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84-568: Bloomfield's approach to linguistics was characterized by its emphasis on the scientific basis of linguistics and emphasis on formal procedures for the analysis of linguistic data. The influence of Bloomfieldian structural linguistics declined in the late 1950s and 1960s as the theory of generative grammar developed by Noam Chomsky came to predominate. Bloomfield was born in Chicago , Illinois , on April 1, 1887, to Jewish parents (Sigmund Bloomfield and Carola Buber Bloomfield). His father immigrated to

168-447: A crucial experiment . If the experimental results confirm the predictions, then the hypotheses are considered more likely to be correct, but might still be wrong and continue to be subject to further testing. The experimental control is a technique for dealing with observational error. This technique uses the contrast between multiple samples, or observations, or populations, under differing conditions, to see what varies or what remains

252-410: A 1919 solar eclipse supported General Relativity rather than Newtonian gravitation . [REDACTED] Watson and Crick showed an initial (and incorrect) proposal for the structure of DNA to a team from King's College London – Rosalind Franklin , Maurice Wilkins , and Raymond Gosling . Franklin immediately spotted the flaws which concerned the water content. Later Watson saw Franklin's photo 51 ,

336-683: A collection of texts, a grammar and a lexicon (both published posthumously), in addition to a theoretically significant article on Menomini phonological alternations. Bloomfield undertook field research in 1925 among Plains Cree speakers in Saskatchewan at the Sweet Grass reserve, and also at the Star Blanket reserve, resulting in two volumes of texts and a posthumous lexicon. He also undertook brief field work on Swampy Cree at The Pas, Manitoba . Bloomfield's work on Swampy Cree provided data to support

420-518: A controlled setting, such as a laboratory, or made on more or less inaccessible or unmanipulatable objects such as stars or human populations. The measurements often require specialized scientific instruments such as thermometers , spectroscopes , particle accelerators , or voltmeters , and the progress of a scientific field is usually intimately tied to their invention and improvement. I am not accustomed to saying anything with certainty after only one or two observations. The scientific definition of

504-411: A detailed X-ray diffraction image, which showed an X-shape and was able to confirm the structure was helical. Once predictions are made, they can be sought by experiments. If the test results contradict the predictions, the hypotheses which entailed them are called into question and become less tenable. Sometimes the experiments are conducted incorrectly or are not very well designed when compared to

588-433: A drug to cure this particular disease?" This stage frequently involves finding and evaluating evidence from previous experiments, personal scientific observations or assertions, as well as the work of other scientists. If the answer is already known, a different question that builds on the evidence can be posed. When applying the scientific method to research, determining a good question can be very difficult and it will affect

672-433: A fixed sequence of steps, it actually represents a set of general principles. Not all steps take place in every scientific inquiry (nor to the same degree), and they are not always in the same order. Numerous discoveries have not followed the textbook model of the scientific method and chance has played a role, for instance. The history of scientific method considers changes in the methodology of scientific inquiry, not

756-431: A guideline for proceeding: The iterative cycle inherent in this step-by-step method goes from point 3 to 6 and back to 3 again. While this schema outlines a typical hypothesis/testing method, many philosophers, historians, and sociologists of science, including Paul Feyerabend , claim that such descriptions of scientific method have little relation to the ways that science is actually practiced. The basic elements of

840-519: A list of classes of morphs . Bloomfield's approach to key linguistic ideas in his textbook Language reflect the influence of Pāṇini in his treatment of basic concepts such as linguistic form , free form , and others. Similarly, Pāṇini is the source for Bloomfield's use of the terms exocentric and endocentric used to describe compound words. Concepts from Pāṇini are found in Eastern Ojibwa , published posthumously in 1958, in particular his use of

924-461: A native speaker of Ilocano who was a student at Yale University. This article has been described as a "tour de force, for it covers in less than seven pages the entire taxonomic syntax of Ilocano". Bloomfield's work on Algonquian languages had both descriptive and comparative components. He published extensively on four Algonquian languages: Fox , Cree , Menominee , and Ojibwe , publishing grammars, lexicons, and text collections. Bloomfield used

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1008-709: A number of papers on Indo-European and Germanic phonology and morphology. His post-doctoral studies in Germany further strengthened his expertise in the Neogrammarian tradition, which still dominated Indo-European historical studies. Bloomfield throughout his career, but particularly during his early career, emphasized the Neogrammarian principle of regular sound change as a foundational concept in historical linguistics. Bloomfield's work in Indo-European beyond his dissertation

