How the Scientific Method can produce Logical Thinking
In this thread on The Deduction Guide Forum, I posted a description of how the Scientific Method, and the layout of a scientific report, can be used to structure Logical thinking, and I think it would be good if I shared it with all of you:
The scientific method of thought goes something like:
"I want to know THIS" -> "What Information do I already know about THIS?" -> "Using this information, could THIS mean THAT?" -> "How do I check whether I am right?" -> "After checking, this is what I've been told" -> "Using what I have been told, I can infer that THIS disproves THAT, and so I need to change what I think THAT is" -> "After checking again, this is what I've been told" -> "Using what I have been told, I can infer that THIS proves THAT"
That simplified explanation may not be clear enough so I have written it down in a more formal way. When writing a Scientific report, it is always split into parts that reflect the scientific method of thought:
ABSTRACT: A brief summary of the experiment, including the results and their implications (Therefore will not be use in your thinking process).
INTRODUCTION ("I want to know THIS"/"What Information do I already know about THIS?"): You must ask and answer the following questions: "Why was this study performed?" so, what are you trying to find out?; "What Knowledge already exists about this subject?" so, is there any data you have from either previous knowledge or something you can look up, which could help you in creating a hypothesis?
HYPOTHESIS [SOMETIMES INCLUDED IN THE INTRO] ("Using this information, could THIS mean THAT?"): A Hypothesis is a reasonable claim that you are willing to test, based on reliable background research, and can be proven or disproven.
METHOD ("How do I check whether I am right?"): You must plan out how you can test your hypothesis, and get the right information. This includes knowing what you must change (Independent Variable); What you must keep the same (Controlled Variables); and the thing that will change due to your alterations, or rather, the thing you want to measure (Dependent Variable). Methods should also be reproducible, so it is important to collect more than one set of data when testing, so an average may be calculated.
RESULTS ("After checking, this is what I've been told"): After the method has been carried out, you will have information at your disposal, which will be analysed in the discussion/conclusion.
DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION ("Using what I have been told, I can infer that THIS disproves/proves THAT"): This is where you look at your results and compare them with the hypothesis. Do they match? If not, what can you change about your hypothesis? Do the results answer what you are trying to find out? If not, why?
REPEAT UNTIL QUESTION IS ANSWERED: Start again, changing your hypothesis to another theory that suits all the data, and test it. Keep on testing different hypotheses until you have answered all your questions, as sometimes when finding out one answer, another will take its place.