ScientificMethod Part I HCMUT-HCMUNS v2

8/8/2019 ScientificMethod Part I HCMUT-HCMUNS v2

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1 University of Technology & University of Science - VNU HCM (2008)

Lectures on Scientific Research Methods

BKTP.HCM

Scientific Research Methods:Processes, Techniques, Models and Practices

Prof. Dr. DUONG Nguyen VuAffiliate Professor of Computer Science and EngineeringHCM University of Technology

Academic Advisor, Faculty of Information TechnologyUniversity of Natural Sciences, Vietnam National University HCM

Senior Scientific Advisor, EUROCONTROL EECCo-Director, Complex System Modeling & Cognition Joint Research LabProfessor, Charge de Conferences Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Sorbonnes Paris.


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Course Objectives

Through theoretical lectures, classroom exercises and personalmini-research project, the course aims at introducing:

The different characteristics of the typical procedures and

models related to the selection and the execution of a scientific

research topic.

The models and techniques to help research students solvingthe practical problems often encountered in scientific research,

typically:

Where am I? and

Where am I going? or

How can I do / reach that?

Practically, how to write a sound research proposal.


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Pedagogy (1)

Scientific Research, a Master Research or Doctoral degree? Yes,but what for? And How?

Clarify some myths across the typical research process, allowing

research-students and young researchers to handle a research topicwith methods and confidence.

Develop Scientific Spirit through lectures about history andphilosophy of sciences, and ethical aspect of scientific research aspart of the Scientific Method.


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Pedagogy (2)

Method or Methodology?

Discuss certain technical aspects of the methods often used in

technological and scientific research. Independently from the

particularities of scientific and/or technologic disciplines.

Understand the practices of scientific research e.g. how long

would it normally takes to define and design an experiment, or

how to work in a team, and how to avoid the chaos at certain

moment.


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Course Syllabus

Emphasizes on the details so-called important for abeginner in scientific research:

Defining research subject,

Writing research proposal, Formulating or modeling the research problem,

Experimenting or demonstrating research analysis

(experimentation and data analysis).

Writing reports and papers to scientific conferences,


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Assignments

Analysis and synthesis of research papers:l Identifying facts, laws, and theories. (simple bit)

1. Resuming a research paper. (little more complicated bit)

2. Reviewing literature of a specific domain of interest. (harder bit)

3. Drafting research thesis proposal - evaluation on the

methodological aspect. (working bit)

Students who fail to pass the evaluation will not be admitted for

thesis defense. (serious bit!)


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1. Scientific Research: Vocation or

Obligation?


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Scientific Research: Myth or Reality ?

Scientific Research: Often considered as an intellectual activity topping all human interventions,

but could be at the same time the origin of all ecological and humanitarian

disasters.

Theres no doubt that scientific research is an integral part of human societal

progress, Its results are sometimes highly beneficial, e.g. X-ray, Computer

sciences, medicine, etc. but for the same passions, research could be theorigin, or can create the conditions favoring human disasters,, e.g. hydrogen

bombs!

However, it is undeniable that research, particularly in sciences and

technologies, is an important factor responsible for the progress of mankind

society.

Ethical Issues in Scientific Research


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Scientific Research: Myth or Reality ?

It is therefore legitimate to interrogate What is Research? Several answers possible.

yours ?

(Classroom Discussion)

A pragmatic view: scientific research can be approached as problem solving:

Problem Definition, Hypothesis,

Approach for Solving Problem,

Experimentation and Feedback,

Conclusion

but scientific problem is different from engineering problem.

(discussion)


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Categories of Research

Methodology: Empirical vs. Theoretical Research

Applicability: Fundamental vs. Applied Research

Locality: Academic vs. Industrial Research


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Empirical vs. Theoretical

Empirical Research: Implies experimental studies and observations via laboratory instruments and

equipments.

Measured and observed quantities are used in the evaluation of existingtheories/laws, and/or can provide the facts for developing theories/laws(theoretical studies).

Theoretical Research: Implies the development of theoretical models (on paper).

Major goal is to formulate a theory/law that synthesizes / generalizes the datadescribing the phenomena of the nature (physical or organizational) to bestudied. This theory/law shall be used to predict other results.

