Misplaced Pages

#21978

115-448: Credibility comprises the objective and subjective components of the believability of a source or message. Credibility dates back to Aristotle theory of Rhetoric. Aristotle defines rhetoric as the ability to see what is possibly persuasive in every situation. He divided the means of persuasion into three categories, namely Ethos (the source's credibility), Pathos (the emotional or motivational appeals), and Logos (the logic used to support

230-447: 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

345-410: 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 ,

460-481: A claim), which he believed have the capacity to influence the receiver of a message. According to Aristotle, the term "Ethos" deals with the character of the speaker. The intent of the speaker is to appear credible. In fact, the speaker's ethos is a rhetorical strategy employed by an orator whose purpose is to "inspire trust in his audience". Credibility has two key components: trustworthiness and expertise, which both have objective and subjective components. Trustworthiness

575-518: 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

690-482: A criticism of subjectivism is that it is difficult to distinguish between knowledge, opinions, and subjective knowledge. Platonic idealism is a form of metaphysical objectivism, holding that the ideas exist independently from the individual. Berkeley's empirical idealism, on the other hand, holds that things only exist as they are perceived . Both approaches boast an attempt at objectivity. Plato's definition of objectivity can be found in his epistemology , which

805-411: 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

920-433: 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

1035-466: A general theory called Prominence-Interpretation Theory. According to the Society of Professional Journalists' code of ethics , professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist's credibility. A journalist's number one obligation is to be honest. According to Gallup polls, Americans' confidence in the mass media has been consistently declining each year since 2007. In 2013, a survey conducted by

1150-431: 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

1265-485: A patient's health: depending on the patient's trust in the doctor they will be more or less willing to seek help, reveal sensitive information, submit to treatment, and follow the doctor's recommendations. According to numerous studies, done over 15 years we can conclude that we see a doctor's credibility as having five overlapping characteristics: Fidelity, which is caring and advocating for the patient's interests or welfare and avoiding conflicts of interest; competence, which

SECTION 10

#1733093881022

1380-403: 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

1495-412: A philosophical sense, meaning an individual who possesses unique conscious experiences, such as perspectives, feelings, beliefs, and desires, or who (consciously) acts upon or wields power over some other entity (an object ). Aristotle's teacher Plato considered geometry to be a condition of his idealist philosophy concerned with universal truth. In Plato's Republic , Socrates opposes

1610-434: 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

1725-614: A plurality of indescribable forms. Objectivity requires a definition of truth formed by propositions with truth value . An attempt of forming an objective construct incorporates ontological commitments to the reality of objects. The importance of perception in evaluating and understanding objective reality is debated in the observer effect of quantum mechanics. Direct or naïve realists rely on perception as key in observing objective reality, while instrumentalists hold that observations are useful in predicting objective reality. The concepts that encompass these ideas are important in

1840-410: 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

1955-519: 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

2070-619: 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

2185-699: A subject matter. Character refers to the "goodness" (i.e., honesty, trustworthiness) of an instructor. Caring focuses on whether the instructor shows concern or empathy for the students' welfare or situation. Although an instructor may show one or two of these qualities, the best and most respected exude all three qualities. A study done by Atkinson and Cooper revealed that students who are taught by an instructor they perceive as credible, results in extreme allegiance to those instructors. Generally, instructors who are perceived to have credibility are associated with effective teaching skills. Instructors who demonstrate competence, character, and/or caring are perceived to engage in

2300-584: 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

2415-550: A topic by a group of experts, this process can produce reviews such as those published by the Cochrane Collaboration , or the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change . The general public can give a great deal of weight to perceptions of scientific authority in their decisions on controversial issues that involve scientific research, such as biotechnology . However, both the credibility and authority of science

SECTION 20

#1733093881022

2530-409: A trustworthy doctor and the best way they can have their needs satisfied. There does seem to be a growing discontent with the medical field, however, because of for-profit drug companies that are influencing money behind the medical field. In 2002 a doctor attended the hearings of a drug company that was on trial for the death of adolescents who committed suicide while taking their antidepressants. Before

2645-574: A variety of effective instructional communication behaviors such as argumentativeness, verbal and nonverbal immediacy, affinity seeking, and assertiveness and responsiveness. Moreover, credible instructors are perceived to be low in verbal aggressiveness and less likely to use behaviors that interfere with student learning. Unlike instructor competence which centers on instructors' perceived expertise, instructor character and caring are rooted in students' perceptions of their instructors' interpersonal communication behaviors. Students can feel more connected to

