Observation is the active acquisition of information from the primary source. In living things, observations use the senses. In science, observation can also involve recording data through the use of scientific instruments. This term may also refer to data collected during scientific activities. Observations can be qualitative, that is, only the absence or existence of a property is recorded, or quantitative if the numerical value is attached to the observed phenomenon by computing or measuring.
Video Observation
Observation in science
Scientific methods require natural observations to formulate and test hypotheses. It consists of these steps:
- Ask questions about natural phenomena
- Create phenomena observations
- Hypothesize explanations for phenomena
- Predict the logical and observable consequences of untested hypotheses
- Test hypothesis predictions with experiments, observational studies, field studies, or simulations
- Make inferences from the data collected in the experiment, or create a new revised hypothesis/and repeat the process
- Write descriptions of observation methods and results or conclusions reach
- Review results by peers with experience researching the same phenomenon
Observations play a role in the second and fifth steps of the scientific method. But the need for reproducibility requires that observations by different observers be compared. Human taste is subjective and qualitative, making them difficult to record or compare. The use of measurements was developed to allow for the recording and comparison of observations made at different times and places, by different people. Measurements consist of using observations to compare observed phenomena to standard units. Standard units can be artifacts, processes, or definitions that can be duplicated or shared by all observers. In the measurement of the number of units of the same standard with the observations calculated. The measurement reduces the observation to a number that can be recorded, and two observations that produce the same number are the same in the process resolution.
The senses are limited, and subject to errors in perceptions such as optical illusions. Scientific instruments are developed to improve human observational power, such as scales, clocks, telescopes, microscopes, thermometers, cameras, and tape recorders, and also translated into events that can be seen by the human senses, such as dye indicators, voltmeter. , spectrometers, infrared cameras, oscilloscopes, interferometers, geiger counters, and radio receivers.
One problem encountered throughout the scientific field is that observations can affect the observed process, yielding different results than if the process was not observed. This is called the observer effect . For example, it is usually not possible to check the air pressure in a car tire without removing some air, thereby changing the pressure. However, in most areas of science it is possible to reduce the effect of observations on meaninglessness by using better instruments.
Considered as the physical process itself, all forms of observation (human or instrumental) involve amplification and thus an irreversible thermodynamic process, increasing entropy.
Maps Observation
Observational paradox
In some fields certain observations differ depending on factors that are not important in daily observations. This is usually illustrated by the "paradox" in which an event looks different when observed from two different viewpoints, which seem to violate "common sense".
- Relativity: In relativistic physics related to speed near the speed of light, it was discovered that different observers can observe different values ​​for length, time, mass, and many other properties of an object , depending on the observer's velocity relative to the object. For example, in twin paradoxes, a twin travels near the speed of light and goes home younger than the twin who lives at home. This is not a paradox: time passes at a slower speed when measured from the frame that moves against the object. In relativistic physics, observations must always qualify by determining the state of motion of the observer, the frame of reference.
- Quantum mechanics: In quantum mechanics, which deals with very small object behavior, it is impossible to observe the system without altering the system, and the "observer" must be considered part of the system observed. In isolation, quantum objects are represented by wave functions that often exist in superpositions or mixtures of different countries. However, when the observation is done to determine the actual location or state of the object, it always finds the object in one state, rather than "mixed". The interaction of the observation process seems to "undermine" the wave function into one state. Thus any interaction between the isolated wave function and the external world resulting in the collapse of this wave function is called observation or measurement , whether it is part of intentional observation or not. process.
Bias
The human senses do not function like video camcorders, without siding recording all observations. Human perception occurs by a complex and unconscious abstraction process, in which certain details of the incoming sensory data are noticed and remembered, and the rest are forgotten. What is stored and what is discarded depends on the internal model or the representation of the world, called by the psychologist is a scheme built on our whole life. Data is installed in this scheme. Then when events are remembered, the memory slots can even be filled by the "sensible" data made by the mind to adjust the model; this is called reconstructive memory . How much attention the various perceived data is given depends on the internal value system, which assesses how important it is for the individual. So two people can see the same event and go with a completely different perception, even disagree about the simple facts. This is why eyewitness testimony is so unreliable.
Some of the more important ways of observation may be influenced by human psychology given below.
Confirmation bias
Human observations are biased to confirm the conscious and unconscious expectations of observers and worldviews; we " see what we expect to see ". In psychology, this is called confirmation bias. Since the object of scientific research is the discovery of a new phenomenon, this bias can and has led to new discoveries being ignored; one such example is the discovery of x-rays. It can also lead to false scientific support for the myth of culture widely, on the other hand, as in scientific racism that supports the ideas of racial superiority at the beginning of the 20th century. Correct scientific engineering emphasizes the careful recording of observations, separating experimental observations from conclusions drawn from them, and techniques such as blind or double blind experiment, to minimize observational bias.
Science "Cargo cult"
Another bias, which has become more common with the emergence of "great science" and the great rewards of new discoveries, the bias that supports the researcher's intended hypothesis or outcome; we " see what we want to see ". Called pathological science and the science of cargo sects, this differs from intentional falsification of results, and can occur in well-meaning researchers. Researchers with large incentives or desires for a particular result can misinterpret or misjudge the results, or even persuade themselves that they have seen something they do not have. Possible examples of incorrect findings caused by this bias are Mars's "canals", N-rays, polyamides, cold fusion, and perpetual motion machines. The last few decades have seen scientific scandals caused by the researchers playing "fast and loose" with observational methods to get their pet theory published. This type of bias is rampant in pseudosain, where true scientific technique is not followed. Major defenses against this bias, in addition to proper research techniques, are peer review and repetition of experiments, or observations, by other researchers without incentives for bias. For example, emerging practices in the competitive field of biotechnology require that the physical results of experiments, such as serum and tissue culture, be provided for laboratories that compete for independent testing.
Processing bias
Modern scientific instruments can extensively process "observations" before being presented to the human senses, and in particular with computerized instruments, there are sometimes questions about where in the data processing chain "observing" the ends and "conclusions of conclusions" begin. This has recently been a problem with digitally upgraded images published as experimental data in papers in scientific journals. The images are enhanced to produce features that the researcher wants to emphasize, but this also has the effect of supporting the researcher's conclusions. This is a form of bias that is difficult to measure. Several scientific journals have begun to set detailed standards for what type of image processing is permitted in the research results. Computerized instruments often store copies of "raw data" from sensors before they are processed, which is a final defense against processing bias, and the same scientific standards require the preservation of an unreliable "raw" version of the original versions used as research data.
Observational bias
An observational bias occurs when researchers only see where they think they will find positive results, or where it is easy to record observations. This is called the "streetlight effect".
Observations in philosophy
"Always observe that everything is the result of change, and make it a habit to think that no one loves Nature well to change the existing form and make new ones like them."
Observation in philosophical terms is the process of filtering sensory information through thought processes. Input is received by hearing, sight, smell, tasting, or touching and then analyzed through rational or irrational thinking. You see parents beat their child; You observe that such actions are good or bad. Reductions about what behaviors are good or bad may not be based on preferences about building relationships, or studying the consequences resulting from the observed behavior. With the passage of time, impressions are kept in awareness about many related observations, along with the resulting relationships and consequences, allowing individuals to construct a construction about the moral implications of behavior.
See also
- Introspection
- List of cognitive biases
- Naturalistic observation
- Observational astronomy
- Observation error
- Observational learning
- Observational research
- Quantity that can be observed
- Observation and Measurements
- Observatory
- The observer effect
- The uncertainty principle
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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