New results will be verified by empirical measures.


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Basic vs. Applied Research

A very general classification to describe the goal of a researchproject.

Basic research, or fundamental research, covers the studies in

which researchers pursue their investigations to uncover the

functioning of the nature.

Applied research extend the findings from basic research to usefultechnologies that can be used to develop the products that respond

to societys needs.

Research for the reality of the nature is tolerated to a large degree,

principally because experiences have demonstrated that scientific

discoveries will deliver, sooner or later, certain useful foundationsfor progresses ()


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Academic vs. Industrial Research

Tendency: Basic Research = major thematic at universities,

Applied Research = goal of most industries.

Historic: Universities dominated basic research in the past,

Beginning of XXth century: Research started to play a major role in thedevelopment of industrial products. In particular in electronics, chemicalengineering, and pharmaceutical industries. Birth of industrial laboratories orspecialized private labs.

During the 2nd World War, governments had created national labs to respondto society needs and to bridge universities and non-university labs.


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Research in OCDE

All Sectors:

80% of world R&D,

1,9% GDP (1981) - 2,3% GDP (2003) [+200%]

R&D in Business Sector

65,4% (1981) - 67,7% (2003) of total OCDE

Performance: 1,26% GDP (1981) - 1,53% GDP (2003) [+141%]

Expenditure: 1,00% GDP (1981) - 1,39% GDP (2003)

Explaining why OECD economies are often described as increasingly Knowledge-basedEconomy (Foray, 2004).

R&D in Government Sector

Total of R&D financed by government: 40,3% (1981) - 30,4% (2003)

Performance: 17,9% (1981) - 12,3% (2003)

Expenditure: 0,85% GDP (1981) - 0,68% GDP (2003) [+60%]

Shares of military research: 43% (81) - 28% (2001) - 33% (2004).

Source: OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard, OECD Publishing 2005, Paris.

Foray, D. (2004) The Economics of Knowledge. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA.


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GERD by Sector


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OCDE GERD as % GDP and % Civil GERD


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Industry GERD vs. Government as % GDP

Source : OECD, Main Science and Technology Indicators, May 2007.


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HERD vs GOVERD (in % GDP)



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FTE of Researchers per thousand of Total Employments



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Basic Research

Basic Research = 18% of Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D (2003),

up from 15% in 1991.


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Basic Research?

2025: Government and Higher Education sectors > 60% of Basic Research


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The scientific methods used in research are fundamentally

different from The scientific research methodology.


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Research Methodologyconcerns the study of scientific methods,whose objective is to improve the procedures and the criteria usedin the conduct of scientific research. [4]

Methoddeals with the evaluation and the selection of alternativetechniques. [4] A technique is a sequence of particular actions;

A toolis an instrument, physical or conceptual, e.g. mathematical tools usedin problem modeling.

We focus on the techniques and tools that may assist young

researchers in their scientific approaches.

[4] Russell L. Ackoff, Scientific Method, John Wiley & Sons, 1962, p. 6.


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Discussion

Example of a methodology

Example of a method

Example of a model


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What is Scientific Method?


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Why Scientific Method?

An understanding of the scientific method is essential for success and

productivity in science.

Hugh Gauch (2003)Professor at Cornell University

Scientific Method in Practice

Cambridge University Press


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What is Science?

A branch of knowledge conducted on objective

principles involving the systematized observation of

and experiment with phenomena (facts or

occurrences that are perceived), especially

concerned with the material and functions of thephysical universe.

Oxford English Dictionary


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What is Science?

Conant, J.B. (On Understanding Science: An Historical Approach. New Haven, CT: Yale UniversityPress, 1951) defined science as a connected series of theories and concepts

derived from observation and experimentation that can lead to furtherexperimentation and observation.

Science, therefore, can be viewed as the process of searching for explanations,or for the causes of events, and it is defined by its method: the scientificmethod.

James Bryant Conant (1893 - 1978) was a

chemist, educational administrator, and

government official. He was instrumental in the

early career of Thomas Kuhn, whose The

Structure of Scientific Revolutions has beenextremely influential for the various fields of

science studies.


