What is science?

“Science is a way to . . . distinguish truth from fraud” ~ Richard Feynman

“Much of what we take to be true is seriously wrong” ~ Gore Vidal

So in the quest for truth, science begins with observations. We might make these observations in a less than formal way, as we live our everyday lives. From these observations we might mentally construct a hypothesis, which we try to disprove. After a number of failed attempts to disprove the hypothesis, we may just start to begin thinking that it is true. This is an indication of how we can generate research questions from common sense. Then we might approach the problem in a formal way, by posing a research question, and using sampling techniques we have learnt, record our observations.

Our observations have to then be analysed using statistical methods, for information as to what tests to apply, and for what set of data, see

This complete ‘learning module’ on the scientific method and statistical analysis was developed by Ian Curtis, as a postgraduate student at James Cook University in 2002, while working in the academic support division.