The scientific method

When a scientist attempts to obtain evidence related to a set hypothesis or collects data about a phenomenon to be explained, or tackle a problem which may come from consideration of some work, he or she applies a particular method of investigation. This rather well-defined procedure of obtaining knowledge has come to be known as the Scientific Method.

Simple description arbitrarily divides research into three stages. Stage one includes the dreams, the ideas, the exploratory work, selecting the problem, setting the objective, testing technical feasibility, and searching the literature. Stage two involves planning the experiment, conducting the experiment, checking the alternates, data taking, and data evaluation. Stage three is the solution of the problem – drawing conclusion and making recommendations.

But more fundamental approach to the essence of the scientific method argues that the steps in the procedure may be listed as follows:

1. The recognition of the problem. It may be stated as a question. (In this case each hypothesis can be regarded as a possible answer to the question or a possible explanation.)

2. Collection of experimental facts or data which are obtained by means of observations or measurements recorded during an investigation and analysed.

3. The results of the analysis are considered and a tentative hypothesis set up. Information from different sources can be brought for comparing.

4. Performance of test experiment or using other methods of data verification.

5. Substantiation, modification, or abandonment of the hypothesis in the light of the results of the previous step.

If the hypothesis is discarded because of the insufficient results of the data analysis, a new one is set up and steps three, four and five are repeated until a satisfactory explanation for all known data obtained in the test experiment is found. Additional hypotheses may also be put forward to provide other possible explanations.

As the amount of substantiating data becomes larger or when a hypothesis is generally accepted by scientists working in the field, it advances to the rank of a theory and eventually can be accepted as true. Accepting hypothesis leads to synthesis of information from different sources, various classifications or generalisations (stated as norms, concepts, principles, laws).

A theory leading to the statement of a principle or law has value not only because it accounts for observations which have been made, but also because it allows scientists to predict what will happen in future observations and experiments.

It should be noted that in general one adopts first the most obvious hypothesis; that is, the one that at the moment seems to offer the simplest explanation. But it may or may not prove to be satisfactory when new evidence is obtained.

In coming to a conclusion about any hypothesis the true scientist should be governed only by the experimental evidence and not by what he wants the results to be, or by reputation of those who advanced the hypothesis, by the views of the majority of researchers on it, or by any emotional reaction to the problem. Then the conclusion can be called objective.

Б) Расскажите о своем научном исследовании, опираясь на приведенное выше описание научного метода. Дополнительные сведения о научном методе и описание конкретных методов можно найти в Интернет-источниках (http://www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/1122science2.html; http://en.wikipedia.org /)

§ 4

А. Теоретическая часть.

В контексте научного общения, помимо имен существительных терминологического и нетерминологического характера и глаголов, часто используются и иные части речи, характеризующие как сами объекты научного познания, так и инструменты науки, результаты научных изысканий и научную деятельность в целом. Отдельные словосочетания существительных с прилагательными, глаголов с наречиями, ряд метафорических сравнений, идиоматические выражения, приобрели в научном дискурсе характер клише. Наиболее типичные для научной области коммуникации единицы английского языка приводятся ниже.

1. Имена прилагательные, характеризующиеся частотностью употребления, часто комбинируются с определенными существительными или рядом существительных, близких по общему смыслу (potential problem, possible solution, valuable method, explicit statement/comparison; relevant data/factor, etc). Прилагательные нередко сочетаются с предлогами (charactreristic of, suitable for, typical of, relative to, specific to, true to, etc). Имена прилагательные можно объединять в синонимические ряды (important = significant) или запоминать в антонимических парах (exact vs rough).

2. Наречия могут определенным образом характеризовать действие (generally, randomly, etc), или интенсифицировать какой-либо признак объекта (considerably, especially, very, etc), указывать на время совершения действия (nowadays, recently, etc). Особая группа наречий – наречия частотности (always, often, usually, rarely, etc). Как и имена прилагательные, разные наречия могут иметь синонимичное значение (especially = particularly), или характеризоваться как антонимичные (directly vs indirectly).

3. Прилагательные и наречия в формах различных степеней сравнения, наряду с причастием I, часто передают количественный смысл или выступают квантификаторами в сочетании с именами существительными (large/great amount of; fair, substantial, enormous, total, exceeding, etc). Иногда такие сочетания становятся устойчивыми (fewer and fewer; less and less; more and more; no fewer than; etc).

4. С целью обеспечения логики изложения информации, формальной и смысловой связанности речевого произведения, в научном контексте используются устойчивые фразы с предлогами (in conjunction with; in addition to; in spite of; etc) и клишированные выражения (on the whole; in general; in more detail; as far as; from the point of view; as regards; rather than; etc) неидиоматического характера.

