The Scientific Method

The importance of observation within scientific

literature
The Scientific Method
 Science is
the difference between what
we believe and what we know.
 It
is based on observation and
evidence
Peer review
 Why?
 To validate, to assess quality, originality of
scientific studies

 Who? Peers, colleagues within the same

academic field

 Safeguarding the integrity of

scholarly research
The Scientific Method
Observation
 Researchers observe a phenomenon in
the scientific world.

 What is already known and set as a

scientific truth

 Askthemselves a question that may

contribute to new ideas
Research on observation
 The researchers need to gather
information on what they know

 Reputable scientific
literature that
documents our knowledge of science –
up to date and current.

 Formulationof previous studies and

background that introduces the new idea
Have your doubts…question!!
Hypothesis
 Basedon knowledge and an idea one
formulates a hypothesis

A new idea that could be developed

Experimental procedure
 Collecting subjects for study-WHO?

 Deciding on their characteristics

INCLUSION / EXCLUSION CRITERIA
SELECTION CRITERIA
 Deciding on how to conduct the
experiment METHODOLOGY
 HOW? the procedures
 WHERE? The setting
Collecting results/outcomes
 RESULTS
 WHAT DID THEY FIND?
 STATISTICS
 PERCENTAGES
 GROUP SIMILARITIES/ DIFFERENCES
ANALYSING RESULTS
 INTERPRETATION OF THE RESULTS

 OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS OF WHAT WAS

FOUND

 CONCLUSIONS
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
WHAT WAS ACHIEVED AS A POSITIVE
OUTCOME?

WAS THE HYPOTHESIS OBTAINED?

THE DRAWBACKS, LIMITATIONS,THE

WEAKNESSES OF THE STUDY?
WHAT HINDERED? WHAT WERE THE
OBSTACLES?
DISCUSSION/ CONCLUSION
 What was the take home message?

 What was discovered?

 What is important?

 How can we use this in the future?

 LIMITATIONS OF STUDIES ARE
POTENTIAL OBJECTIVES OF FUTURE
RESEARCH
The scientific method in the title
WHAT? WHY? WHO? HOW?

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC

BY.
The scientific method in an Abstract
What? Why? Who? Where? How?
???
 Consumption of flavanol-containing cocoa products
has been shown to lower blood pressure .This study
aimed to examine the effect of three different doses
of cocoa flavanols on 24-h mean arterial BP. Twenty
four hour ambulatory BP monitoring was
performed in 32 men and 20 postmenopausal
women with untreated mild hypertension
Participants were randomized and instructed to
consume daily a reconstituted cocoa beverage.There
were significant reductions in 24-h systolic , diastolic
and mean arterial BP .These results support
previous evidence for CF to lower BP, however more
research is needed to establish the most effective
dose and food matrix
Science is evidence-based
 “….science isbased on observation and
reason. Science will win because it
works.”

 Stephen Hawking. Theoretical Physicist

Science or what?
The difference it makes…
 To be a scientist

 MEANS

 Questioning …..the
difference between
what we hear about and what we know

 SEARCH FOR EVIDENCE IN RESEARCH

 From observation to hypothesis
 “A
controlled trial of
humanpapillomavirus type 16 vaccine”

 What did the researchers observe

beforehand? The facts:-
 HPV is the most common sexually-
transmitted virus in the US
 Some types of HPV can cause cancer
 There are 40 different types of HPV
What is important as a hypothesis?
 HPV causes cervical cancer.

 HPV vaccine will protect people against

cancer.

 People who receive the vaccine will not

be affected by HPV
 People who receive the vaccine will not be
affected by HPV ----this is the point and will be
the objective of the study
From hypothesis to experiment
Gathering results
 Do the results reflect or support the original
idea?
 The researchers found that, of the 1,200
women in the control group, nine were
infected with HPV at the end of the study.
Of the 1,200 women in the experimental
group, zero were infected with HPV. Does
this result support the original hypothesis,
that the HPV vaccine would reduce HPV
infection?
Significance?
 Whether the outcome is significant often
depends on the size of study; the larger
the number of individuals enrolled, the
more convincing the results are likely to
be.
Limitations
 What were the weak points of the study?
 The variables? Drop-outs?

 Those weak points become

 OBSERVATION
 HYPOTHESIS
 For future studies