What is science?
- “Science” is the human enterprise dedicated to investigating phenomena in the natural world by measuring and/or observing these phenomena in a logical way that allows investigators to systematically control bias and error.
- What makes science “science” is not what you study, but how you study it: it’s only “science” if you are aware of ways that bias and error can influence what you discover and you take steps to control that bias and error. The scientific community has achieved some consensus about just what these steps should include; they call this set of procedures the “scientific method.”
What is a scientific “fact”?
- A scientific fact is a claim about a natural phenomenon with which most scientists at a given point in time would agree. A glance at the history of science, however, shows that facts are ephemeral and fallible. In 1600, it was a “fact” that the sun revolved around the earth. Now, most scientists would call this “fact” an erroneous belief. How can the same statement be both a scientific fact and an erroneous belief? Because scientific facts are not data, but human interpretations of data (Table 1). They are not the phenomena of the natural world, but the product of scientists’ minds and discourse.
- Scientists’ interpretations are subject to the dominant paradigms of the day, to bias, even to “fashion.” Political, economic, and social pressures also influence scientists’ interpretations of their data. Responsible scientists are careful to draw conclusions that are best supported by their observations and measurements of the natural world, but at any time their knowledge of that world is incomplete. In science, it is normal for a scientific “fact” to be refined and perhaps even overturned as additional investigations turn up additional evidence. Because scientific “facts” are fallible and ephemeral, Present Tense prefers to avoid presenting scientific information in terms of “facts.” Instead, we prefer to focus on presenting the best evidence (findings from scientific research).
What is evidence?
- Evidence is data collected under scientific conditions that allow investigators to control for bias and error. The more carefully that scientists control for bias and error, the better the evidence. “Best” evidence is that evidence that is both relevant to the question at hand and that was collected using a procedure that carefully adhered to the scientific method. This means that evidence forms a very important “bridge” between the natural world and what humans can know about that world. Humans can only collect evidence by careful and deliberate activity; in that sense, it is a “human” artifact. But, unless it is entirely fabricated, that evidence does nonetheless capture a small “slice” of the natural world (click here to see our conceptualization of the relationship between humans and their world).
What is scientific literacy?
What is science literacy?