We explain what scientific experimentation is, what it is for and its characteristics. Also, the types there are and some examples. Scientific experimentation tests hypotheses.What is scientific experimentation?
Scientific experimentation is the method or methods used by researchers (especially in the so-called hard or factual sciences) to test their hypotheses regarding a phenomenon or object being studied.
It is one of the steps of the scientific method and is based on the study of certain phenomena observed in nature or in the controlled environment of the laboratory. Experimentation consists of exposing the phenomenon or object being studied to certain variables in order to explain or predict results or causes and consequences.
Experimentation is used by scientists to demonstrate how certain natural phenomena of interest occur. For this, these phenomena must be replicated in a laboratory, controlling all the variables, in order to demonstrate that a hypothesis is not the product of chance, but of a universal law.
There are complex science experiments experiments, which take years of study, and simpler experiments, which allow a quick verification or refutation of the hypothesis posed. All of them are carried out in sciences such as biology, mathematics, chemistry and physics. For example: experimentation that is done to find the solution to a problem or experimentation that is done to find the cure to a disease.
A scientific experiment will be valid if all the steps of the scientific method are fulfilled. The scientific method is a procedure used in the sciences to study a phenomenon objectively and verifiablely, and is formed by certain steps: observation and problem raising, formulation of hypotheses, experimentation and analysis of data and conclusions. The scientific method emerged in the seventeenth century during the Scientific Revolutions brought about by the Modern Age (called the Age of Reason) and was perfected during the nineteenth century to the present day.
Scientific experimentation uses technology and different areas of knowledge to achieve the greatest degree of control and observation of the phenomena it replicates, so that it can reach a deep understanding of what happens in nature. The result of these experiments can then be published and studied by other scientists, who, if they repeat the experiment, must obtain similar results, since they are verifiable facts and not coincidences.
See also: Analytical methodWhat is scientific experimentation for? Experiments can test what is thought of nature.
Experimentation is the main way of proving the hypothetical knowledge of scientists, that is, it is the main method for discerning valid theories from invalid ones. It is of utmost importance because it is one of the necessary procedures to be able to generate new knowledge in the field of science.
Experimentation is a very important step within the scientific method because it allows to test a hypothesis and check if what is believed is valid and occurs in all cases or if, on the contrary, results are thrown that do not allow to explain a phenomenon in all cases. In experimentation, field studies are carried out and, in the event that the hypothesis is not proven, it must be discarded and a new hypothesis must be formulated.
This type of procedure arose with the appearance of the scientific method, which had its development with the Italian physicist and philosopher Galileo Galilei in the sixteenth / seventeenth century. In ancient times, science was conducted through reasoning and formal logical thinking, so that natural phenomena were given an interpretation according to the beliefs of the time.
The possibility of experimentation led to the factual and empirical verification of the phenomena of nature. The English philosopher Francis Bacon was another of the scientists of the sixteenth century who sought to set aside the knowledge obtained through deduction to seek empirical evidence through experimentation.
The use of experimentation is fundamental for the independent development of science and technology, because it allows us to understand more and better the functioning of living beings and the world around them. Experimentation allows the discovery of techniques and processes for the development of various sciences and disciplines, such as medicine, technology, biology, agriculture, mathematics, archaeology, among many others. Characteristics of scientific experimentation
To be taken into account as true, scientific experimentation must be:Verifiable. Other scientists must be able to carry out the same experiment under the same conditions and obtain the same result.Methodical. No element of the experiment can be left to chance, experimentation is a procedure that must be carried out in an orderly manner and all the variables at play must be taken into account.Objective. The opinion or feelings of the scientist, nor his personal views, cannot be taken into account, but there must be an objective description of what happened.True. The results of the experiment must be accepted and respected, whether or not they are expected, and in no case can they be falsified.Deterministic experimentation seeks to prove or disprove an already made hypothesis.
There are two types of experimentation according to the purpose pursued:Deterministic experimentation. They are those experiments in which the confirmation of a hypothesis is pursued, that is, it seeks to demonstrate or refute a scientific principle formulated previously.Random experimentation. They are those experiments in which the result to be obtained is unknown, since experimentation is simply carried out to know what is happening, that is, to expand what is known regarding a specific topic.Examples of scientific experimentation