Have you ever had a problem that you needed to solve, or a question that you needed to answer? Scientists have this dilemma all the time and use the scientific method to solve problems and answer questions. The scientific method was developed to standardize scientific research. This clearly defined process to evaluate data and propose new ideas ensures that research has been properly conducted and analyzed. Further, the scientific method allows for reproduction of the experiment by other researchers and should lead to the same results every time.
For this week's Application, you will be asked to apply the scientific method related to an observation you can make in your own life.
To prepare for this Application:
- Review pp. 27-34 of the course text, Nutrition for Life, related to the scientific method and who you can trust to help you choose foods wisely.
- Also review the "Institute for Inquiry" website in this week's Resources.
- Bring to mind a case in your own life where you could use the scientific method, or elements of the scientific method, to solve a problem. Think about observations you make on a daily basis that are related to nutrition. This may include how many alcohol commercials play during sporting events on the television, how many coworkers bring sack lunches for lunch versus take-out or frozen lunches, or the number of sugary cereal commercials that play during cartoons on Saturday mornings, for example.
- Choose an observation related to nutrition that you have made around you that you would like to investigate using the scientific method.
- From your observation, propose a hypothesis. For example, "More alcohol commercials play during a basketball game on the television than during a made-for-TV movie for women."
- After you have determined your hypothesis, observe and collect data that will help you prove or disprove your hypothesis. (For the example hypothesis, this would include watching a basketball game and recording the number of alcohol commercials played during that game and then watching a made-for-TV movie for women and recording the number of alcohol commercials that play during that movie).