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Thomas Kuhn (1922-1996)

Science is a social activity, which is affected by

practical activity, empirical observations and

broad theoretical paradigms

In The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (SSR) (1962) Kuhn

argued that science does not progress via a linear accumulation ofnew knowledge, but undergoes periodic revolutions, also called

"paradigm shifts" (although he did not coin the phrase), in which

the nature of scientific inquiry within a particular field is abruptly

transformed. In general, science is broken up into three distinct

stages. Prescience, which lacks a central paradigm, comes first.

This is followed by "normal science", when scientists attempt to

enlarge the central paradigm by "puzzle-solving". Thus, the failure

of a result to conform to the paradigm is seen not as refuting the

paradigm, but as the mistake of the researcher, contra Popper's

refutability criterion


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Goals of Science

Discovery of Regularities

Description of Phenomena.

Discovering Laws. Law - a statement that certain events are regularly

associated with each other in an orderly way.

Search for Causes.

We often overlook the real cause, Some events are just coincidences,

Sometimes the real cause is another event correlated with the suspected

cause,

Cause cannot happen after their effects.


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Goals of Science

The ultimate goal of science is the development of a theory to explain the lawful

relationships that exist in a particular field.E. Bright Wilson, Jr.

Theodore William Richards Professor of Chemistry,Emeritus, Harvard University

Development of Theories

Theory -A statement or set of statements explaining one or more laws, usuallyincluding one indirect concept needed to explain the relationship.

Falsifiability - property of a good theory that is capable to disproof. Theory must betestable.

Role of Theories: organising knowledge and explaining laws; predicting new laws;guiding research.


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Philosophies of Science

The process of scientific thinking depends both on

making careful observations of phenomena and on

inventing theories for making sense out of those

observations.(AAAS, 1989)


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Ant, Spider, and Bee

2007, Paul Burgess - Cranfield University

Francis Bacon (1561-1626)


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Scientific Method

Science started with the observation of the nature [1] and by the belief that the observed

phenomenon can be explained [2] through an abstraction so-called scientific. People hadthought that sciences could be nobler if She could explain all phenomena and problemsusing only one generalized, prescribed procedure.

For long time, scientists and philosophers had tried to formulate such a procedure, popularlyknown under the label scientificmethod.

The so-called recipe had been assumed capable to govern all aspects of scientificresearch.

Nowadays, everybody recognize that the process to respond to scientific problems is lotsmore subtle than a prescribed procedure, recipe, or technique. Sole problem: The Rose [3]!

1. [Martin Goldstein et Inge Goldstein, How We Know Plenum Press 1979 p.19]2. [W. Beveridge, The Art of Scientifique Investigation W. Norton, 1957, p. 87]3. [Shakespeare, Hamlet, p.? ]


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Scientific Method

The original scientific method, also called Cartesian Method, wasproposed by Rene Descartes in the XVIIth. Its main tenet was thatthe entire world could be understood in terms of machines, and itsmain approach was divide-and-conquer:

1. Analyse: to divide any concept or thing, preferably into 2 parts, and to keepsubdividing until reaching clear and distinct parts;

2. Synthesis: to reassemble the parts bottom-up to create a whole; and3. Validation: to do an overall audit to ensure the process was used properly.


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Scientific Method

Formal experimental science came later as an outgrowth of the broader

Cartesian methods of inquiry.

Usually, one has to analyze the data collected and come up with a newhypothesis and start the process all over again.

The Discourse on the Methodis a philosophical and

mathematical treatise published by Ren Descartes in

1637. Its full name is Discourse on the Method of Rightly

Conducting the Reason, and Searching for Truth in the

Sciences. It has beenone of the most influential works in

the history of modern science.


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Scientific Method

Science is aprocess for:

systematicallycollectingand recordingdata about

the physical world,

then categorizing andstudyingthat data

toinfertheprinciples of nature that best explain the

observed phenomena."

Definition agreed by 72 Nobel laureates in 1986 according to

www.answersinscience.org/What-Is-Science.htm


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Hypothesis in Science

Hypothesis -

A statement that is assumed to be true for the purpose of testing its validity.