1092-403: A phenomenon under study. Albert Einstein once observed that "there is no logical bridge between phenomena and their theoretical principles." Charles Sanders Peirce , borrowing a page from Aristotle ( Prior Analytics , 2.25 ) described the incipient stages of inquiry , instigated by the "irritation of doubt" to venture a plausible guess, as abductive reasoning . The history of science

1176-434: A plane from New York to Paris is an experiment that tests the aerodynamical hypotheses used for constructing the plane. These institutions thereby reduce the research function to a cost/benefit, which is expressed as money, and the time and attention of the researchers to be expended, in exchange for a report to their constituents. Current large instruments, such as CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC), or LIGO , or

1260-446: A posthumously published volume of texts. Scientific method The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has been referred to while doing science since at least the 17th century. The scientific method involves careful observation coupled with rigorous scepticism , because cognitive assumptions can distort the interpretation of the observation . Scientific inquiry includes creating

1344-410: A predecessor idea, but perhaps more in its ability to stimulate the research that will illuminate ... bald suppositions and areas of vagueness. In general, scientists tend to look for theories that are " elegant " or " beautiful ". Scientists often use these terms to refer to a theory that is following the known facts but is nevertheless relatively simple and easy to handle. Occam's Razor serves as

1428-519: A rule of thumb for choosing the most desirable amongst a group of equally explanatory hypotheses. To minimize the confirmation bias that results from entertaining a single hypothesis, strong inference emphasizes the need for entertaining multiple alternative hypotheses, and avoiding artifacts. [REDACTED] James D. Watson , Francis Crick , and others hypothesized that DNA had a helical structure. This implied that DNA's X-ray diffraction pattern would be 'x shaped'. This prediction followed from

1512-619: A set of phenomena. Normally, hypotheses have the form of a mathematical model . Sometimes, but not always, they can also be formulated as existential statements , stating that some particular instance of the phenomenon being studied has some characteristic and causal explanations, which have the general form of universal statements , stating that every instance of the phenomenon has a particular characteristic. Scientists are free to use whatever resources they have – their own creativity, ideas from other fields, inductive reasoning , Bayesian inference , and so on – to imagine possible explanations for

1596-655: A speaker of the Ottawa dialect who was born in Saginaw, Michigan , but spent most of his life on Walpole Island , Ontario . The resulting grammatical description, transcribed sentences, texts, and lexicon were published posthumously in a single volume. In 1941 Bloomfield worked with Ottawa dialect speaker Angeline Williams at the 1941 Linguistic Institute held at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, North Carolina , resulting in

1680-584: A term sometimes differs substantially from its natural language usage. For example, mass and weight overlap in meaning in common discourse, but have distinct meanings in mechanics . Scientific quantities are often characterized by their units of measure which can later be described in terms of conventional physical units when communicating the work. New theories are sometimes developed after realizing certain terms have not previously been sufficiently clearly defined. For example, Albert Einstein 's first paper on relativity begins by defining simultaneity and

1764-513: A testable hypothesis through inductive reasoning , testing it through experiments and statistical analysis, and adjusting or discarding the hypothesis based on the results. Although procedures vary between fields , the underlying process is often similar. In more detail: the scientific method involves making conjectures (hypothetical explanations), predicting the logical consequences of hypothesis, then carrying out experiments or empirical observations based on those predictions. A hypothesis

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1848-413: Is a conjecture based on knowledge obtained while seeking answers to the question. Hypotheses can be very specific or broad but must be falsifiable , implying that it is possible to identify a possible outcome of an experiment or observation that conflicts with predictions deduced from the hypothesis; otherwise, the hypothesis cannot be meaningfully tested. While the scientific method is often presented as

1932-573: Is a social enterprise, and scientific work tends to be accepted by the scientific community when it has been confirmed. Crucially, experimental and theoretical results must be reproduced by others within the scientific community. Researchers have given their lives for this vision; Georg Wilhelm Richmann was killed by ball lightning (1753) when attempting to replicate the 1752 kite-flying experiment of Benjamin Franklin . Edgar H. Sturtevant Edgar Howard Sturtevant (March 7, 1875 – July 1, 1952)

