What are the first steps scientist take to analyze the cause of a disease?

The Scientific Method




Is a systematic procedure for solving problems and exploring natural phenomena


1.Observations (data)
are the foundation of the scientific method
data can be qualitative or quantitative.
data is most useful when collected under controlled conditions (experiments)
experiments must be repeatable and reproducible.


2. Natural laws
compactly summarize patterns in a large amount of data
often apply only under special conditions
are descriptions of nature, not facts or explanations.




3. Hypotheses
tentative explanations designed to guide experimentation
a useful hypothesis must be testable
must be rejected or corrected when they conflict with experiment.




4.Theories
a well-tested explanation for experimental data based on a set of hypotheses.must be discarded or refined when they can't explain new experimental results
scientific theories have three aspects: philosophical, mathematical, and empirical.
Understand all three, or risk misusing the theory!
a good theory...
explains currently available data
is as simple as possible (but no simpler!)
accurately predicts results of future experiments
suggests new lines of work and new ways to think
clearly shows underlying connections.




Serendipity and intuition
Many important scientific discoveries were not arrived at using the scientific method
Charles Goodyear - vulcanization of rubber
Teflon
Plastics
Saccharin
Microwave ovens

For more information:
http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/intro/index.shtml