1. Outline of the Scientific Method
Dr. Carlson’s Description of the Scientific Method
Observation or other source of inspiration
Form two or more hypotheses
Discard those contradicted by previous experience
Design experiment
Perform experiment and record data
Analyze data
Check for errors and repeat steps 4 – 6 as needed
Report your results for critical review by others
Repeat step 2 – 8
Once it has survived a several cycles it becomes a theory
Repeat in a wide variety of situations over time
Once it has survived a large variety of tests, it becomes a law

2. The Importance of Publication
Reporting Results
The Importance of Publication
In science, results are submitted to journals for peer review and publication
Editors send out the submissions to experts, who critically review the work and (are supposed to) check for errors
They are supposed to spot errors of reasoning, etc.
They aren’t checking for fraud or faked data
They aren’t redoing any of the experiments
Often, they will make recommendations for improvements in the paper before publication
Sometimes, papers will be entirely rejected for publication
Authors are then free to attempt to submit it elsewhere

3. Publicity and Pre-Publication
Because of the fast pace of information exchange, papers are generally available to other scientists even before they are accepted for publication
Because of inevitable gossip between scientists, there is often leakage of results even before a paper is submitted
For important results, there will commonly be news releases as well
This can often lead to embarrassing false public perceptions
Neutrinos were discovered to move faster than light
Until it was found that there was an error in the measurement
This problem is probably not really solvable

4. Context of Scientific Publications
In general, a scientific publication should include the context of the research
This should include a complete reference to any previous work on the subject
Reference should make it easy for anyone else to track it down
For example, previous studies are cited and their significance is discussed
Also, their inadequacies
Then you explain how your study is going to go beyond this and provide information that was not previously known
We skipped this for our exercises, to minimize your work
Plus it’s unlikely you’re actually going to do it better than anyone previously has done it

5. References in Book Reports
One of the most common questions I get asked about book reports is how should references be handled
In summary: I should be able to quickly find anything your reference
In detail: Anything you previously learned is probably fine, so you don’t have to follow my detailed suggestions
At end of paper, give a complete list of sources
Books: name of book, author, publisher, publication date
Magazines: name of article, author, magazine, publisher, publication date, page range
Web: name of page (if possible), author/source, full web address URL
Anything you state in your book report that is not just your own opinion should be referenced (Carlson, p. 37) (Carlson, 2017, p. 37) (Carlson, 2017a, p. 37)
Anything that you quote must be put in quotes and referenced
Plagiarism is an honors code violation!

6. What Information is Required in a Paper for Publication?
One of the hallmarks of science is that its results are reproducible
Therefore, it is necessary to describe all the parameters that are necessary for someone else to do the same experiment or theoretical work that the authors did
Any specialized equipment that was used to measure results must be described in detail
In experimental work, the specific brand name and model of equipment is often given
All the data has to be accessible, at least in summary form

7. Examples of Which Information to Include
Consider the Astrology test which you recently completed
Imagine you are publishing your results, and you want to make sure others can reproduce your results
Which of the following information is really important for the Astrology test we did?
That it was performed as a FYS exercise
The number of people who were gathering data
The questions that were asked of the subjects before they were included
What about exact wording of the questions?
That the subjects were (probably) all college age students
The data as broken down by each individual interviewer
The summary of the data for the whole class
The statistical calculations used to calculate probabilities

8. Homework 7
I will try to post this homework on the web no later than midnight tonight
Based on “Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon,” 2001 documentary
We will watch the documentary, naively
What is the impression you come away with at the end of it?
We will then read commentary on it
Mostly relying on commentary by Phil Plaitt, the “Bad Astronomer”
We’ll start by reading an overall description by him
Then we’ll read a selection of sixteen refutations by him
And four more refutations on issues not discussed in the film
By next Tuesday, you should have read your groups selections
And next Thursday, your group will give its presentation

9. Homework 7
Based on “Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon,” 2001 documentary
Every group must discuss four issues chosen from below
A) 20% believe in the conspiracy
B) The Capricorn-1 tie-in
C) No stars in pictures
D) No blast crater
E) Dust around the lander
F) Deep, dark shadows
G) Non-parallel shadows
H) Identical backgrounds
I) More identical backgrounds
J) Lander unable to balance itself
K) No flames from lunar launch
L) Astronauts shot footage in slow motion
M) The waving flag
N) Why was every picture perfect?
O) Missing cross-hairs in photos
P) The deadly radiation in space
Q) Lunar reflectors
R) Lunar rocks
S) Independent verification at the time
T) Images of Lunar landers by sub-sequent spacecraft