Scientific Research and Communication — The Scientific Method

Getting it Right: R&D Methods for Science and Engineering, Second Edition, is an authoritative guide to the methodologies that produce coherent and complete R&D projects. Based on the author's experience in large industrial firms, this book addresses the avoidance of common pitfalls that engineers and scientists routinely face in industry and academia. Special emphasis is placed on the comprehensive analysis of project problems, requirements, objectives, the use of standard and consistent terminology and procedures, the design of rigorous and reproducible experiments, the appropriate reduction and interpretation of project results, and the effective communication of project design, methods, results, and conclusions, embedded in a clear and modern framework of the Scientific Method.

The scientific method delivers prosperity, yet scientific practice has become subject to corrupting influences from within and without the scientific community. This essential reference is intended to help remedy those threats. The authors identify eight essential criteria for the practice of science and provide checklists to help avoid costly failures in scientific practice. Not only for scientists, this book is for all stakeholders of the broad enterprise of science. Science administrators, research funders, journal editors, and policymakers alike will find practical guidance on how they can encourage scientific research that produces useful discoveries.

Research Methods: A Practical Guide for Students and Researchers is a practical guide on how to conduct research systematically and professionally. The book begins by distinguishing between causal and interpretive sciences. It then guides the reader on how to formulate the research question, review the literature, develop the hypothesis or framework, select a suitable research methodology, and analyze both quantitative and qualitative data. The revised edition includes three new chapters on time series (including spatial models), machine learning, and meta-analysis. In addition, existing chapters have been expanded to include more examples, digital research, and new material

The fundamental principles of the scientific method are essential for enhancing perspective, increasing productivity, and stimulating innovation. The examples and case studies drawn upon in this book span the physical, biological and social sciences; include applications in agriculture, engineering and medicine; and also explore science's interrelationships with disciplines in the humanities such as philosophy and law. Informed by position papers on science from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, National Academy of Sciences and National Science Foundation, this book aligns with a distinctively mainstream vision of science.

This book describes how one can use The Scientific Method to solve everyday problems including medical ailments, health issues, money management, traveling, shopping, cooking, household chores, etc. It illustrates how to exploit the information collected from our five senses, how to solve problems when no information is available for the present problem situation, how to increase our chances of success by redefining a problem, and how to extrapolate our capabilities by seeing a relationship among heretofore unrelated concepts.

This book looks at how science investigates the natural world around us. It is an examination of the scientific method, the foundation of science, and basis on which our scientific knowledge is built on. Written in a clear, concise, and colloquial style, the book addresses all concepts pertaining to the scientific method. It includes discussions on objective reality, hypotheses and theory, and the fundamental and inalienable role of experimental evidence in scientific knowledge. This collection of personal reflections on the scientific methodology shows the observations and daily uses of an experienced practitioner. Massimiliano Di Ventra also examines the limits of science and the errors we make when abusing its method in contexts that are not scientific, for example, in policymaking. By reflecting on the general method, the reader can critically sort through other types of scientific claims, and judge their ability to apply it in study and in practice.

From their grade school classrooms forward, students of science are encouraged to memorize and adhere to the "scientific method"--a model of inquiry consisting of five to seven neatly laid-out steps, often in the form of a flowchart. But walk into the office of a theoretical physicist or the laboratory of a biochemist and ask "Which step are you on?" and you will likely receive a blank stare. This is not how science works. But science does work, and here award-winning teacher and scholar Steven Gimbel provides students the tools to answer for themselves this question: What actually is the scientific method?

The book takes you through the main methods, tools and approaches used by health researchers and uses examples and case studies to highlight good and bad practice in research.