Science Terms for Non-scientists
There is a huge amount of misunderstanding around common science terms. So here I am to blow away the fog! Hopefully some of you can find this useful for both everyday life and your writing.
Hypothesis: A statement made by a researcher regarding what they think is going on. Also called an “educated guess,” as in the person has the background knowledge to attempt an explanation prior to any testing. A hypothesis must be testable.
Observation: Literally what it sounds like. It is a fact of something a person sees. For example, a researcher may make an observation that the sky appeared orange at sunset or that their rat ate 24 food pellets in month. There is no thinking about it, no extrapolation, just the facts.
Law: This is a statement made following repeated experimental observation. A law is always true under a given set of conditions. They are not theories, as they do not try to explain what is going on.
Theory: This is the explanation for the repeated observations. It is supported by experimentation. Note: theories can never be proven true, only false (you can never test every single instance of the situation). You can just build evidence to support it.
The scientific method (though not always followed):
A person makes an observation.
The person forms a hypothesis attempting to explain the observation.
The person comes up with ways to test the hypothesis.
The person implements these tests.
The person evaluates results and revises the hypothesis if needed.
Field: This is the sub-specialization of a scientist. For example, a biologist may be a general biologist, marine biologist, molecular biologist, cancer biologist, neuroscientist, immunobiologist, epidemiologist, ecologist, behavioral researcher, neuropsychologist, etc.
Field work: This is the type of experiment that is performed outside of the lab. For example, an ecologist may be performing evaluations of stream conditions. While they are physically at the stream, they are doing field work.
Bench work: This is work inside the lab. For example, a scientist who is actively working on something like cell culture or running a gel is doing bench work.
Science writing: This is writing with a focus on science! It may be writing scientific articles, writing protocols, evaluating and editing proposals, or writing for popular press and audiences. Yes, this is its own separate career, typically requiring a background in at least science and possibly scientific writing or journalism.
Journal: This is where scientific papers are published. Some common journals in my field are Nature and The American Journal of Medicine and Neuron. There are a lot. And some are very obscure. They are rated by this thing called “impact factor” that is supposed to relate to journal quality (better impact factor gives your research better exposure), but in my opinion is nonsense. Also, you should trust peer reviewed journals more than journals that are not peer reviewed…that means that other professionals in their field have evaluated the paper.
Principle Investigator (PI): This is the person in charge of a particular study. Often that is the person who runs the lab out of which the study comes. Their name will be last on the paper. Note: name order on papers is very important. First and last author are the important ones. If your name is in the middle, you’re not as big of a contributor unless it is noted otherwise in the journal.
I hope you found this interesting and informative! Hopefully I will be able to post a biology-specific post like this soon. :)