The statement must be one that is either true or false.

A scientific hypothesis must be capable of empirical testing and, as a result,

empirical confirmation or disconfirmation.


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Scientific Method in Physics

Scientific Method is a formal method for understanding phenomena.

It consists, briefly, of:

A description of the phenomena.

At least two hypotheses which explain the phenomena.

Extrapolation of the hypotheses until an experiment is found which will

distinguish between them.

Performance of the experiment, and rejection of one or more hypothesis

according to the result.


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Scientific Method vs. Programming

Scientific Method:

1. Identify the behaviour you want toexplain.

2. Form a Hypothesis that mightexplain that behaviour.

3. Conduct an experiment that tests thehypothesis.

4. If the experiment contradicts thehypothesis, revise it or replace it witha new hypothesis and go back tostep 3.

Debugging:

1. Identify the malfunctioning in yourprogram (bug) you want to fix.

2. Make a guess as to what theprogram is doing to cause the bug.

3. Conduct a test to see if the guess is

correct.4. If the test contradicts the guess than

revise it or replace it with a newguess and go back to step 3.


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Discussions

Difference between Scientific Method and Debugging:

The scientific method looks at many data points and tries to construct a general

theory to cover them; Debugging looks at a single data point.

Experiments in scientific method require modelling and simulations to test the

hypothesis. Sometimes the contradictions between the experiments and the

hypothesis come from the errors in modelling and incompleteness in simulation

environments.

Other points?


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Scientific Method in Dictionaries

Scientific methodn. -

Theprinciples and empirical processes of discovery and demonstration consideredcharacteristic of or necessary for scientific investigation, generally involving theobservation of phenomena, the formulation of a hypothesis concerning thephenomena, experimentation to demonstrate the truth of falseness of the hypothesis,and a conclusion that validates or modifies the hypothesis. (The American HeritageDictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition, 2004.)

An orderly technique of investigation that is supposed to account for scientificprogress. The method consists of the following steps: (1) careful observations ofnature. (2) Deduction of natural laws. (3) Formulation ofhypotheses - generalizationof those laws to previously unobserved phenomena. (4) Experimentation orobservational testingof the validity of the predictions thus made. Actually, scientificdiscoveries rarely occur in this idealized, wholly rational, and orderly fashion. (The NewDictionary of Cultural Literacy, 3rd Edition, E.D. Hirsch, Jr. , J.F. Kett, and J. Trefil, editors 2002.)


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Scientific Method in Wikipedia

A scientific method or process is considered fundamental to the scientific investigation

and acquisition of new knowledge based upon physical evidence.Scientists use observation, hypotheses and deductions to propose explanations fornatural phenomena in the form oftheories.

Predictions from these theories are tested by experiment. If a prediction turns out to becorrect, the theory survives. Any theory which is cogent enough to make predictionscan then be tested reproducibly in this way.

The method is commonly taken as the underlying logic of scientific practice.

A scientific method is essentially an extremely cautious means of building a supportable,evidence-based understanding of our natural world.

(Wikipedia information about scientific method, a r t i c l elicensed under the GNU Free Documentation Licence.)

S f


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History - Empiricism

The Edwin Smith Papyrus (circa 1600 BC) details the

examination, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis ofnumerous ailments.

Evidence of traditional empiricism appears also in the Eberspapyrus (circa 1550 BC) that prescribed diseased demons

and superstition.

The Edwin Smith Papyrusis the world's earliest known medical document,

written in hieratic around the 17th century BCE, but thought to be based on

material from a thousand years earlier. It is an ancient textbook on trauma

surgery, and describes anatomical observations and the examination,

diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of numerous injuries in exquisite

detail. (Wikipedia)

L t S i tifi R h M th d


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History - Plato (428-348 BC)

In Ancient Greece, towards the middle of the V th century BC, some

of the elements of a scientific tradition were already wellestablished.

In Protagoras, Plato mentions the teaching of arithmetic,astrology and geometry in schools. The philosophical ideas ofthis time were mostly freed from the constraints of everydayphenomena and common sense. This denial of reality as we

experience it reaches an extreme in Parmenides that whoargued that the world is one and that change and subdivisiondo not exist.