2760-461: Is a long way to go in establishing trust and credibility behind what the doctors recommend to patients. Being honest and showing that they are acting off their expertise instead of motivated by incentives given by pharmaceutical companies. In case of the Web pages, vast majority of researchers identifies two key components of credibility: Street credibility or "street cred" (also referred to as "the word on

2875-522: Is a reference to the deep embeddedness of subjectivity in the socially intertwined systems of power and meaning. "Politicality", writes Sadeq Rahimi in Meaning, Madness and Political Subjectivity , "is not an added aspect of the subject, but indeed the mode of being of the subject, that is, precisely what the subject is ." Scientific objectivity is practicing science while intentionally reducing partiality , biases, or external influences. Moral objectivity

2990-450: Is an inherently social mode that comes about through innumerable interactions within society. As much as subjectivity is a process of individuation , it is equally a process of socialization, the individual never being isolated in a self-contained environment, but endlessly engaging in interaction with the surrounding world. Culture is a living totality of the subjectivity of any given society constantly undergoing transformation. Subjectivity

3105-455: Is based more on subjective factors, but can include objective measurements such as established reliability. Expertise can be similarly subjectively perceived, but also includes relatively objective characteristics of the source or message (e.g., credentials, certification or information quality). Secondary components of credibility include source dynamism (charisma) and physical attractiveness. Credibility online has become an important topic since

3220-553: Is based on mathematics , and his metaphysics , where knowledge of the ontological status of objects and ideas is resistant to change. In Western philosophy, the idea of subjectivity is thought to have its roots in the works of the European Enlightenment thinkers Descartes and Kant though it could also stem as far back as the Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle 's work relating to the soul. The idea of subjectivity

3335-426: Is because the competition of providing news increased when consumers had the chance and ability to choose the media that they consume through online sources. The internet has provided a chance for anyone to report news. In order to increase credibility, and therefore increase readers of their articles, journalists should be objective, accurate, trustworthy, and reliable. Three aspects of credibility: clarity (how easily

3450-513: Is both shaped by it and shapes it in turn, but also by other things like the economy, political institutions, communities, as well as the natural world. Though the boundaries of societies and their cultures are indefinable and arbitrary, the subjectivity inherent in each one is palatable and can be recognized as distinct from others. Subjectivity is in part a particular experience or organization of reality , which includes how one views and interacts with humanity, objects, consciousness, and nature, so

3565-399: 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

Credibility - Misplaced Pages Continue

3680-428: Is exemplified by Descartes deductions that move from reliance on subjectivity to somewhat of a reliance on God for objectivity. Foucault and Derrida denied the idea of subjectivity in favor of their ideas of constructs in order to account for differences in human thought. Instead of focusing on the idea of consciousness and self-consciousness shaping the way humans perceive the world, these thinkers would argue that it

3795-424: 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

3910-451: Is having good practice and interpersonal skills, making correct decisions, and avoiding mistakes; honesty, which is telling the truth and avoiding intentional falsehoods; confidentiality, which is proper use of sensitive information; and global trust, which is the irreducible "soul" of trust, or aspects that combine elements from some or all of the separate dimensions. In general, it is easy to see what patients are looking for when it comes to

4025-480: Is in the context of religion . Religious beliefs can vary quite extremely from person to person, but people often think that whatever they believe is the truth. Subjectivity as seen by Descartes and Sartre was a matter of what was dependent on consciousness, so, because religious beliefs require the presence of a consciousness that can believe, they must be subjective. This is in contrast to what has been proven by pure logic or hard sciences , which does not depend on

4140-539: Is instead the world that shapes humans, so they would see religion less as a belief and more as a cultural construction. Others like Husserl and Sartre followed the phenomenological approach. This approach focused on the distinct separation of the human mind and the physical world, where the mind is subjective because it can take liberties like imagination and self-awareness where religion might be examined regardless of any kind of subjectivity. The philosophical conversation around subjectivity remains one that struggles with

4255-456: Is more or less truth-bearing and how historians can stitch together versions of it to best explain what " actually happened. " The anthropologist Michel-Rolph Trouillot developed the concepts of historicity 1 and 2 to explain the difference between the materiality of socio - historical processes (H1) and the narratives that are told about the materiality of socio-historical processes (H2). This distinction hints that H1 would be understood as

4370-417: 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

4485-447: Is often related to discussions of consciousness , agency , personhood , philosophy of mind , philosophy of language , reality , truth , and communication (for example in narrative communication and journalism ). The root of the words subjectivity and objectivity are subject and object , philosophical terms that mean, respectively, an observer and a thing being observed. The word subjectivity comes from subject in

