Learning Outcomes and Performance Indicators:

1. Comprehend the ideas and principles surrounding science, technology and society.
2. Distinguish the different sub-disciplines and interdisciplinary fields of science.
3. Develop hypotheses and experimental design, as well as to analyze data in order to draw
conclusions.
4. Demonstrate the steps of scientific method in practical activities and researches.

Content Outline
I. Definition of Terms
II. Branches of Science
III. Scientific Method

Science may be defined as the system Society emerged in the fifteenth century and is
of knowledge of the natural world gained derived from the French société. The French word, in turn,
through the scientific method. It was originally had its origin in the Latin societas, a "friendly association
called “philosophy of the natural world” since it is with others," from socius meaning "companion, associate,
comrade or business partner." Essential in the meaning of
stemmed from the ancient Greeks’ to know society is that its members share some mutual
about nature. Thus, the first scientists concern or interest, a common objective
were called “philosophers of or common characteristics, often a
nature.” They sought to common culture. A society is
characterized by common interest
discover the truth behind and may have distinctive culture
material things and natural and institution. It might be a nation
things. It was the task of such as the Philippines, a particular
philosophers to observe the ethnic group like Igorot, a broader
cultural group like Eastern Society or
world and beyond, and to Western Society. A society may also
discover what makes materials the include an organized group of people with
same and what makes them different political, cultural, religious, patriotic and
(McNamara et al., 2018). other purposes (New World Encyclopedia).

Technology comes from the Greek words “tekhne” which means “art or craft”, and “logia”, which means
“subject or interest.” Taken together, the term has come to mean the applications of what we know about na-
ture” using scientific principles for the betterment of human situation (McNamara et al., 2018).

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 Taken as one, Science, Technology, and Society (STS) is an academic field that emerged and
founded by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1976 as a result of questions about
science and technology’s dynamic interaction with various aspects of society and was thus viewed
as a socially embedded enterprise. STS generally, applies methods drawn from history, philosophy,
and sociology to study the nature of science and technology and ultimately judge their value and
place in the society.

1. CONSTRUCTIVISM. First and foremost, STS assumes scientific and technological

developments to be socially constructed phenomena. That is, science and
technology are inherently human, and hence value-laden, activities that are
always approached and understood cognitively. This view does not deny the
constraints imposed by nature on the physical reality of technological artifacts,
but it does maintain that knowledge and understanding of nature, of science,
and of technology are socially mediated processes.

2. CONTEXTUALISM. As a corollary to the notion of constructivism, it follows that

science and technology are historically, politically, and culturally
embedded, which means they can only be understood in context. To do
otherwise would be to deny their socially constructed nature. This does not
contradict reality, but does suggest that there are different contextualized
ways of knowing. Likewise, any given technological solution to a problem
must be seen as contextualized within the particular socio-political-
economic framework that gave rise to it.

3. PROBLEMATIZATION. A view of scientific knowledge and

especially technological development as value-laden, and hence
non-neutral, leads to the problematization of both. In this view
science and technology have societal implications, frequently
positive, but some negative, at least for some people. Thus it is not
only acceptable, but, indeed, necessary to query the essence of
scientific knowledge and the application of technological artifacts
and processes with an eye toward evaluative and ethical
prescription.

4. DEMOCRATIZATION. Given the problematic natures of science and technology, and accepting
their construction by society, leads to the notion of enhanced democratic control of
technoscience. Due to the inherent societal and ethical
implications, there need to be more explicit participatory
mechanisms for enhancing public participation in the
shaping and control of science and technology,
especially early in the decision-making process, when
the opportunity for effective input is greatest. The
ultimate goal is to structure science and technology in
ways that are collectively the most democratically
beneficial for society.

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 NATURAL SCIENCE /
FORMAL SCIENCE SOCIAL SCIENCE APPLIED SCIENCE
PURE SCIENCE

A science that derives Deals with abstract Deals with behavior of A discipline that is
theories and predic- concepts; uses mental individuals and groups used to apply existing
tions. It deals with the faculties. scientific knowledge
study of natural phenom- to develop more prac-
ena through observation, tical applications, for
experimentation and use example: technology
of scientific methods. or inventions.

PHYSICAL SCIENCE History Engineering:

Mathematics
deals with non-living
things Economy
Civil, Electrical,
Logic Chemical, Industrial,
Physics, Chemistry, Sociology
Earth Science, Electronics, Mechanical
Astronomy Statistics Law Computer science

LIFE SCIENCE Science Education

Medicine
deals with living things
Archaeology
Biology, Zoology, Pharmacy
Botany, Microbiology, Political Science
Molecular Biology
Dental care
Psychology

Science isn’t always easily divided into branches as there is much

INTERDISCIPLINARY overlap between them. When we consider all of the different
science subject areas. It can introduce a new study area by
SCIENCE
combining two of these science subjects.

