The Scientific Method and Its Application in Nutritional Research
CONCEPTS OF KNOWLEDGE
What is Knowledge?
A set of information stored by learning experience or through introspection.
Episteme and Doxa
Episteme is knowledge that is necessarily true.
Doxa is phenomenal knowledge and therefore misleading.
Knowledge comes from sensory perception, then comes to understanding, and finally concludes in reason. It is said that knowledge is a relation between a subject and an object.
Subject is the person or group of persons compiling the knowledge. Knowledge is always knowledge to someone, something thought up by one’s conscience.
METHOD
From the Greek meta (beyond) and hodos (path), meaning “path” or “way”—literally “to go further.” It is a general model of approach to reality, a kind of pattern or matrix that is very abstract and broad, and within which fit the specific procedures and techniques used in research.
RESEARCH
It is a creative process fraught with unforeseen difficulties and pitfalls, paradoxical invisible prejudices, and obstacles of all kinds.
METHODOLOGY
The instrumental field of research specifically and directly related to the method and the object of study. It takes a systematic, controlled, empirical, and critical approach to conducting research because most of the initial ideas of an investigation are typically vague and imprecise. Because of this, it is necessary to transform initial ideas into something more precise and structured.
SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge that is acquired using an organized plan and instruments used for a product. To achieve this, systemic procedures are employed, using methodical reflection, logical reasoning, responding to a planned search, and seeking objectivity and validity in their results, sought by the essence and laws of the facts or phenomena. Underpinning assumptions.
Scientific knowledge must not only be valid and consistent from a logical point of view but should also be tested through the scientific method and experimentation.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The way of organizing the research process, to monitor the results, and present possible solutions to take us to decision-making.
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
SCIENCE
Scientific knowledge that has been acquired systematically through the scientific process.
WHAT IS THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD?
A process in which experiments are used to answer questions. It is the orderly way to proceed in the knowledge of truth, in the context of a particular scientific discipline. A systematic set of criteria for action and norms that guide the research process. The mechanism used by scientists at the time of proceeding to explain and confirm their theories. It is the tool used by scientists to find answers to their questions.
EXPERIMENT
A procedure that is involved is (to confirm, verify, or invent) one or more hypotheses about a phenomenon, by manipulating one or more variables that are presumably the cause.
Experimentation is one of the key elements of the polynomial simplification scientific method. It is essential to provide causal explanations.
Scientific Method Steps
- Observation
- Questions
- Hypothesis
- Experimentation
- Conclusion
THE SCIENCE OF NUTRITION
“The study of the processes of growth, maintenance, and repair of the body that depend on the digestion of food” or “Science of food in relation to health.”
NOTE
The observation is to focus attention on a portion of the universe. Through observation, we identified specific situations or events of the cosmos through our senses.
QUESTION
Once the observation is executed, one or more questions arise, generated by the curiosity of the observer. The question must be consistent with reality or the observed phenomenon and must adhere to logic. The researcher should always keep in mind that questions that start with “why” are very difficult (if not impossible) to answer. The objective researcher prefers to start their questions with “what,” “how,” “where,” or “when.” The question could also be “what is.”
HYPOTHESIS
A statement that can be true or false and must be subjected to testing (experimenting). The experimental results will determine the final character (true or false) of the hypothesis.
EXPERIMENTAL
The predictions are subjected to systematic tests to verify their occurrence in the future. It consists of subjecting a subject or process to controlled variables. It can take a variety of ways, but controlled experimentation is a characteristic of the scientific method.
CONCLUSIONS
After testing, the original hypothesis is evaluated and determined if it is true or false. Also, the results are evaluated based on their spatial and temporal extent in the cosmos. According to this, we can conclude if we have a theory or law.
THEORY
A partially or completely true statement, verified through experimentation or evidence, and that is only valid for a certain time and place. If the theory were verified as true all the time and in every place, then it is considered a law.
LAW
A theory is subject to change; a law is permanent and immutable. A law is verifiable at any time and space.
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
RESEARCH
A systematic, organized effort intended to answer a question. It arises from the perception of a problem situation and therefore requires someone funny and smart, able to observe unexplained events and unable to accept the contradictions of the accepted theories.
STAGES OF RESEARCH
- Planning
- Execution
- Processing and analysis of results
- Preparation of the final report
- Publication of results
- Introduction of achievements in social practice
RESEARCH PROJECT
An essential document for the approval of the study by the institution that will host it, also serves to control the development of labor in different stages to be established.
FUNCTIONS
- Work is a guide.
- Guarantees the continuity of research for any eventuality, organizational or administrative.
WORKING GUIDE
The researcher needs the project because the research requires systematic actions, conscious uniforms, which should not be subject to memory or the discretion of the user. The project is a detailed document on what is researched, why, and especially how. Research activity in our country takes place in an institutional framework. The design of a research project is usually something complex, whose characteristics depend on the objective of the study and usually have a multidisciplinary component.
THE RESEARCH PROJECT WILL INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:
- Title of research
- List of researchers
- The institution responsible for research and address
- Abstract
- Definition and problem formulation
- Justification of the study
- Formulation of hypotheses and objectives
- Type of study
- Universe and sample
- Operationalization of variables
- Data collection plan
- Plan processing of information
- Ethical considerations
- Resources
- References
- Schedule
- Schedules
- Forms of dissemination of results
CRITERIA FOR SELECTING A RESEARCH TOPIC:
- Relevance
- Lack of replication
- Viability
- Political agreement
- Applicability of findings and recommendations
- Urgency of the need for data
- Moral assent
RELEVANCE
The topic selected must be a priority problem, important, and significant for the area in which it is located.
NO DUPLICATION
Before beginning a study, it is important to ascertain whether the proposed topic has already been investigated in the study area or other similar conditions.
VIABILITY
Researchers must examine the proposed project and consider the complexity of the problem and the resources necessary to carry out the study. Take into account the issues of personnel, time, equipment, and money available in the locality. There should not be considered sufficient resources available in the national and research agencies, research councils, or local universities. Always explore the possibility of obtaining technical and financial assistance from external sources.
POLITICAL SETTLEMENT
It is advisable to research a topic in which the authorities are interested and willing to support, increasing the possibility of applying the results of the study.
APPLICABILITY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The possibilities of carrying into effect the recommendations of the study will depend on the approval of the authorities and the availability of resources to implement them.
URGENCY OF THE NEED FOR DATA
The need for the results to make immediate decisions and mediate.
ASSENT MORAL
It is possible that the conduct of the investigation may cause harm to others. So it is important to consider the following ethical issues:
- The principle of beneficence, ensuring that it will be damaged.
- Guarantee of non-use of its participation or information provided to them.