Observation

Observation in the

The scientific method requires observations of natural phenomena to formulate and test hypotheses.^[3] It consists of the following steps:^[4][5]

1. Ask a question about a natural phenomenon
2. Make observations of the phenomenon
3. Formulate a hypothesis that tentatively answers the question
4. Predict logical, observable consequences of the hypothesis that have not yet been investigated
5. Test the hypothesis' predictions by an experiment, observational study, field study, or simulation
6. Draw a conclusion from data gathered in the experiment, or revise the hypothesis or form a new one and repeat the process
7. Write a descriptive method of observation and the results or conclusions reached
8. Have peers with experience researching the same phenomenon evaluate the results

Observations play a role in the second and fifth steps of the scientific method. However, the need for

One problem encountered throughout scientific fields is that the observation may affect the process being observed, resulting in a different outcome than if the process was unobserved. This is called the observer effect. For example, it is not normally possible to check the air pressure in an automobile tire without letting out some of the air, thereby changing the pressure. However, in most fields of science, it is possible to reduce the effects of observation to insignificance by using better instruments.

Considered as a physical process itself, all forms of observation (human or instrumental) involve

In some specific fields of science, the results of observation differ depending on factors that are not important in everyday observation. These are usually illustrated with apparent "paradoxes" in which an event appears different when observed from two different points of view, seeming to violate "common sense".

• Relativity: In
  relativistic physics which deals with velocities close to the speed of light, it is found that different observers may observe different values for the length, time rates, mass, and many other properties of an object, depending on the observer's velocity relative to the object. For example, in the twin paradox one twin goes on a trip near the speed of light and comes home younger than the twin who stayed at home. This is not a paradox: time passes at a slower rate when measured from a frame moving concerning the object.^{[clarification needed]} In relativistic physics, an observation must always be qualified by specifying the state of motion of the observer, its reference frame.^{[citation needed}
  ]
• Quantum mechanics: In quantum mechanics, which deals with the behavior of very small objects, it is not possible to observe a system without changing the system, and the "observer" must be considered part of the system being observed. In isolation, quantum objects are represented by a wave function which often exists in a superposition or mixture of different states. However, when an observation is made to determine the actual location or state of the object, it always finds the object in a single state, not a "mixture". The interaction of the observation process appears to "collapse" the wave function into a single state. So any interaction between an isolated wave function and the external world that results in this wave function collapse is called an observation or measurement, whether or not it is part of a deliberate observation process.

Biases

The human senses do not function like a video camcorder, impartially recording all observations.^[6] Human perception occurs by a complex, unconscious process of abstraction, in which certain details of the incoming sense data are noticed and remembered, and the rest is forgotten. What is kept and what is thrown away depends on an internal model or representation of the world, called by psychologists a schema, that is built up over our entire lives. The data is fitted into this schema. Later when events are remembered, memory gaps may even be filled by "plausible" data the mind makes up to fit the model; this is called reconstructive memory. How much attention the various perceived data are given depends on an internal value system, which judges how important it is to the individual. Thus two people can view the same event and come away with entirely different perceptions of it, even disagreeing about simple facts. This is why eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable.^{[citation needed]}

Several of the more important ways observations can be affected by human psychology are given below.

Confirmation bias

Human observations are biased toward confirming the observer's conscious and unconscious expectations and view of the world; we "see what we expect to see".

Processing bias

Modern scientific instruments can extensively process "observations" before they are presented to the human senses, and particularly with computerized instruments, there is sometimes a question as to where in the data processing chain "observing" ends and "drawing conclusions" begins. This has recently become an issue with

In

"Observe always that everything is the result of a change, and get used to thinking that there is nothing Nature loves so well as to change existing forms and to make new ones like them."

— Meditations. iv. 36. – Marcus Aurelius

See also

References

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