BIOCHEMISTRY (Biology and Chemistry) - a branch of science concerned with the chemical
and physicochemical processes and substances that occur within living organisms.

GEOPHYSICS (Geology and Physics) - the study of the physics of the Earth and its environment in space.

ASTROBIOPHYSICS (Astronomy + Biology + Physics) - a field of intersection between astrophysics and

biophysics concerned with the influence of the astrophysical phenomena upon life on planet Earth or
some other planet in general.

ASTROBIOLOGY (Astronomy and Biology) - study life in outer space

GEOBIOLOGY (Geology and biology) - a relatively new scientific field that incorporates earth sciences and
biology to investigate how the physical Earth affects and interacts with the biosphere.

Moreover, Branches of science may also overlap with subjects outside of the natural science field, such as
mathematics, social sciences and philosophy.

BIOSTATISTICS (Biology and Statistics) - statistics applied to the collection, analysis, and interpretation of
biological data and especially data relating to human biology, health, and medicine.

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 A standardized way of making observations, gathering data, forming theories, testing
predictions, and interpreting results. Does this mean all scientists follow this exact process? No. Some
areas of science can be more easily tested than others.

For example, scientists studying how stars change as they age or how dinosaurs digested their
food cannot fast-forward a star's life by a million years or run medical exams on feeding dinosaurs to
test their hypotheses. When direct experimentation is not possible, scientists modify the scientific
method. In fact, there are probably as many versions of the scientific method as there are scientists!

But even when modified, the goal remains the same: to discover cause and effect
relationships by asking questions, carefully gathering and examining the evidence, and seeing if all
the available information can be combined in to a logical answer.

Steps of Scientific Method

1. Observe a natural phenomenon (qualitative and quantitative) and Define a
question about it.
Ask an important question that may improve our understanding of the world, a
researcher must first observe natural phenomena. By making observations, a
researcher can define a useful question. The scientific method starts when you ask
a question about something that you observe: How, What, When, Who, Which,
Why, or Where?

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 Use library and internet research to help you find the best way to do things and ensure that
you don't repeat mistakes from the past. For detailed help with this step, use these resources:
Background Research Plan
Finding Information

Bibliography

Research Paper
2. Make a hypothesis, or potential solution to the question.

State both your hypothesis and the resulting prediction you

will be testing. Predictions must be easy to measure. After finding
a question to answer, the researcher can then make a
prediction (a hypothesis) about what he or she thinks the answer
will be. This prediction is usually a statement about the
relationship between two or more variables.
The hypothesis, or suggested explanation for the observation, is
the basis for setting up experiments. A hypothesis is an educated
guess about how things work. It is an attempt to answer your
question with an explanation that can be tested. A good
hypothesis allows you to then make a prediction:

"If _____[I do this] _____, then _____[this]_____ will happen.

3. Test the hypothesis through experimentation.

Good experimental design is essential to the scientific method. A few keys to good
experimental design include effective use of controls, reproducibility, a large sample size, and
multiple trials. In an experiment, in order to determine that any changes that occur are due to
investigator manipulation only, there must be some basis for comparison.
Control Group

Used to establish a basis for comparison, a factor or condition that can influence the dependent
variable in an experiment, what is kept the same in an experiment.

Variables

Scientists try to figure out how the natural world works. In doing so, they use experiments to
search for cause and effect relationships. Cause and effect relationships explain why things
happen and allow you to reliably predict what will happen if you do something. In other words,
scientists design an experiment so that they can observe or measure if changes to one thing
cause something else to vary in a repeatable way.

The things that are changing in an experiment are called variables. A variable is any factor, trait,
or condition that can exist in differing amounts or types. An experiment usually has three kinds of
variables: independent, dependent, and controlled.

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 DEPENDENT VARIABLE /
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE CONTROLLED VARIABLES EXTRANEOUS VARIABLES
EXPERIMENTAL VARIABLE

The thing you have Actually being Quantities that a Any variable that
control over experimented upon scientist wants to you're not
remain constant, and investigating that can
“What you do” in the What is measured and
she or he must potentially affect the
experiment affected in an
observe them as outcomes of your
experiment
carefully as the research study.
The change that occurs dependent variables.
due to the independent
variable

Your experiment tests whether your prediction is accurate and thus your hypothesis is
supported or not. It is important for your experiment to be a fair test. You conduct a fair test by
making sure that you change only one factor at a time while keeping all other conditions the same.