2016-399: Is essential that the outcome of testing such a prediction be currently unknown. Only in this case does a successful outcome increase the probability that the hypothesis is true. If the outcome is already known, it is called a consequence and should have already been considered while formulating the hypothesis . If the predictions are not accessible by observation or experience, the hypothesis

2100-424: Is filled with stories of scientists claiming a "flash of inspiration", or a hunch, which then motivated them to look for evidence to support or refute their idea. Michael Polanyi made such creativity the centerpiece of his discussion of methodology. William Glen observes that the success of a hypothesis, or its service to science, lies not simply in its perceived "truth", or power to displace, subsume or reduce

2184-417: Is not yet testable and so will remain to that extent unscientific in a strict sense. A new technology or theory might make the necessary experiments feasible. For example, while a hypothesis on the existence of other intelligent species may be convincing with scientifically based speculation, no known experiment can test this hypothesis. Therefore, science itself can have little to say about the possibility. In

2268-461: Is the process by which science is carried out. As in other areas of inquiry, science (through the scientific method) can build on previous knowledge, and unify understanding of its studied topics over time. This model can be seen to underlie the scientific revolution . The overall process involves making conjectures ( hypotheses ), predicting their logical consequences, then carrying out experiments based on those predictions to determine whether

2352-896: The A.B. degree. He subsequently began graduate work at the University of Wisconsin , taking courses in German and Germanic philology , in addition to courses in other Indo-European languages. A meeting with Indo-Europeanist Eduard Prokosch , a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin, convinced Bloomfield to pursue a career in linguistics. In 1908 Bloomfield moved to the University of Chicago , where he took courses in German and Indo-European philology with Frances A. Wood and Carl Darling Buck . His doctoral dissertation in Germanic historical linguistics, A semasiologic differentiation in Germanic secondary ablaut ,

2436-480: The Indo-European character of Hittite (and the related Anatolian languages ), with Hittite exhibiting more archaic traits than the normally reconstructed forms for Proto-Indo-European . He authored the first scientifically acceptable Hittite grammar with a chrestomathy and a glossary, formulated the so-called Sturtevant's law (the doubling of consonants representing Proto-Indo-European voiceless stops) and laid

2520-684: The National Ignition Facility (NIF), or the International Space Station (ISS), or the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), entail expected costs of billions of dollars, and timeframes extending over decades. These kinds of institutions affect public policy, on a national or even international basis, and the researchers would require shared access to such machines and their adjunct infrastructure . Scientists assume an attitude of openness and accountability on

2604-460: The Philippines . He carried out linguistic field work with Alfredo Viola Santiago, who was an engineering student at the university from 1914 to 1917. The results were published as Tagalog texts with grammatical analysis , which includes a series of texts dictated by Santiago in addition to an extensive grammatical description and analysis of every word in the texts. Bloomfield's work on Tagalog, from

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2688-462: The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign , 1910–1913; promoted to Assistant Professor of Comparative Philology and German, also University of Illinois, 1913–1921; Professor of German and Linguistics at the Ohio State University , 1921–1927; Professor of Germanic Philology at the University of Chicago , 1927–1940; Sterling Professor of Linguistics at Yale University , 1940–1949. During

2772-406: The history of science itself. The development of rules for scientific reasoning has not been straightforward; scientific method has been the subject of intense and recurring debate throughout the history of science, and eminent natural philosophers and scientists have argued for the primacy of various approaches to establishing scientific knowledge. Different early expressions of empiricism and

2856-415: The visual system , rather than to study free will , for example. His cautionary example was the gene; the gene was much more poorly understood before Watson and Crick's pioneering discovery of the structure of DNA; it would have been counterproductive to spend much time on the definition of the gene, before them. [REDACTED] Linus Pauling proposed that DNA might be a triple helix . This hypothesis

2940-589: The "scientific method" and in doing so largely replaced the notion of science as a homogeneous and universal method with that of it being a heterogeneous and local practice. In particular, Paul Feyerabend, in the 1975 first edition of his book Against Method , argued against there being any universal rules of science ; Karl Popper , and Gauch 2003, disagree with Feyerabend's claim. Later stances include physicist Lee Smolin 's 2013 essay "There Is No Scientific Method", in which he espouses two ethical principles , and historian of science Daniel Thurs' chapter in

3024-449: The 1830s and 1850s, when Baconianism was popular, naturalists like William Whewell, John Herschel and John Stuart Mill engaged in debates over "induction" and "facts" and were focused on how to generate knowledge. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a debate over realism vs. antirealism was conducted as powerful scientific theories extended beyond the realm of the observable. The term "scientific method" came into popular use in