Plato (Greek: , Pltn, "wide, broad-browed") (428/427 BC 348/347BC), was a Classical Greek philosopher. Together with his teacher, Socrates,

and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the philosophical foundations of

Western culture.



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Aristotle (384 - 322 BC) and Empiricism

Aristotle provided yet another ingredient of scientifictradition: empiricism.

For him, the Platonic, universal ideal is to be found inparticular things, what he calls the essence of things.

Using the concept of essence, Aristotle reconcilesabstract thought with observation.

In Aristotelian science, we find the beginnings of aprimitive inductive method, although one that is basedon collections of objects rather than experimentation.

Aristotle (Greek: Aristotls) (384 BC 322 BC) was a Greek

philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great.



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History - Roger Bacon (1214-1294)

Roger Bacon, also known as Doctor Mirabilis (Latin:

"wonderful teacher"), English philosopher who placedconsiderable emphasis on empiricism, he was one of the

earliest European advocates of the modern scientific

method.

In his enunciation of a method (XIIIth - under dir. RobertGrosseteste and inspired by the writings of the Arab alchemists

who had preserved and built upon Aristotles portrait of induction),

described a repeating cycle of observation, hypothesis,

experimentation, and the need for independent verification.



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History - Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

Francis Bacon in Novum Organum (1620) attempted to describe a rational procedure

for establishing causation between phenomena.

He argued that scientific theories (or ratheraxioms) should remain as close to the

facts as possible.

His method made progress The lesser axiom in this case should be rooted in

experience obtained under stringent experimental conditions.

by successive stepsnot interrupted or broken,

we rise from particular to lesser axiom s;and then to middle axioms, one above the other;

and last to all to the most general.



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History - Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

Rules for the Direction of Mind (1619) established the framework for ascientific methods guiding principles.

Discourse on Method(1637) presented the four-precepts method:The first was never to accept anything for true which I did not clearly know to be

such; that is to say, carefully to avoid precipitancy and prejudice, and tocomprise nothing more in my judgement than what was presented to my mindso clearly and distinctly as to exclude all ground of methodical doubt.

The second, to divide each of the difficulties under examination into as many partsas possible, and as might be necessary for its adequate solution.

The third, to conduct my thoughts in such order that , by commencing with objects

the simplest and easiest to know, I might ascend little by little, and, as it were,step by step, to the knowledge of the more complex

And the last, in every case, to make enumerations so complete, and reviews sogeneral, that I might be assured that nothing was omitted.

Ren Descartes (French IPA: ['ne de'kat]) (March 31, 1596 February 11, 1650), also known as

Renatus Cartesius (latinized form), was a highly influential French philosopher, mathematician, scientist,

and writer.



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The Four Precepts (Descartes)



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Discussion

Both Bacon and Descartes wanted to provide a firm foundation for

scientific thought that avoided the descriptions of the mind and

senses.

Bacon envisaged that foundation as essentially physical and factual,

whereas Descartes trusted to logic and mathematics.

Are these suffice as foundation for scientific thought?

??



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Galileo Galilee and Isaac Newton

Galileo Galilei (1564 1642) was a Tuscan (Italian) physicist,mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major

role in the scientific revolution.

Sir Isaac Newton (/njutn/)(1643 1727) was an English physicist,mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, and alchemist. Histreatise Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, publishedin 1687, described universal gravitation and the three laws ofmotion, laying the groundwork for classical mechanics, whichdominated the scientific view of the physical universe for the nextthree centuries and is the basis for modern engineering. He showedthat the motions of objects on Earth and of celestial bodies are

governed by the same set of natural laws by demonstrating theconsistency between Kepler's laws of planetary motion and histheory of gravitation, thus removing the last doubts aboutheliocentrism and advancing the scientific revolution.



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History - Four Rules of Reasoning

Galileo Galilei combined quantitative experimentation and mathematical analysis to

permit the enunciation of general physical laws.

Isaac Newton systematized these laws in the Principia, which became a model that othersciences sought to emulate. His four Rules of Reasoningare:

1. We are to admit to more causes of natural things than such as are both true and sufficient toexplain their appearances.