4600-520: Is often seen as a peripheral to other philosophical concepts, namely skepticism , individuals and individuality, and existentialism . The questions surrounding subjectivity have to do with whether or not people can escape the subjectivity of their own human existence and whether or not there is an obligation to try to do so. Important thinkers who focused on this area of study include Descartes, Locke , Kant, Hegel , Kierkegaard , Husserl , Foucault , Derrida , Nagel , and Sartre . Subjectivity

4715-432: 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 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

Credibility - Misplaced Pages Continue

4830-413: Is questioned by groups with non-mainstream views, such as some advocates of alternative medicine , or those who dispute the scientific consensus on a topic, such as denialists of AIDS and of evolution. Political endorsements can reduce non- partisan scientific credibility. People rely on doctors' expertise to respond to issues relating to their health. Trust in a doctor's credibility is essential to

4945-499: Is the concept of moral or ethical codes being compared to one another through a set of universal facts or a universal perspective and not through differing conflicting perspectives. Journalistic objectivity is the reporting of facts and news with minimal personal bias or in an impartial or politically neutral manner. Scientific method The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has been referred to while doing science since at least

5060-461: 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

5175-598: Is what has prompted a growing mistrust in medical professionals credibility. Despite the studies conducted intended on finding out how to increase doctors' credibility, the findings are inconclusive. It is a strong general consensus that increased visibility of the relationship between doctors and pharmaceutical companies is the first place to start. We are seeing some progress towards transparency. The US Open Payments Act (Physician Payments Sunshine Act) has from October 2014 required drug companies to disclose payments to doctors, but it's still does not give total transparency. There

5290-684: 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

5405-408: The factual reality that elapses and is captured with the concept of " objective truth ", and that H2 is the collection of subjectivities that humanity has stitched together to grasp the past. Debates about positivism , relativism , and postmodernism are relevant to evaluating these concepts' importance and the distinction between them. In his book "Silencing the past", Trouillot wrote about

5520-555: The philosophy of science . Philosophies of mind explore whether objectivity relies on perceptual constancy . History as a discipline has wrestled with notions of objectivity from its very beginning. While its object of study is commonly thought to be the past , the only thing historians have to work with are different versions of stories based on individual perceptions of reality and memory . Several history streams developed to devise ways to solve this dilemma: Historians like Leopold von Ranke (19th century) have advocated for

5635-474: 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

5750-415: 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

5865-589: 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

SECTION 50

#1733093881022

5980-405: The 'for-itself' (i.e., an objective and subjective human being). The innermost core of subjectivity resides in a unique act of what Fichte called " self-positing ", where each subject is a point of absolute autonomy , which means that it cannot be reduced to a moment in the network of causes and effects. One way that subjectivity has been conceptualized by philosophers such as Kierkegaard

6095-453: 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 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 ,

6210-449: 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

6325-425: 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

6440-447: The CEO credibility and the employee's involvement of engagement. Although the CEO's credibility positively affects employee engagement, the actual impact is exercised by the employee's view of the organization's reputation. Social media credibility is dependent on cues and heuristics. Cues used to assess credibility online are authority cues, identity cues, and bandwagon cues. Authority cues are

6555-400: The CEO holds the skills necessary to help, and is thus valued in their position as such. The extent to which the employee gives their confidence to the CEO determines the CEO's trustworthiness. An employee may totally embrace or quietly set aside the message of the CEO, these results measure the degree of trustworthiness there is in the CEO. The whole reputation of the organization represented by

6670-425: The CEO is built mainly by the experience of the employees as time passes. This reputation is carefully built by many factors experienced by the employees such as the actual services or products sphere, social aspects related to work and the overall foresight and ability to lead in a successful manner. There is a natural connection link between the CEO and the organization. A CEO's credibility affects how employees view

6785-497: The CEO is to influence employees' attitudes, perceptions, and performances through example of leadership and support. CEO credibility is made up of two factors: knowing what one is talking about, or expertise; and being able to be trusted, or trustworthiness. One of the ways that a CEO's expertise is measured is by the way his/her employees perceive them. If the CEO is seen as someone to whom the senior employees can go to for knowledge and help, this goes to show they have confidence that

6900-542: 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

7015-619: The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that credibility ratings for major news organizations are at or near their all-time lows. "As audiences lose confidence in traditional news outlets, many see great promise in the Internet as a response to this crisis in journalism." The widespread use of the internet has helped motivate journalists to become more credible. The reason for this

