more from this thinker     |     more from this text

Single Idea 22139

[filed under theme 14. Science / A. Basis of Science / 3. Experiment ]

Full Idea

Experiments differ from observational studies in that experiments usually involve intervening in some way in the natural order to see if altering something about that order causes a change in the response of that order.

Gist of Idea

Experiments don't just observe; they look to see what interventions change the natural order

Source

Stephen Boulter (Why Medieval Philosophy Matters [2019], 2)

Book Ref

Boulter,Stephen: 'Why Medieval Philosophy Matters' [Bloomsbury 2019], p.58

A Reaction

Not convinced by this. Lots of experiments isolate a natural process, rather than 'intervening'. Chemists constantly purify substances. Particle accelerators pick out things to accelerate. Does 'intervening' in nature even make sense?

The 15 ideas with the same theme [deliberate isolation of one cause or effect]:

12117 Science moves up and down between inventions of causes, and experiments [Bacon]
6603 Nature is revealed when we put it under pressure rather than observe it [Bacon]
3618 Only experiments can settle disagreements between rival explanations [Descartes]
16944 Science is common sense, with a sophisticated method [Quine]
15869 Reports of experiments eliminate the experimenter, and present results as the behaviour of nature [Harré]
7452 An experiment is a test, or an adventure, or a diagnosis, or a dissection [Hacking, by PG]
2454 We can deliberately cause ourselves to have true thoughts - hence the value of experiments [Fodor]
2455 Interrogation and experiment submit us to having beliefs caused [Fodor]
2461 An experiment is a deliberate version of what informal thinking does all the time [Fodor]
2460 Participation in an experiment requires agreement about what the outcome will mean [Fodor]
22172 Not all sciences are experimental; astronomy relies on careful observation [Okasha]
22177 Randomised Control Trials have a treatment and a control group, chosen at random [Okasha]
14351 Maybe an experiment unmasks an essential disposition, and reveals its regularities [Corry]
22139 Experiments don't just observe; they look to see what interventions change the natural order [Boulter]
22357 The 'experimenter's regress' says success needs reliability, which is only tested by success [Reiss/Sprenger]