Induction; Scientific method; Theory; Theory-driven; Theory-laden

Careful and systematic observation has long been recognized as an essential part of scientific investigation and a key element in scientific theory building, although views about the nature and status of scientific observation have undergone substantial change in recent years.

The traditional image of science asserts that observation provides a secure base of facts from which knowledge can be derived. It further asserts that the scientific endeavor begins with observation. Both these assertions are suspect. The supposed security of scientific observations rests on the assumption that human observers have direct access to the properties of the external world, that is, nothing enters the mind except by way of the senses and that the mind is a tabula rasa on which our senses inscribe a true and faithful record of the world. In other words, observations are independent of the opinions and expectations of the...