ENVS 1100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Null Hypothesis, Environmental Policy
3 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
The Scientific Method and the Nature of Science
September 9, 2014
CHAPTER 1 REVIEW:
Why did the Greenland Vikings vanish?
Jared Diamond’s Collapse:
1. Hostile Neighbours (created tensions with the Inuit)
2. Loss of Friendly Neighbours (once production declined, imports
decreased from European nations)
3. Self-inflicts environmental damage (deforestation, reliance of
livestock, removing land for insulation)
4. Natural Climate Change
5. Not adjusting to environmental change
The Nature of Science
• knowledge gained from observation, testing, and discovery
• scientific knowledge can be applied to societal problems
• link between science and environmental policy
o need to make science accessible and understandable to as many as
possible to make informed decisions about the management of our
planet
The Scientific Method
• observations can be connected by means of correlation (the association of
some phenomena with others) ex. Autumn and the colour change of leaves
• in many instances, observations themselves cannot solve an environmental
problem
Correlation (positive and negative) is one of the most common types of
observation. “Correlation does not prove causality.”
• Experimentation is more effective than the establishment of correlations
and better establishes the cause
• A null hypothesis that can be tested must be posed. (if falsified, testing can
continue)
• The collection of data will allow the null hypothesis to be accepted or
rejected
• Controls must be used in experiment to obtain accurate results
Peer Review Process
• Experiments must be repeatable (detailed)
• Science must be quality controlled
• Results published in scientific journals
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