Science, Social “Science”, and Statistics

On Theories, Hypothesis Testing and the Future of Social Science

Science

Science is a collection of interconnected theories and facts.

A fact is an observation known to be true. For example, “the sun rose from the east today”.

A theory generalizes a set of facts. For example, after observing the sun rising from the east, every day for several years, a caveman might generalize, “the sun rises from the east”.

Falsification

A theory assumes that what we know for observed facts, must be valid for unobserved situations. For example, “the sun rises from the east” implies “the sun will rise from the east, tomorrow”.

If an unobserved situation contradicts a theory in the future, we say that the “theory is falsified”, or is shown to be false. For example, if the sun explodes sometime today.

Hence, a theory can never be proved correct. It can only be proved false.

“Back-up” Connections

Why do we accept a theory? Like “the sun rises from the east”? Is it only based on the many observations of the sun rising from the east?

Not quite. This theory connects to other theories. Like “the earth rotates around its axis”. “Because the earth rotates around its axis” is a reasonable answer to the question, “Why does the sunrise from the…