SECTION 60

#1733093881022

7130-496: The article can be understood), accuracy (how well documented the information is), and trustworthiness (how believable the information is). Students' perception of instructors has great importance and possible consequences. Instructor credibility, which is defined as "the attitude of a receiver which references the degree to which a source is seen to be believable", consists of three dimensions-, competence, character, and caring. Competence focuses on his or her expertise or knowledge in

7245-446: 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

7360-411: The basis for philosophies intent on resolving the questions of reality , truth , and existence . He saw opinions as belonging to the shifting sphere of sensibilities , as opposed to a fixed, eternal and knowable incorporeality . Where Plato distinguished between how we know things and their ontological status, subjectivism such as George Berkeley 's depends on perception . In Platonic terms,

7475-463: 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

7590-403: The credibility of the work of an individual scientist or a field of research. Here, the phrase refers to how closely the work in question adheres to scientific principles, such as the scientific method . The method most commonly used to assess the quality of science is peer review and then publication as part of the scientific literature . Other approaches include the collaborative assessment of

7705-553: 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

7820-446: The difference between different cultures brings about an alternate experience of existence that forms life in a different manner. A common effect on an individual of this disjunction between subjectivities is culture shock , where the subjectivity of the other culture is considered alien and possibly incomprehensible or even hostile. Political subjectivity is an emerging concept in social sciences and humanities. Political subjectivity

7935-552: 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

8050-401: The end of the semester, and seek advice and training from their peers. By doing so, instructors may find students are more willing, likely, or interested in communicating with them. Scientific credibility has been defined as the extent to which science in general is recognized as a source of reliable information about the world. The term has also been applied more narrowly, as an assessment of

8165-587: The epistemological question of what is real, what is made up, and what it would mean to be separated completely from subjectivity. In opposition to philosopher René Descartes ' method of personal deduction , natural philosopher Isaac Newton applied the relatively objective scientific method to look for evidence before forming a hypothesis. Partially in response to Kant 's rationalism , logician Gottlob Frege applied objectivity to his epistemological and metaphysical philosophies. If reality exists independently of consciousness , then it would logically include

8280-402: 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

8395-448: 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

8510-468: 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

8625-511: The hearing studies had been filed with the FDA under the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act of 2002. These studies reflected a congressional effort to motivate drug companies to study the effects of medications on children. Since children are a much smaller market for new drugs, the pharmaceutical industry was suspected to not study them as much. The Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act of 2002

8740-405: 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 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

8855-452: The logic that "if others think it's good, so should I. Jürgen Habermas in his theory of communicative action developed four validity claims ( truth , sincerity , appropriateness and understandability ) leading to the concept of credibility . In a different study researchers empirically validated the claims and derived a two-phase model of "reporting credibility", where first of all understandability needs to be reached. Only then

8970-427: The making of history (the retrospective construction of what The Past is). Because history ( official , public , familial , personal) informs current perceptions and how we make sense of the present , whose voice gets to be included in it –and how– has direct consequences in material socio-historical processes. Thinking of current historical narratives as impartial depictions of the totality of events unfolded in

9085-488: The material being taught and have the information stay in their mind, if the instructor sharing the information has credibility. According to studies, when instructors exemplify the qualities of character (i.e., kind, virtuous, good) and caring (i.e., empathetic, understanding, responsive), students report a greater likelihood of communicating with them. Teachers who are concerned with whether students communicate with them, either in class or out of class, may want to reconsider

9200-526: 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

9315-528: 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

9430-486: The mid-1990s. This is because the web has increasingly become an information resource. The Credibility and Digital Media Project @ UCSB highlights recent and ongoing work in this area, including recent consideration of digital media, youth, and credibility. In addition, the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University has studied web credibility and proposed the principal components of online credibility and

9545-444: The most influence source credibility. Authority cues are cues that let the viewer know that it is an expert source such as a university or government institution. Identity cues are peer information. Users trust information more if they can identify the person that published it the publisher is not anonymous. Users view information as more credible if a peer shared it than a stranger. Bandwagon cues triggers credibility processing based on

9660-413: The organization's image. Employees who perceive the CEO as more qualified, competent, knowledgeable, and possessing more expertise and skills tend to view the organizational reputation more positively. Employees who view the CEO as more honest and trustworthy tend to evaluate the organization in a positive manner. The employees view of the organization completely intervenes the positive relationship between

