Scientific Evidence
Revision as of 10:35, 21 March 2019 by NRJC (talk | contribs) (Created page with "==Key Stage 4== ===Meaning=== '''Scientific evidence''' is any observations or results that are repeatable, reproducible and valid. ===About Scientific Ev...")
Key Stage 4
Meaning
Scientific evidence is any observations or results that are repeatable, reproducible and valid.
About Scientific Evidence
- Scientific evidence is intended to be objective which means anyone can observe the same evidence regardless of their beliefs.
- Scientific evidence is gathered following a set of practices designed to reduce the bias of the person performing the investigation.
- Scientific evidence is not the same as the evidence used in a court of law.
- Some forms of 'evidence' are not accepted by scientists, including:
- Anecdotal Evidence - 'Evidence' based on a personal experience. Scientists don't trust this because people can make mistakes, misunderstand something they've seen or even hallucinate or dream things which have not happened.
- Intuition - Ideas that seem true because they make sense are not counted as scientific evidence. Just because something seems reasonable, interesting or makes sense does not mean it is true.
- Tradition - Ideas that have been passed on through generations. Just because many people say something is true, doesn't mean it is true. Such ideas were usually made thousands of years ago at a time when the wheelbarrow was a state of the art invention and most people believed disease was caused by demons.