Biology question about scientific method?

Question

Which of the following statements represents the most significant activity of science?

making careful observations and precise calculations about life around us
creative thinking to allow us to understand the mysteries of life
devising experiments that test whether our hypotheses and theories are correct
appreciating the significance of the diversity in life surrounding us
using concepts developed in the physical sciences to understand the mechanisms using by life in the biological sciencess

Answer 1

I'd say it's
"devising experiments that test whether our hypotheses and theories are correct"

The experiments can include careful observations and precise calculations.
Creative thinking is involved in the devising of experiments.
By simply hypothesizing & theorizing, scientists gain appreciation for the physical world.
And the devising of good experiments involved the understanding of previously developed concepts.

Answer 2

I'm guessing these ideas are from a biology class. If you talk at all with people studying or taking geology or astronomy, you won't find all this stuff about science requiring experiments. They use inference not deduction, so their approach to science is really different from mine as a biologist. As a biologist, though, I am most attracted to point three (devising expts to test our hypotheses and theories) as my modus operandi. But your question was phrased as a general one about science, so you should probably try to address what other sciences do as well as what biology does. One of the hard things today is addressing so-called creation science, which most scientists agree is NOT a science. But when they try to explain why not, the most convincing reasons tend to be discipline-specific, not general to all sciences. To me, the best answer is that sciences have to be open to questions and have some accepted method of being changed if new information is found. The method is a little different in each science. In creation science, the method is to deny that any change is possible based on a religious belief.

Answer 3

definitely devising and running experiments. The key characteristic of science is that you test your ideas in the real world to see if they are right.

Answer 4

my biology teacher just got through talking about this and in his opnion and mine it's the ability to observe because if you can't see things then you will not be able to predict things to make hypotheses, experiments, or gather your data!

Answer 5

extremely tough matter. try searching over a search engine. it might help!