Describe the steps invoved in the solving a problem through biological method.
In solving a biological problem,biologist takes following steps:
- Recognition of biological problem
- Observation
- Hypothesis formulation
- Deductions
The details of these sters are as under:
Recognition of biological problem
Biologist go for adopting biological method when they encounter some biological problem.A biological is a query about life that is either asked by someone or comes in biologists mind by himself.
Observation
As the first step in solving a biological problem, the biologist recalls his/her previous observations or makes new ones.Observation are made with five senses of vision,hearing,smell,taste and touch.
Kinds of observation
Observations may be of two types:
Qualitative observations
Qualitative observations are considered less accurate then quantitative ones because the qualitative observations are variable and non-measurable and cannot be recorded in terms of number.
For example: The freezing point of water is colder than the boilong one litre of water is heavier than one litre of ethanol.
Quantitative of observation
Quantitative observation are considered are invariable and measurable and can be recorded in terms of number.
For example: the freezing point of water is 0 C and the boiling point is 100 C.
The mass of one litre water is 1000 grams while the mass of one litre ethanol is 789 grams.
Sources of Observation
Observation also include reading and studying what others have done in the past because scientific knowledge is ever-growing.Darwin not omly observed and took notes during his voyage,but he also read the works of other naturalists to form his theory of evolution.
Hypothesis formulation
Observation do not become scientific observations until they are organized and related to a question.
Definition
Biologist organizes his/her and others observations into data form and constructs a statement that may prove to be the answer of the biological problem under study. This tentative explanation of the observations is called a hypothesis.
Hypothesis may be defined as proposition that might be true.
Characteristics of a good hypothesis
- A hypothesis should have the following characteristics.
- Hypothesis should be a general statement.
- Hypothesis should be a tentative idea.
- Hypothesis should agree with available observations.
- Hypothesis should be kept as simple as possible.
- Hypothesis should testable and potentally falsifiable. In other words, there should be a way to show the hypothesis is false;a way to disprove the hypothesis.
Reasoning
A great deal of careful and creative thinking is necssary for the construction of a hypothesis. BIologists use reasoning to formulate a hypothesis.
Deduction
THe biologist draws deduction from the hypothesis.
Definition
Deductions are the logical consequences of the hypothesis.Deductions are also drawn by using inductive and deductive reasoning.Generally,in the biological method,if a particular hypothesis is true then one should expect a certain result. This involves the use of "if-then" logic.
Biologist cannot usually check every situation where a hypothesis might apply.Let's consider a hypothesis;"All plant cell have a nucleus."Biologist cannot examine every living plant and every plant that has evsr lived to see if this hypothesis is false.Instead,biologists generate deduction using reasoning. From the above hypothesis,a biologist can make the following deduction:
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