The ultimate goal of science: Defensible explanatory accounts of the way the natural world works.

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The ultimate goal of science Defensible
explanatory accounts of the way the natural world
works.
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How do various forms of scientific knowledge
contribute to this goal?

• Theories
• Laws
• Models
• Hypotheses

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Modelsgenerators of ideas to test

• The most broadly applied of all forms of
  knowledge
• They are representations of how something is
  structured or how something works
• They are the testable subsets of theories
• Note! People typically believe models are only
  the outcome of investigation, but their primary
  purpose in science is to generate novel and
  productive ideas to test.

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Hypotheses-- Are testable pieces of models

• If, in my current model, _____ is true, then I
  would expect ____ to happen in my study
  because________.

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Theories explanation/ cause

• Explanations of how some aspect of the natural
  world works (statements of cause or underlying
  mechanisms)
• They make statements that go beyond what is
  directly observable

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Lawsdescription

• Descriptions of relationships in systems in the
  natural world
• Laws do not offer explanations
• Note! Theories never become laws, but theories
  can help explain why laws seem to work