Abstract
Although we tend to speak of hypotheses, theories, and laws as though they were clearly differentiated, this is not the case; the distinctions are not clear and are primarily a matter of belief regarding how well relationships that have been conjectured are supported by evidence. But scientific theories and laws are far more than just matters of faith; they are also the product of a methodology that has developed via continual confrontation with reality. It is not an exaggeration to state that scientific theories and laws are the most reliable forms of generalization produced by rational human activity. Faith and rationality can co-exist in science in a most vital symbiosis!
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Notes
- 1.
We will see later on when the focus is on the test of hypotheses that this is the so-called “alternative hypothesis”, the hypothesis we are interested in and that motivates the study. The “null hypothesis” here would be that the behaviour of the dogs and monkeys in the ashram is not different from dogs and monkeys who do not frequent the ashram.
- 2.
It should be noted here that Einstein did not just formulate his theory (which, in fact was a hypothesis that later became accepted as a theory) on the basis of intuition; his formulation of relativity theory was preceded by the Michelson-Morley experiment on the velocity of light.
- 3.
The term “model”, which we have met several times until now, is often used interchangeably with “theory”, although it most often refers to a representation of a theory. In the case of many of the natural sciences, this representation is most often in the form of a mathematical model, i.e. a system of equations representing the interrelationships between variables. The term “model” often refers as well to physical or pictorial representations. Examples could be a physical structure representing a geocentric model of the universe or a visual model created on a computer (and generated by a mathematical model) of the double helix of DNA with its two polynucleotide strands woven around each other and running in opposite directions.
- 4.
Having just considered an example involving fossils, I am tempted to mention that what is considered by many to be one of, if not the most successful and fundamental theories in the biosciences, that of evolution, is regarded by a number of leading scientists as a research programme rather than a theory. Aside from some of the programme’s underlying partial theories (dealing with such matters as macro- and microevolution and the molecular and genetic basis for the form and function of organisms), it has not been formalized, and there exist significant controversies as to its content and form (e.g. as to whether the development of new organisms has been more or less continuous or whether revolutionary changes such as the sudden development of completely different organisms have occurred)—as well as to whether the programme’s representations of organisms’ abilities to adapt, compete, cooperate and survive in fact represent a teleological perspective on the development of organisms. See e.g. (Depew and Weber 1996) and (Ward and Brownlee 2004).
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Pruzan, P. (2016). Hypotheses, Theories and Laws. In: Research Methodology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27167-5_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27167-5_3
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