2. Therefore to the same natural effects we must, as far as possible, assign the same causes.

3. The qualities of bodies, which admit neither intension nor remission of degrees, and which arefound to belong to all bodies within the reach of our experiments, are to be esteemed theuniversal qualities of all bodies whatsoever.

4. In experimental philosophy we are to look upon propositions collected by general induction from phenomena as accurately or very nearly true, notwithstanding any contrary hypotheses thatmay be imagine, till such time as other phenomena occur, by which they may either be mademore accurate, or liable to exceptions.



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Discussion

Why such rules?

Why Newton also left an admonition about a theory of everything:

To explain all nature is too difficult a task for any one man or even for any one

age. This is much better to do a little with certainty, and leave the rest for

others that come after you, than to explain all things.



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History - Principles of Reasoning

Some methods or reasoning were systematized by John Stuart Mills Systems of Logic, which are five

explicit statements of what can be discarded and whet can be kept while building a hypothesis.

John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 8 May 1873), British philosopher,

political economist, civil servant and Member of Parliament, was an

influential liberal thinker of the 19th century.

Direct Method of agreement

"If two or more instances of the phenomenon under investigation have only one circumstance in common, the

circumstance in which alone all the instances agree, is the cause (or effect) of the given phenomenon."

Method of difference

If an instance in which the phenomenon under investigation occurs, and an instance in which it does not occur, have

every circumstance in common save one, that one occurring only in the former; the circumstance in which alone the

two instances differ, is the effect, or the cause, or an indispensable part of the cause, of the phenomenon.

Joint method of agreement and difference

Symbolically, the Joint method of agreement and difference can be represented as:

A B C occur together with x y z

A D E occur together with x y w also B C occur with y z

Therefore A is the cause, or the effect, or a part of the cause of x.

Method of residues

If a range of factors are believed to cause a range of phenomena, and we have matched all the factors, except one,

with all the phenomena, except one, then the remaining phenomenon can be attributed to the remaining factor.

A B C occur together with x y z

B is known to be the cause of y

C is known to be the cause of z

Therefore A is the cause x.

Method of concomitant variations (with representing an increase):A B C occur together with x y z

A B C results in x y z.

Therefore A and x are causally connected



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History - Principles of Science

George Boole and William Stanley Jevons also wrote on the principles of reasoning (cf.

W.S. Jevons, 1874, 1877, The Principles of Science, 786pp., reprinted by Dover, 1958.) These attempts to systematize a scientific method were faced with the Problem of

Induction, which points out that inductive reasoning is not logically valid. David Hume setthe difficulty out in detail. Karl Popperargued that a hypothesis must be falsifiable.

Boole (1815-1864) Jevons (1835-1882) Hume (1711-1776) Sir Karl Popper

(1902-1994)



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No Single Scientific Method!

Difficulties with this have led to the rejection of the idea that there exists a single

method that applies to all science, and that serves to distinguish science from non-science.

In the past century, some statistical methods have been developed, for reasoning in theface of uncertainty, as an outgrowth of statistical hypothesis-testing to eliminate error, anecho of the program of Francis Bacons Novum Organum.

The Novum Organum is a philosophical work by Francis Baconpublished in 1620. The title translates as "new instrument". This is

a reference to Aristotle's work Organon which was his treatise on

logic and syllogism. In Novum Organum, Bacon details a newsystem of logic he believes to be superior to the old ways of

syllogism. For Bacon, finding the essence of a thing was a simple

process of reduction. In finding the cause of a phenomenal nature

such as heat, one must list all of the situations where heat is found.

Then another list should be drawn up, listing situations that aresimilar to those of the first list except for the lack of heat. A third

table lists situations where heat can vary. The form nature, or

cause, of heat must be that which is common to all instances in the

first table, is lacking from all instances of the second table and

varies by degree in instances of the third table.



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Mathematical vs. Scientific Method

George Plya's work on problem solving, the construction of mathematical proofs, and heuristic

show that mathematical method and scientific method differ in detail, while resembling each

other in the use of iterative or recursive steps.