3108-425: The 2015 book Newton's Apple and Other Myths about Science , which concluded that the scientific method is a myth or, at best, an idealization. As myths are beliefs, they are subject to the narrative fallacy as Taleb points out. Philosophers Robert Nola and Howard Sankey, in their 2007 book Theories of Scientific Method , said that debates over the scientific method continue, and argued that Feyerabend, despite

3192-542: The Earth, while controlled experiments can be seen in the works of al-Battani (853–929 CE) and Alhazen (965–1039 CE). [REDACTED] Watson and Crick then produced their model, using this information along with the previously known information about DNA's composition, especially Chargaff's rules of base pairing. After considerable fruitless experimentation, being discouraged by their superior from continuing, and numerous false starts, Watson and Crick were able to infer

3276-512: The Sanskrit grammatical tradition of rigorous grammatical analysis associated with Pāṇini as important influences on both his historical and descriptive work. Further training in Europe was a condition for promotion at the University of Illinois from Instructor to the rank of assistant professor. Bloomfield was instructor in German at the University of Cincinnati , 1909–1910; Instructor in German at

3360-455: The Sanskrit grammatical tradition originating with Pāṇini , who lived in northwestern India during the fifth or fourth century BC. Pāṇini's grammar is characterized by its extreme thoroughness and explicitness in accounting for Sanskrit linguistic forms, and by its complex context-sensitive, rule-based generative structure. Bloomfield noted that "Pāṇini gives the formation of every inflected, compounded, or derived word, with an exact statement of

3444-576: The Society in 1935. He taught in the Society's summer Linguistic Institute in 1938–1941, with the 1938–1940 Institutes being held in Ann Arbor, Michigan , and the 1941 Institute in Chapel Hill, North Carolina . Bloomfield was also a member of the American Philosophical Society . Bloomfield's earliest work was in historical Germanic studies, beginning with his dissertation, and continuing with

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3528-553: The United States as a child in 1868; the original family name Blumenfeld was changed to Bloomfield after their arrival. In 1896 his family moved to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin , where he attended elementary school, but returned to Chicago for secondary school. His uncle Maurice Bloomfield was a prominent linguist at Johns Hopkins University , and his aunt Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler was a well-known concert pianist. Bloomfield attended Harvard College from 1903 to 1906, graduating with

3612-446: The basic method used for scientific inquiry. The scientific community and philosophers of science generally agree on the following classification of method components. These methodological elements and organization of procedures tend to be more characteristic of experimental sciences than social sciences . Nonetheless, the cycle of formulating hypotheses, testing and analyzing the results, and formulating new hypotheses, will resemble

3696-454: The beginning of field research to publication, took no more than two years. His study of Tagalog has been described as "the best treatment of any Austronesian language ... The result is a description of Tagalog which has never been surpassed for completeness, accuracy, and wealth of exemplification." Bloomfield's only other publication on an Austronesian language was an article on the syntax of Ilocano , based upon research undertaken with

3780-484: The concept of a morphological zero , a morpheme that has no overt realization. Pāṇini's influence is also present in Bloomfield's approach to determining parts of speech (Bloomfield uses the term "form-classes") in both Eastern Ojibwa and in the later Menomini language , published posthumously in 1962. While at the University of Illinois Bloomfield undertook research on Tagalog , an Austronesian language spoken in

3864-463: The contrary, if the astronomically massive, the feather-light, and the extremely fast are removed from Einstein's theories – all phenomena Newton could not have observed – Newton's equations are what remain. Einstein's theories are expansions and refinements of Newton's theories and, thus, increase confidence in Newton's work. An iterative, pragmatic scheme of the four points above is sometimes offered as

3948-553: The cycle described below. The scientific method is an iterative, cyclical process through which information is continually revised. It is generally recognized to develop advances in knowledge through the following elements, in varying combinations or contributions: Each element of the scientific method is subject to peer review for possible mistakes. These activities do not describe all that scientists do but apply mostly to experimental sciences (e.g., physics, chemistry, biology, and psychology). The elements above are often taught in

4032-552: The educational system as "the scientific method". The scientific method is not a single recipe: it requires intelligence, imagination, and creativity. In this sense, it is not a mindless set of standards and procedures to follow but is rather an ongoing cycle , constantly developing more useful, accurate, and comprehensive models and methods. For example, when Einstein developed the Special and General Theories of Relativity, he did not in any way refute or discount Newton's Principia . On

