IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY

SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY ?

Scientific inquiry refers to the various methods through which scientists investigate the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence gathered. Students' actions that promote knowledge and understanding of scientific principles, as well as an understanding of how scientists examine the natural world, are referred to as inquiry. There are two basic functions of scientific inquiry. For starters, it explains how scientific investigation is carried out in practice. Second, it explains why scientific inquiry is successful in achieving genuine knowledge at the end of the process. Scientific inquiry expands beyond the formation of procedural skills like observing, inferring, classifying, predicting, measuring, questioning, interpreting and analyzing data, which must all happen in the right order for genuine scientific inquiry to take place. Also, scientific inquiry refers to the combination of traditional science techniques with scientific understanding, critical thinking, and scientific reasoning in order to acquire scientific knowledge. 

TESTING HYPOTHESIS

A hypothesis may be a proposed solution to clarify an unexplained occurrence that does not fit into a current accepted scientific theory within the world. The essential premise of a hypothesis is that no outcome is predetermined. To be called a scientific hypothesis, a hypothesis must be able to be validated or rejected through well designed experimentation or observation. Falsifiability and testability are terms used to describe this. Deriving predictions from hypotheses about the results of future tests, and then doing those experiments to check if they support the predictions, is a fundamental role in this step of the scientific process. In most cases, a hypothesis is written as the form of “if/then” statement. This statement expresses a possibility (if), and discusses what might happen as a result of it (then). "May" could also be included in the phrase. For example, “if sugar causes diabetes, then people who eat a lot of sweets may be more prone to diabetes”. 

Another example, to denote a kind of scientific hypothesis is “if CFL bulbs are harmful to human skin, then maybe CFL bulbs is a cause of skin cancer”. These examples can be identified as conditional statements, and these conditions are testable ones. So, depending on the situation, it can be valid or not. To assure the experiment's integrity and veracity, a hypothesis is frequently checked by multiple scientists. This procedure can take many years, and many theories never progress further in the scientific method because gathering sufficient supporting evidence is difficult. But, the majority of formal hypotheses are made up of concepts that can be linked and their connections tested.

SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE

Science's goal is to produce scientific knowledge. Scientific knowledge is a broad set of principles and hypotheses developed using the scientific process to describe a phenomenon or behavior of interest. Theories are systematic explanations of the underlying phenomenon or behavior, whereas laws are recognized patterns of occurrences or behaviors. For example, in physics, the Newtonian Laws of Motion describe what happens when an object is in a state of rest or motion (Newton’s First Law), what force is required to move a stationary object or to bring a moving object to a complete stop (Newton’s Second Law), and what happens when two objects collide (Newton’s Third Law). These three laws together form the foundation of classical mechanics, or the study of moving objects. Scientific study aims to find laws and propose ideas that may be used to explain natural or social occurrences, or to expand scientific knowledge. It's critical to recognize that this knowledge could be incomplete or even inaccurate.

Science is a method of learning about the natural world. The collection of information gathered via scientific inquiry is also included in the study of science. Scientists undertake scientific research by providing testable questions that can be carefully observed and accurate evidence gathered. Then they use a hypothesis, which means logical reasoning and some imagination to develop a testable idea along with explanations to explain the concept. Finally, scientists construct and conduct experiments based on their hypotheses.