Mathematical method Scientific method

1 Understanding Characterization from experience & observation

2 Analysis Hypothesis: a proposed explanation

3 Synthesis Deduction: prediction from the hypothesis4 Review/Extend Test and experiment

George Plya (1887 1985)



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Confusing enough?

If you are not confused by what is:

Science?

Scientific Method?

History of Science and Scientific Method?

Philosophy of Science?

Then wed need to restart again!

Else,

Go to the next slide.



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So Is There a Scientific Method?



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Scientific Research Method in Practice

Clearly, theres no singular, distinctive procedure for scientific discovery. In

practice, the Scientific Research Method consists in a list ofidentifiableactivities that are not necessarily sequential but each one describes oneaspect of a continuum, and aprocess with which the activities areperformed.

Some activities can be performed simultaneously,

Some activities can be more or less dominant, or

They can be re-iterated several times during the investigation.

The scientific process involves 3 major (reiterate-able) phases: formulatingthe problem/hypothesis; conducting the investigation; publishing results.

The quality of a scientific investigation depends also on the mentalaptitudes of the researchers performing the activities. These fundamentalaptitudes include creativity, objectivity, logical clarity, curiosity, scrutiny,

facility to analyze and synthesize, etc.



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(1) Activities in the Scientific Process

Study and discuss,

Recognize possible problems, Collect data; observe and describe,

Analyze a given problem, divide it into sub-problems,

Model a problem,

Set-up an experimental environment,

Formulate hypotheses,

Deduce consequences, make a decision (experiment),

Conduct experimentations, analyze results, test hypotheses,

Develop theoretical descriptions,

Write reports and/or papers,

Communicate thoughts, idea, and obtained results.

Help others!!!



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(2). Process

3 major phases:

Collecting information (literature search) and formulating research topic /

hypotheses.

Conducting research (modelling, simulation, testing, collect and analyze

results).

Writing reports, communicating results and problems.



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Formulating a Research Problem

Original problem

Discussions:modified problem

literature

or public ?

Finalize problemPlanning of tasks

Decision on

the problem

Bibliographic

Search



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Conducting Research

Finalize Problem

PlanningEvaluation

Expected Model

Experimentation

Observation

Reporting

Match?



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Conducting Research

Finalize Problem

PlanningEvaluation

Expected Model

Experimentation

Observation

Reporting

Match?

Modeling theProblem

SimulationTesting

Data Analysis

Communication



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Conducting Research

Example 1:

If the objective of the research concerns the development of a new, particular

electronic component, the investigators would have elaborated a model of the

component. When the development has progressed, a continuous evaluation

of the real thing wrt. the model is performed. If both match, we can

conclude that the investigation is successful.

Example 2: If the objective was the precise measurement of a particular fundamental

constant in the field of quantum physics, the model could be the portrait of the

physical phenomena. The experiments in this case would imply a series of

procedures for data collection rather than design issues.



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Research Methods

Relatives to different categories of data:

Method Historic documentary research,

Descriptive Synthesis observational derivation,

Analytical Synthesis quantifiable statistics,

Experimental Method uncertainty analysis.

Discussion:

What are the methods most used in scientific and technical research? Why?



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Publishing Results

Often considered as success criteria for a research.

One publishes principally: The results of the investigation,

The obtained progress during the investigation.

Relating to:

The proposed theoretical model,

The theory verified/evaluated by the investigation,

The method or approach to resolve the problem, The analysis of collected data,

The critics on the models or theories or methods proposed in the literature or publicdomain.

In brief, we publish discoveries (new elements of knowledge) contributing to thepublic corpus of knowledge of the field. Publication cab be either at scientificconferences (proceedings of the conferences) or in specialized journals wherediscoveries are challenged to panels of reviewers, experts in the field.



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Important Elements

Teamwork

Murphys Law: Nothing can be done individually. All discoveries are the fruit

of teamwork.

Research based upon a theory:

Very interesting in terms of obtained results.

Consists in the formulation of problem aiming at testing or validating /

invalidating a theory in a particular domain.

In a simplistic manner, a theory concerns the explanation of the behaviors of a

physical event. The more powerful a theory is, the more capable it is to

explain, in details or/and in diverse cases, the events or behaviors of the

phenomenon to which it applies.