4116-402: The essential structure of DNA by concrete modeling of the physical shapes of the nucleotides which comprise it. They were guided by the bond lengths which had been deduced by Linus Pauling and by Rosalind Franklin 's X-ray diffraction images. The scientific method is iterative. At any stage, it is possible to refine its accuracy and precision , so that some consideration will lead

4200-448: The experimental method, the hypothesis, or the definition of the subject. This manner of iteration can span decades and sometimes centuries. Published papers can be built upon. For example: By 1027, Alhazen , based on his measurements of the refraction of light, was able to deduce that outer space was less dense than air , that is: "the body of the heavens is rarer than the body of air". In 1079 Ibn Mu'adh 's Treatise On Twilight

4284-546: The foundations to what later became the Goetze – Wittmann law (the spirantization of palatal stops before u as the focal origin of the centum-satem isogloss ). The 1951 revised edition of his grammar (co-authored with E. Adelaide Hahn ) is still useful today, although it was superseded in 2008 by Hoffner and Melchert's Grammar of the Hittite Language . Sturtevant was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1939 and

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4368-468: The future, a new technique may allow for an experimental test and the speculation would then become part of accepted science. For example, Einstein's theory of general relativity makes several specific predictions about the observable structure of spacetime , such as that light bends in a gravitational field , and that the amount of bending depends in a precise way on the strength of that gravitational field. Arthur Eddington 's observations made during

4452-401: The key Neogrammarian hypothesis of the regularity of sound change, and emphasized a sequence of steps essential to success in comparative work: (a) appropriate data in the form of texts which must be studied intensively and analysed; (b) application of the comparative method ; (c) reconstruction of proto-forms. He further emphasized the importance of dialect studies where appropriate, and noted

4536-623: The linguistics faculty at Yale University in 1923. In 1924, he was a member of the organizing committee for the founding, with Leonard Bloomfield and George M. Bolling , of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA). Besides research on Native American languages and field work on the Modern American English dialects, he is the father of the Indo-Hittite hypothesis, first formulated in 1926, based on his seminal work establishing

4620-461: The material in previously published Fox text collections. His first Algonquian research, beginning around 1919, involved study of text collections in the Fox language that had been published by William Jones and Truman Michelson . Working through the texts in these collections, Bloomfield excerpted grammatical information to create a grammatical sketch of Fox. A lexicon of Fox based on his excerpted material

4704-451: The materials collected in his descriptive work to undertake comparative studies leading to the reconstruction of Proto-Algonquian , with an early study reconstructing the sound system of Proto-Algonquian, and a subsequent more extensive paper refining his phonological analysis and adding extensive historical information on general features of Algonquian grammar. Bloomfield undertook field research on Cree, Menominee, and Ojibwe, and analysed

4788-526: The means for determining length . These ideas were skipped over by Isaac Newton with, "I do not define time , space, place and motion , as being well known to all." Einstein's paper then demonstrates that they (viz., absolute time and length independent of motion) were approximations. Francis Crick cautions us that when characterizing a subject, however, it can be premature to define something when it remains ill-understood. In Crick's study of consciousness , he actually found it easier to study awareness in

4872-528: The mechanism of storing genetic information (i.e., genes) in DNA was unclear. Researchers in Bragg's laboratory at Cambridge University made X-ray diffraction pictures of various molecules , starting with crystals of salt , and proceeding to more complicated substances. Using clues painstakingly assembled over decades, beginning with its chemical composition, it was determined that it should be possible to characterize

4956-405: The original conjecture was correct. However, there are difficulties in a formulaic statement of method. Though the scientific method is often presented as a fixed sequence of steps, these actions are more accurately general principles. Not all steps take place in every scientific inquiry (nor to the same degree), and they are not always done in the same order. There are different ways of outlining

5040-431: The outcome of the investigation. The systematic, careful collection of measurements or counts of relevant quantities is often the critical difference between pseudo-sciences , such as alchemy, and science, such as chemistry or biology. Scientific measurements are usually tabulated, graphed, or mapped, and statistical manipulations, such as correlation and regression , performed on them. The measurements might be made in

