Scientific Research Principles

Scientific research methods principally refer to a body of modus operandi used for investigating phenomena, thus acquiring new knowledge in the process. It also involves correcting and integrating previous known information to new heights.

Basis of a research

In order for a research to be considered as scientific, it must be based on certain accepted principles. Some of these are:

    The data collection must be through experimentation and observances.

    Information gathered must be measurable, observable and empirical.

    The evidence sought must be subject to precise principles of interpreting data.

    Steps followed are required to be repeatable in order to facilitate prediction of the upcoming results.

    The process must be out to prove a given hypothesis.

    Interpretation of results must never be biased.

    The evidence and results generated must be precisely documented for future usage by others. This involves writing of thesis and dissertations. The reason for this is to give future scientists an opportunity to have a look at your work, then attempt to improve or reproduce it and in so doing, verifying the results.

Conventional scheme of carrying out a research

At the end of a research, the scientist is projected to have formulated a hypothesis, analyzed and tested the findings, and lastly to have documented the final results. Nevertheless, the following points lead us to a pragmatic and widely accepted technique of carrying out a scientific research as shown below:

    Definition of the underlying question: The question is the subject of inquiry and is required to be well delineated in terms of the relevance, project cost, scope, time frame and availability of the needed resources.

    The information and resources required prior to the commencement of the project must be gathered in advance in order to avoid stalling the given project before its conclusion.

    Forming the hypothesis upon which the experimental processes involved in the research will be based on.

    The scientific data must be analyzed by the use appropriate techniques, for instance, the usage of tabulations, graphs and statistical software packages such as Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS).

    Making the results accessible by publishing it in appropriate journals for future usage and reference.

    Lastly, retesting the results by other scientists to prove the authenticity of your work.

All in all, it is worthy to note that limitations when conducting a scientific research do exist and must be taken into considerations, and that it is virtually impossible to record everything that took place during the experimentation process comprehensively.

Tom Mc Carrick hosts Scientific Knowledge, a website where you can find out more on topics such as scientific research [http://www.scientificknowledge.org/scientific-research] and much more.

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