Science+for+All+Americans

Science for All Americans
Chapter 1: The Nature of Science. (1993). . Retrieved September 23, 2009, from [].

What is Scientific Inquiry and its features?
“Scientific Inquiry is not easily described apart from the context of particular investigations. There simply is no fixed set of steps that scientists always follow, no one path that leads unerringly to scientific knowledge. There are, however, certain features of science that give it a distinctive character as a mode of inquiry. Although those features are especially characteristics of the work of professional scientists, __everyone__ can exercise them in __thinking scientifically__ about many matters of interest in everyday life.”

There are common elements to how knowledge is constructed in different disciplines, e.g. reliance on evidence, use of hypotheses and theories, the actual kinds of logic, etc.

Features of scientific inquiry include:

 * Science Demands Evidence (Observe & Measure Evidence or purposely alter conditions)
 * Science is a Blend of Logic and Imagination (Generate hypotheses, theories & scientific arguments)
 * Science Explains and Predicts (Validation is made through observations)
 * Scientists try to identify & Avoid Bias (Have different investigators working to avoid bias)
 * Science is Not authoritarian (Theories are judged by their results)