and Drawing a Conclusion.

  • Specify the Null Hypothesis

The null hypothesis (H0) is a statement of no effect, relationship, or difference between two or more groups or factors.  Usually interested in disproving the null hypothesis.

  • Specify the Alternative Hypothesis

The alternative hypothesis (H1) is the statement that there is an effect or difference. Usually the hypothesis the researcher is interested in proving.  The alternative hypothesis can be one-sided or two-sided.  We often use two-sided tests even when our true hypothesis is one-sided because it requires more evidence against the null hypothesis to accept the alternative hypothesis.

  • Set the Significance Level (alpha)

The significance level (alpha) is generally set at 0.05.  This means that there is a 5% chance that you will accept your alternative hypothesis when your null hypothesis is actually true. 

  • Calculate the Test Statistic and Corresponding P-Value

It presents some basic test statistics to evaluate a hypothesis. Hypothesis testing generally uses a test statistic that compares groups or examines associations between variables. The p-value describes the probability of obtaining a sample statistic as or more extreme by chance alone if your null hypothesis is true.  This p-value is determined based on the result of your test statistic.  

  • Drawing a Conclusion
    • P-value <= significance level (a) => Reject your null hypothesis in favor of your alternative hypothesis.  Your result is statistically significant.
    • P-value > significance level (a) => Fail to reject your null hypothesis.  Your result is not statistically significant.

Hypothesis testing is not set up so that you can absolutely prove a null hypothesis.  Therefore, when you do not find evidence against the null hypothesis, you fail to reject the null hypothesis. 


Thousands of years ago, our explanations about how the world worked were not very good. Thanks to science, we have a much better idea about why things are the way they are. Scientific inquiry is the primacy of empirical test of conjectures and formal hypotheses using well-codified observation methods. Scientific inquiry extends beyond the development of process skills such as observing, inferring, classifying, predicting, measuring, questioning, interpreting, and analyzing data, which must occur in that order for proper scientific inquiry to happen.



Thank You!
S.D.S.Medhangani
shamax199@gmail.com

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