5124-403: The part of those experimenting. Detailed record-keeping is essential, to aid in recording and reporting on the experimental results, and supports the effectiveness and integrity of the procedure. They will also assist in reproducing the experimental results, likely by others. Traces of this approach can be seen in the work of Hipparchus (190–120 BCE), when determining a value for the precession of

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5208-403: The pertinent properties of the subjects, careful thought may also entail some definitions and observations ; these observations often demand careful measurements and/or counting can take the form of expansive empirical research . A scientific question can refer to the explanation of a specific observation , as in "Why is the sky blue?" but can also be open-ended, as in "How can I design

5292-528: The physical structure of DNA, and the X-ray images would be the vehicle. The scientific method depends upon increasingly sophisticated characterizations of the subjects of investigation. (The subjects can also be called unsolved problems or the unknowns .) For example, Benjamin Franklin conjectured, correctly, that St. Elmo's fire was electrical in nature , but it has taken a long series of experiments and theoretical changes to establish this. While seeking

5376-418: The predictive power of the hypothesis of exceptionless phonological change. Bloomfield's initial research on Ojibwe was through study of texts collected by William Jones, in addition to nineteenth century grammars and dictionaries. During the 1938 Linguistic Society of America Linguistic Institute held at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan , he taught a field methods class with Andrew Medler,

5460-424: The process at any stage. They might adopt the characterization and formulate their own hypothesis, or they might adopt the hypothesis and deduce their own predictions. Often the experiment is not done by the person who made the prediction, and the characterization is based on experiments done by someone else. Published results of experiments can also serve as a hypothesis predicting their own reproducibility. Science

5544-461: The same. We vary the conditions for the acts of measurement, to help isolate what has changed. Mill's canons can then help us figure out what the important factor is. Factor analysis is one technique for discovering the important factor in an effect. Depending on the predictions, the experiments can have different shapes. It could be a classical experiment in a laboratory setting, a double-blind study or an archaeological excavation . Even taking

5628-422: The scientific method are illustrated by the following example (which occurred from 1944 to 1953) from the discovery of the structure of DNA (marked with [REDACTED] and indented). [REDACTED] In 1950, it was known that genetic inheritance had a mathematical description, starting with the studies of Gregor Mendel , and that DNA contained genetic information (Oswald Avery's transforming principle ). But

5712-670: The scientific method can be found throughout history, for instance with the ancient Stoics , Epicurus , Alhazen , Avicenna , Al-Biruni , Roger Bacon , and William of Ockham . In the scientific revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries some of the most important developments were the furthering of empiricism by Francis Bacon and Robert Hooke , the rationalist approach described by René Descartes and inductivism , brought to particular prominence by Isaac Newton and those who followed him. Experiments were advocated by Francis Bacon , and performed by Giambattista della Porta , Johannes Kepler , and Galileo Galilei . There

5796-413: The scientist to repeat an earlier part of the process. Failure to develop an interesting hypothesis may lead a scientist to re-define the subject under consideration. Failure of a hypothesis to produce interesting and testable predictions may lead to reconsideration of the hypothesis or of the definition of the subject. Failure of an experiment to produce interesting results may lead a scientist to reconsider

5880-531: The significance of sociological factors such as prestige, and the impact of meaning. In addition to regular linguistic change, Bloomfield also allowed for borrowing and analogy . It is argued that Bloomfield's Indo-European work had two broad implications: "He stated clearly the theoretical bases for Indo-European linguistics" and "he established the study of Indo-European languages firmly within general linguistics." As part of his training with leading Indo-Europeanists in Germany in 1913 and 1914 Bloomfield studied

5964-424: The sound-variations (including accent) and of the meaning". In a letter to Algonquianist Truman Michelson, Bloomfield noted "My models are Pāṇini and the kind of work done in Indo-European by my teacher, Professor Wackernagel of Basle." Pāṇini's systematic approach to analysis includes components for: (a) forming grammatical rules, (b) an inventory of sounds, (c) a list of verbal roots organized into sublists, and (d)

6048-411: The specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material". Any useful hypothesis will enable predictions , by reasoning including deductive reasoning . It might predict the outcome of an experiment in a laboratory setting or the observation of a phenomenon in nature. The prediction can also be statistical and deal only with probabilities. It

6132-625: The summer of 1925 Bloomfield worked as Assistant Ethnologist with the Geological Survey of Canada in the Canadian Department of Mines, undertaking linguistic field work on Plains Cree ; this position was arranged by Edward Sapir , who was then Chief of the Division of Anthropology, Victoria Museum, Geological Survey of Canada , Canadian Department of Mines. In May 1946, he suffered a debilitating stroke, which ended his career. Bloomfield

