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In mathematics, a function is a rule for taking an input (in the simplest case, a number or set of numbers) [5] and providing an output (which may also be a number). [5] A symbol that stands for an arbitrary input is called an independent variable, while a symbol that stands for an arbitrary output is called a dependent variable. [6]
There are many philosophical and historical theories as to how scientific consensus changes over time. Because the history of scientific change is extremely complicated, and because there is a tendency to project "winners" and "losers" onto the past in relation to the current scientific consensus, it is very difficult to come up with accurate and rigorous models for scientific change. [17]
A scientific control is an experiment or observation designed to minimize the effects of variables other than the independent variable (i.e. confounding variables). [1] This increases the reliability of the results, often through a comparison between control measurements and the other measurements. Scientific controls are a part of the ...
Stochastic independence implies mean independence, but the converse is not true.; [1] [2] moreover, mean independence implies uncorrelatedness while the converse is not true. Unlike stochastic independence and uncorrelatedness, mean independence is not symmetric: it is possible for Y {\displaystyle Y} to be mean-independent of X {\displaystyle ...
The history of scientific method considers changes in the methodology of scientific inquiry, not the history of science itself. The development of rules for scientific reasoning has not been straightforward; scientific method has been the subject of intense and recurring debate throughout the history of science, and eminent natural philosophers and scientists have argued for the primacy of ...
A priori knowledge is independent from any experience. Examples include mathematics, [i] tautologies and deduction from pure reason. [ii] A posteriori knowledge depends on empirical evidence. Examples include most fields of science and aspects of personal knowledge.
Since the object of scientific research is the discovery of new phenomena, this bias can and has caused new discoveries to be overlooked; one example is the discovery of x-rays. It can also result in erroneous scientific support for widely held cultural myths, on the other hand, as in the scientific racism that supported ideas of racial ...
Social-science methodologist Donald T. Campbell, who emphasized hypothesis testing throughout his career, later increasingly emphasized that the essence of science is "not experimentation per se" but instead the iterative competition of "plausible rival hypotheses", a process that at any given phase may start from evidence or may start from ...