You should also repeat your experiments several times to make sure that the first results weren't just
an accident.

4. Present and Analyze data.

Once experiment is complete, collect measurements and analyze to see

if they support the hypothesis or not. Organize data into tables and graphs for
easier visualizing of results. Interpret results and discuss your observations.

5. Draw conclusions.

Draw conclusions based on data and check if they agree with the
hypothesis. Find more evidence to support the hypothesis, look for
counter-evidence to further strengthen the hypothesis, revise the
hypothesis and create a new experiment, or continue to incorporate the
information gathered to answer the research question.

6. Communicate Results.

Communicate your results to others in a final report and/or a display board.

Professional scientists do almost exactly the same thing by publishing their final
report in a scientific journal or by presenting their results on a poster or during a
talk at a scientific meeting.

7. Formulate Theory and Law ( not all researches reaches this step).
A broad explanation that is widely accepted because it is supported by
SCIENTIFIC THEORIES
a great deal of evidence. Because it is so well supported, a scientific
theory has a very good chance of being a correct explanation for events in nature. Because it is a
broad explanation, it can explain many observations and pieces of evidence. In other words, it
can help connect and make sense of many phenomena in the natural world. Scientific theories
are more overarching explanations of how nature works and why it exhibits certain characteristics.

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 Scientific Laws are descriptions — often mathematical descriptions — of
SCIENTIFIC LAWS
natural phenomenon; for example, Newton's Law of Gravity or Mendel's
Law of Independent Assortment. These laws simply describe the observation. Not how or why they
work.
THEORIES Explains why we observe what we do and laws describe what happens.

USES OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

The scientific method is like a never ending road constantly growing and having numerous
possibilities for growth and improvement for any idea. In many aspects, it is the foundation for
science and everything that has been proven today. Throughout history, the scientific method has
been used to build theories, laws, and essentially create a platform for the scientific community to
contribute ideas to one another.

The scientific method is a process used not only by scientists but also people in the community
in order to come up with accurate and reliable answers to problems. It is a process of
experimenting and testing possible answers in order to verify the real answer or conclusion.

The following are the uses of the scientific methods:

A. AT HOME. Used to solve common house problems:

· Finding missing object. Scientific method is not limited to

experimentations and testing inside a laboratory. It can also
be used in any seemingly trivial problems, like a finding a
missing object. Using the scientific method in looking for
missing objects would make the search easier.

· House pest control. House pests like rats and cockroaches are unwanted visitors in
any household. One can use the scientific method to get rid of them. A
homeowner must first determine the most common targets of these pests,
then think of best way to get rid of them. This may require several attempts–or
experiments–until the homeowner stumble upon the most effective and most
efficient method of solving his or her pesky problem.

· Removing stains and dirt. The scientific method is applied

by the homeowner who thinks of ways to remove stains on
clothes and experiments which one of the many options is
the best way.

· Used in cooking. Cooking is a daily household activity that is

not easy to do. It requires a good deal of thinking and
experimenting. Since members of the family always demand for new
foods to satisfy their palate, the cook of the house must think of the
best-tasting recipe without spending too much for ingredients. This
process uses scientific method.

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B. THE COMMUNITY

· Solving crimes. The increasing number of crimes nowadays make the

police investigators the busiest practitioners of the scientific method. Every
crime requires them to gather evidence, study them closely, come up with
possible scenarios, determine suspects and recreate the events of the crime.
All these in order to come up with truth that will determine the faith of
everyone involved in the crime.

· Advertising. Advertisers use scientific method extensively. When advertising or

preparing new products, advertisers research on the best possible content of their
message so that it will draw the interest of the public. They experiment on what
features and animations to use in order to convince consumers that the product or
products are the ones they should buy.
· Making new products. In making a new product, the inventor
definitely uses scientific method. They think of the most com-
mon needs of the community in the present and in the future.
But before making the product available to the public, they
must test it for safety. Only after a conclusion is reached that
the product is safe and consumable that it becomes com-
mercialized.
C. DIFFERENT SUBJECT AREAS

· Used in an experimenting activity. At school, teachers try

to give assignments, like an investigatory project, that
require the use of scientific methods. Students who have
mastered the use of scientific method are likely to get
good grades, while those who do not are likely to fail the
assignment.
· Used in solving Mathematical Problem. When a mathematician attempts to create
a theorem, he tries to find out what would be the best formula for the problem. After
composing the formula (hypothesis), a mathematician performs experiments and
compare the results. Hence, the hypothesis that gets the best result or conclusion is
judged to be the best answer to the question.
D. MEDICINE

· Drugs and Pharmacology. Pharmaceuticals undergo the process of

scientific method to experiment on the effectiveness and effects of the drugs
they are formulating to give the best results. Scientific method played a key
role in making the effective medicines/drugs we are using today to treat
different illness.