5. Научное общение и научное творчество не лишено образности и выразительности, поэтому в устных высказываниях и письменных текстах часто используется стилистическая (the discussion was a real battle) и когнитивная (it was an illuminating discussion, the capital is raised by issue of shares) типы метафоры, что, помимо прочего, позволяет объяснить непонятное через сравнение с хорошо известным, например, сравнение со светом или темнотой, с военными действиями или конфликтами. Аналогично метафоре используются и идиоматические (фразеологические) выражения (remain in the dark) поговорки (the report shines a light on), и пословицы (a good beginning makes a good ending).

Б. Практическая часть.

Задание 1. Проанализируйте подчеркнутые части приведенных ниже предложений с точки зрения использования прилагательных, причастий, наречий и устойчивых выражений. Переведите предложения.

1. The dissertation contains only rough estimates of the population involvment in nature protection. 2. Both quantitative and qualitative research is necessary to gain a full picture of the situation. 3. This response to the questionnaire was specific to young male respondents. 4. Material objects are objects existing in a form that can be seen or felt. 5. To put it simply, the risks of this approach can overweigh its advantages. 6. There are approximately 30 varieties of this plant in South America. 7.The report revealed the glaring discrepancy between people’s needs and politicians’ decisions. 8.There is a widespread belief that the government policy in the field of education should be changed. 9. The Chairman welcomed the participants of the conference on behalf of the President. 10. They decided to consider the topic in more detail, i.e.(that is) from the point of view of the situation uncertainty.

Задание 2. Замените подчеркнутые слова и словосочетания в предложениях синонимичными, выбрав из перечисленных ниже:

in most respects, appropriate, on the whole, particular, relevant to, rather than, apparent, although I accept that this is true; typical of, largely.

1. Scientists need to plan technologies which are suitable for the requirements of manufacturers. 2. Is it possible to make science connected to the problems of health care? 3. Combining research methods is characteristic of the situation in many branches of science. 4. The seeming discrepancy between the two sets of results can be due to different methods of calculation. 5. The discussion was mostly successful. 6. Generally, the theory was accepted by the academic community. 7. Special attention has been given to the problem of space flights. 8. Considering most aspects of your work it was a thorough investigation. 9. You should use an eight-point scale in the questionnaire, as opposed to a four-point one. 10. Be that as it may, there is some evidence of misinterpretation of the obtained data.

Задание 3. А) установите соответствие между следующими существительными и прилагательными:

Nouns: significance, relevance, interest, frequency, importance, value, use.

Adjectives: important, significant, valuable, useful, relevant, frequent, interesting.

Б) Замените в следующих предложениях выделенные существительные именами прилагательными. Измените, где необходимо, грамматическую структуру предложения и замените предлог.

1. Jones’s work has great r elevance for our further study. 2. The value of their research to anyone interested in economic planning is great. 3. At first, politicians could not evaluate the importance of this event for the history of Latin America. 4. The lecturer spoke about the significance of Shannon’s book for the development of cybernetics. 5. The use of software is required for the analysis of large amounts of numerical data. 6. The method she outlines is of great interest to biologists. 7. The frequency of the expression “on the whole” in academic writing is noted by linguists.

Задание 4. Проанализируйте, как изменяется смысл в зависимости от выбора одного из антонимичных слов в следующих предложениях.

1. For this reason / for no reason he decided to repeat the experiment.

2. More and more / fewer and fewer people are staying in the same job throughout their lives.

3. Professor Jones is explicitly / implicitly critical of modern theories of economic growth.

4. They seldom / often complained that they could not persuade the head of the department to start the experiment.

5. Some small errors in the calculations are directly / indirectly linked to the human factor.

6. The human brain is a remarkably complex / simple organic computer.

7. Their observations gave quite an unexpected / quite expected results.

Задание 5. Прочтите следующий текст и найдите в нем устойчивые предложные фразы. Переведите текст. Используйте выявленные фразы в своем сообщении о научной работе.

I’d like to speak about our study on behalf of the whole team of researchers. Our interest in the subject came about as a result of discovering some old notes of Ptofessor Jones in his archive. They contained, for the most part, description of anti-social or even aggressive behaviour of his patients, but no conclusion about causes of this aggression was made.

Задание 6. Поставьте пропущенные предлоги, проверив правильность выбора с помощью словаря. Переведите предложения. Составьте свои предложения с полученными словосочетаниями.

1. The book was written by Professor Jones … conjunction … his colleagues from the Trinity College. 2. This is a very detailed description of the phenomena … comparison … to the previous one. 3. There are a number of appendices in this volume … addition … the main text. 4. … the exception … the final part, the article provides new information about these events. 5. Her recent paper is … line … modern psychological practice. 6. … spite … the conventionality of the topic, the report contains many fascinating examples. 7. This academic work may be … some interest …the general reader. 8. … the whole, the conference was a great success.

Задание 7.

A. Read the text and analyse its structural and logic division. Find set expressions and metaphors in the text.