9775-405: 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

9890-431: 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

10005-403: 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

10120-434: The past were shaped–, and putting it on the voices of ordinary people. Postcolonial streams of history challenge the colonial-postcolonial dichotomy and critique Eurocentric academia practices, such as the demand for historians from colonized regions to anchor their local narratives to events happening in the territories of their colonizers to earn credibility . All the streams explained above try to uncover whose voice

10235-441: The past by labeling them as "objective" risks sealing historical understanding. Acknowledging that history is never objective and always incomplete has a meaningful opportunity to support social justice efforts. Under said notion, voices that have been silenced are placed on an equal footing to the grand and popular narratives of the world, appreciated for their unique insight of reality through their subjective lens. Subjectivity

10350-404: The perception of people, and is therefore considered objective. Subjectivity is what relies on personal perception regardless of what is proven or objective. Many philosophical arguments within this area of study have to do with moving from subjective thoughts to objective thoughts with many different methods employed to get from one to the other along with a variety of conclusions reached. This

10465-403: 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

10580-579: 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

10695-550: The power dynamics at play in history-making, outlining four possible moments in which historical silences can be created: (1) making of sources (who gets to know how to write, or to have possessions that are later examined as historical evidence ), (2) making of archives (what documents are deemed important to save and which are not, how to classify materials, and how to order them within physical or digital archives), (3) making of narratives (which accounts of history are consulted, which voices are given credibility ), and (4)

10810-424: 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

10925-401: The role their own in-class communication behaviors play in students' willingness or likelihood to communicate with them. Instructors who are interested in how students perceive their competence, character, and caring should examine how their in-class communication behaviors contribute to these perceptions. They can evaluate themselves, go back over their lectures, scores that students give them at

11040-423: The sales growth does not end. From clothing like running shoes and jeans to food and alcoholic beverages, branding is used to assist companies improve their street cred and better sell a product. The CEO of the company is the face of what the public sees. A CEO helps illustrate the organization's internal and external shareholders. CEOs are spokesmen who are actively visible and shape the corporate image. The role of

11155-443: 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 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

11270-461: 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

11385-422: 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

11500-413: 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

11615-467: The sophist Thrasymachus's relativistic account of justice, and argues that justice is mathematical in its conceptual structure, and that ethics was therefore a precise and objective enterprise with impartial standards for truth and correctness, like geometry. The rigorous mathematical treatment Plato gave to moral concepts set the tone for the western tradition of moral objectivism that came after him. His contrasting between objectivity and opinion became

11730-411: 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

11845-500: The street") is the degree to which someone's word can be believed by a typical person, the "person on the street". Corporations have gone through their own ways of getting street credibility; however, it goes by a different name: branding . This is a process in which companies spend billions of dollars a year to convey information about a product, who is using it, and why others should also. They are targeting certain individuals as to increase their ability to grow their "street cred" so that

11960-457: The three other validity claims make a difference and may lead to credibility in the Habermasian sense. Objectivity (philosophy) Both ideas have been given various and ambiguous definitions by differing sources as the distinction is often a given but not the specific focal point of philosophical discourse. The two words are usually regarded as opposites , though complications regarding

12075-582: 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

12190-416: 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

12305-413: The two have been explored in philosophy: for example, the view of particular thinkers that objectivity is an illusion and does not exist at all, or that a spectrum joins subjectivity and objectivity with a gray area in-between, or that the problem of other minds is best viewed through the concept of intersubjectivity , developing since the 20th century. The distinction between subjectivity and objectivity

12420-456: 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 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

12535-541: The use of extensive evidence –especially archived physical paper documents– to recover the bygone past, claiming that, as opposed to people's memories, objects remain stable in what they say about the era they witnessed, and therefore represent a better insight into objective reality . In the 20th century, the Annales School emphasized the importance of shifting focus away from the perspectives of influential men –usually politicians around whose actions narratives of

12650-434: 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

12765-405: 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

12880-409: 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

12995-444: Was meant to strengthen drug companies credibility by rewarding those that performed pediatric studies. The law, however, did not require these pediatric studies performed to be publicized or published According to a New England Journal of Medicine study, 94% of American doctors have some relationship with a drug or medical device company, including payments but also drug samples and industry lunches, for example. Such alarming evidence

13110-587: 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

13225-416: Was rejected by Foucault and Derrida in favor of constructionism , but Sartre embraced and continued Descartes' work in the subject by emphasizing subjectivity in phenomenology . Sartre believed that, even within the material force of human society, the ego was an essentially transcendent being—posited, for instance, in his opus Being and Nothingness through his arguments about the 'being-for-others' and

#21978