· Surgeries and Treatments. Doctors also uses scientific method in finding a cure to a
certain illness. The surgeries that doctors perform today is a product of the experi-
ments they did in the past. Surgical tests and treatments are tested on humans so
the patients are giving consent with the procedure.

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 Even in simple things, people apply the scientific method. Although each one has his or her
own process, we, as rational beings, try the scientific method at one time or another to solve a
problem. We do not need to be scientists to come up with a correct conclusion or to do a perfect
experiment. Even scientists make mistakes sometimes. But we must try to be scientific in solving
problems because more often than not, their method produces the best results. We must emulate
their patience and their objectivity and humility in admitting failure whenever an experiment did not
result in our desired conclusion. We must always seek the truth; we must not settle for an imagined
“truth.”

LIMITATIONS OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

1. Scientific method does not encompass all of science. Science can be done this way, but it
doesn't have to be.

Here are a few examples of science projects that didn't follow the rules:

In 1928 Alexander Fleming accidentally left a cover off a petri dish used to cultivate bacteria.
The plate was contaminated by a mold that contained penicillin. In this case, there was no
problem or question to start with. It was an accident.
Albert Michelson and Edward Morley built an experiment to
measure the motion of the Earth through the "aether" (the material
that people believed light traveled through). The idea was to
measure the speed of light as the Earth moved in different
directions. Alas, they found that the speed of light was the same in
all directions. If they wrote this up as a science project, they would
end with "Our hypothesis was wrong." Of course, their experiment
led to the development of special relativity.

2. Influence of Bias and Prejudice

The scientific method attempts to minimize the influence of bias or

prejudice in the experimenter. Even the best-intentioned scientists can't
escape bias. It results from personal beliefs, as well as cultural beliefs, which
means any human filters information based on his or her own experience.
Unfortunately, this filtering process can cause a scientist to prefer one
outcome over another. For someone trying to solve a problem around the
house, succumbing to these kinds of biases is not such a big deal. But in the
scientific community, where results have to be reviewed and duplicated, bias
must be avoided at all costs.
Gregor Mendel (1822-1884), an Austrian priest who studied the inheritance of traits in pea
plants and helped pioneer the study of genetics, may have fallen victim to a kind of error known
as confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is the tendency to see data that supports a hypothesis
while ignoring data that does not. Some argue that Mendel obtained a certain result using a small
sample size, then continued collecting and censoring data to make sure his original result was
confirmed. Although subsequent experiments have proven Mendel's hypothesis, many people still
question his methods of experimentation.

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3. Low in Ecological Validity

Investigations are carried out in an artificial

environment, so the findings are not true to real life. SMITH et
al carried out a study on insomniacs where they slept in a
laboratory for three days. A laboratory is not a natural
environment where participants would usually sleep, and
therefore this may have acted as a confounding variable.

This is a disadvantage of the scientific method because it means the findings from the study
are not a true representation of real life behavior and therefore the findings are unrepresentative.
4. Investigator effects

This is where the researcher themselves has an effect on the re-

sults. PAVLOV carried out an experiment to see whether dogs could
be classically conditioned to associate a stimulus (e.g. the sound of a
bell) with food. He tested this by collecting their saliva. However, the
dogs may not have just associated the noise of the bell with the food,
the sight of Pavlov may also have been another factor that increased
their saliva production.
Therefore, this is a disadvantage of the scientific method because we cannot establish true
cause and effect, or which variable impacted the DV.
5. Demand characteristics

This is where participants change their behav-

ior to behave in a way in which they think the re-
searcher wants them to.

Therefore, this is a disadvantage of the scien-

tific method because if participants change their
behavior, then we do not get a true representation
of natural behavior in that situation. ultimately, this
would mean that the results are not reliable.

EXAMPLES OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

EXAMPLE 1

Observation: My toaster doesn’t work.

Question: Is something wrong with my electrical outlet?
Hypothesis: If something is wrong with the outlet, my coffeemaker also won’t work when plugged into it.
Experiment: I plug my coffeemaker into the outlet.

Result: My coffeemaker works!

Conclusion: My electrical outlet works, but my toaster still won’t toast my bread.

Refine the hypothesis: My toaster is broken.

From this point, the process would be repeated with a refined hypothesis.

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