IBP Psychology and Science

Chapter 3: Experiment

Facts:

• What is needed in science is not just facts but relevant facts
• If there are facts that constitute the basis for science, then those facts come in the form of experimental results rather than observable facts.
• If experimental results constitute the facts on which science is based, then they are certainly not straightforwardly given via the senses. They have to be worked for, and their establishment involves considerable know-how and practical trial and error as well as exploitation of the available technology.

Historical example: Hertz and Thomson

• Hertz concluded that cathode rays are not beams of charged particles. He reached this conclusion in part because the rays did not seem to be deflected when they were subjected to an electric field perpendicular to their direction of motion as would be expected of a beam of charged particles.
• J. J. Thomson had conducted experiments that showed convincingly that cathode rays are deflected by electric and magnetic fields in a way that is consistent with their being beams of charged particles and was able to measure the ratio of the electric charge to the mass of the particles.
• It was improved technology and improved understanding of the situation that made it possible for Thomson to improve on and reject Hertz’s experimental results.

However informed by theory an experiment is, there is a strong sense in which the results of an experiment are determined by the world and not by the theories.

The attempt to test the adequacy of scientific theories against experimental results is a meaningful quest. What is more, the history of science gives us examples of cases where the challenge was successfully met.

Resources:

What is This Thing Called Science 4^th Edition (CHALMERS