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Required Capabilities

Different mental aptitudes are required for different stages of

scientific research process:

Creativity is needed in the development and clarification of a research topic.

Basically in the quest for a well formulated hypothesis.

Creativity = capacity to think in an imaginative and intuitive manner.

Objectivity, Logic, and Reasoning with clarity is needed in the design of

experiments; in the observation and evaluation of data obtained fromexperimentations.

Innovative Research Area, EEC


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European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation

Fundamental Aptitudes in Scientific

Research


Ob d D ib R l ti hi


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Observe and Describe Relationships

Observation implies selection:

A forest can be observed as a forest, not by the thousands trees; A tree can

be observed in whole and not by its structures of the leaves, and branches.

The interdependencies between observed elements must be wisely selected

in the manner to define the most crucial relations for the investigation and not

necessarily in an exhaustive manner.

Observation provokes description: Observed elements can be described by their descriptive parameters,

quantitatively showing evidence or quantifiable through objective metrics.

Observation can also trigger curiosity that leads to originality of research.


Ob ti


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Observation

Example: FibonacciSeries

Fi+1 = Fi-1 + Fi

A series of integers, each number is the sum of the two numbers that precedeits order. The first two numbers being 0 and 1.

The first terms are: 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144,..

Fibonacci, or Lonard de Pise, celebrity mathematician for having studied the works of thealgebraist Abu Kamil and for having introduced, after a comparative analysis between differentsystems, the Arabic Calculus and the Hinduism Calculus methods.


Ob ti


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Observation

Golden Section or division of a segment by mean and extremes

Golden Number

A B C

[AB] / [BC] = [BC] / [AC]

R = 0, 618 034


Ob ti


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Observation

If we consider in the Fibonacci series the ratio between an i-term to the i+1-term,

we find:1/2 = 0, 500 000 21/34 = 0, 617 647

3/5 = 0, 600 000 55/89 = 0, 617 978

8/13 = 0, 615 385 144/233 = 0, 618 026

One can note that the resulting values approach the golden number R = 0, 618 534

In such manner, the Fibonacci series is intimately linked to the golden number in thesense that the ratio of its successive terms tends to R when these terms grows in theseries.

This relationship is the baseline of the infamous Fibonacci Rectangles, and of theso-called Logarithmic Spiral whose surprising schemas are uncovered in +90% ofstructures of natural vegetables.

How could this mystery uncovered or How can we discover this nature?


Q ti i


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Questioning

Questioning all a-priorijudgments,

Collective judgments of scientists, when theres a substantial agreement,

constitute the corpus of sciences.

However, there have been cases where universal agreement was obtained

upon erroneous foundations. This case occurs more often with generalization

than with observation of the structure or phenomenon of the nature.

It would be wise to know how to question the facts, the theories or structuresthat support the research by using as many evidences and neutral

interpretation methods as possible.

Itd be possible that some facts could be demonstrated to be wrong in the

future, but theres no other means.


O Mi d


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Open Mind

Always ready to learn new things, The pleasure to learn is part of the nature of a researcher. Taoism philosophy: Theres always someone who possesses more

knowledge on any topic. Even on a topic that youre a master.

Always ready to communicate your understanding of the problem, Vocation or obligation?

Communication is an integral part of the job.

Debates always provoke more ideas.

Attention: to use with moderation!


S th ti Mi d


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Synthetic Mind

Synthesis helps analysis, and vice-versa,

Synthesis triggers a better organization of thoughts and vice-versa,

A good organization of thoughts is sine qua non for communication,and that:

Communication plays a very important role in research;

Murphys Law: Suppressing one every two words of a text, then you would besurprised!


C it t A l


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Capacity to Analyze

Analysis is necessary in all stages, but the need is more crucial

when you face with difficulty. Problem solving capacity requires priori the aptitude to understand the

problem from a large number of angles or viewpoints.

Knowledge acquired from studies is normally used in problem solving where

expression of problem has been transformed according to performed analysis.

Clarity in analysis, and the taste on essential viewpoints to the resolution ofa problem, is the proof of this capacity.

Documents

ScientificMethod Part I HCMUT-HCMUNS v2