6216-582: The title of Against Method , accepted certain rules of method and attempted to justify those rules with a meta methodology. Staddon (2017) argues it is a mistake to try following rules in the absence of an algorithmic scientific method; in that case, "science is best understood through examples". But algorithmic methods, such as disproof of existing theory by experiment have been used since Alhacen (1027) and his Book of Optics , and Galileo (1638) and his Two New Sciences , and The Assayer , which still stand as scientific method. The scientific method

6300-416: The twentieth century; Dewey's 1910 book , How We Think , inspired popular guidelines , appearing in dictionaries and science textbooks, although there was little consensus over its meaning. Although there was growth through the middle of the twentieth century, by the 1960s and 1970s numerous influential philosophers of science such as Thomas Kuhn and Paul Feyerabend had questioned the universality of

6384-434: The work of Cochran, Crick and Vand (and independently by Stokes). The Cochran-Crick-Vand-Stokes theorem provided a mathematical explanation for the empirical observation that diffraction from helical structures produces x-shaped patterns. In their first paper, Watson and Crick also noted that the double helix structure they proposed provided a simple mechanism for DNA replication , writing, "It has not escaped our notice that

6468-405: Was able to infer that Earth's atmosphere was 50 miles thick, based on atmospheric refraction of the sun's rays. This is why the scientific method is often represented as circular – new information leads to new characterisations, and the cycle of science continues. Measurements collected can be archived , passed onwards and used by others. Other scientists may start their own research and enter

6552-409: Was also considered by Francis Crick and James D. Watson but discarded. When Watson and Crick learned of Pauling's hypothesis, they understood from existing data that Pauling was wrong. and that Pauling would soon admit his difficulties with that structure. A hypothesis is a suggested explanation of a phenomenon, or alternately a reasoned proposal suggesting a possible correlation between or among

6636-564: Was an American linguist . Sturtevant was born in Jacksonville, Illinois , the older brother of Alfred Sturtevant and grandson of educator Julian Monson Sturtevant . He studied at Illinois College , where his grandfather was president, and obtained an A.B. from Indiana University Bloomington , then the University of Chicago receiving there in 1901 a Ph.D. with a dissertation on Latin case forms. He became an assistant professor of classical philology at Columbia University before joining

6720-452: Was limited to an article on palatal consonants in Sanskrit and one article on the Sanskrit grammatical tradition associated with Pāṇini, in addition to a number of book reviews. Bloomfield made extensive use of Indo-European materials to explain historical and comparative principles in both of his textbooks, An introduction to language (1914), and his seminal Language (1933). In his textbooks he selected Indo-European examples that supported

6804-403: Was one of the founding members of the Linguistic Society of America . In 1924, along with George M. Bolling (Ohio State University) and Edgar Sturtevant (Yale University) he formed a committee to organize the creation of the Society, and drafted the call for the Society's foundation. He contributed the lead article to the inaugural issue of the Society's journal Language , and was President of

6888-587: Was particular development aided by theoretical works by a skeptic Francisco Sanches , by idealists as well as empiricists John Locke , George Berkeley , and David Hume . C. S. Peirce formulated the hypothetico-deductive model in the 20th century, and the model has undergone significant revision since. The term "scientific method" emerged in the 19th century, as a result of significant institutional development of science, and terminologies establishing clear boundaries between science and non-science, such as "scientist" and "pseudoscience", appearing. Throughout

6972-587: Was published posthumously. Bloomfield undertook field research on Menominee in the summers of 1920 and 1921, with further brief field research in September 1939 and intermittent visits from Menominee speakers in Chicago in the late 1930s, in addition to correspondence with speakers during the same period. Material collected by Morris Swadesh in 1937 and 1938, often in response to specific queries from Bloomfield, supplemented his information. Significant publications include

7056-469: Was supervised by Wood, and he graduated in 1909. He undertook further studies at the University of Leipzig and the University of Göttingen in 1913 and 1914 with leading Indo-Europeanists August Leskien , Karl Brugmann , as well as Hermann Oldenberg , a specialist in Vedic Sanskrit . Bloomfield also studied at Göttingen with Sanskrit specialist Jacob Wackernagel , and considered both Wackernagel and

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