Do you think scientists are old guys bending over beakers bubbling with thick liquid and giving off a terrible odor? Or maybe you think scientists sit in front of computers all day trying to calculate the expanse of the universe. What do these people really do? Is there some common activity or work that they engage in?
Scientists engage in a variety of activities, but they are all looking at something that can be observed in, or that can be related to, the real world. Observations are made, models or theories are developed and then they try to convince others that they have the correct view of the world.
Each of these steps requires a careful and determined process. If the observations aren't really consistent with the real world the models will be wrong and you will be trying to convince someone to believe a model that isn't true. The same kind of problem comes up when the models aren't consistent with the observations. And, if you can't convince anyone that the model is good, your work will not go anywhere.
I would like to start with the third part of this process. How do you go about convincing someone that you are correct? Whenever you are trying to convince someone of something you are engaged in a form of communication called argumentation. Argumentation doesn't have to do with fighting; it has to do with convincing someone of your position. Each argument has supporting evidence, or premises, that lead to your position, or the conclusion. The premises should convince the listener that your conclusion is correct.
Indeed, one of the most important aspects of a scientist's work is the use of argument, presenting evidence to support conclusions. Scientists must argue logically in order to organize their observations into general, scientifically useful statements. They must argue logically in order to effectively support their theories. They must also argue logically in order to have their theories accepted by other members of the scientific community. Information, however accurate, which is not formulated completely and organized logically will be quickly dismissed. It is, therefore, important for the scientist, and the student of science, to be able to recognize arguments, understand how arguments are structured, and be able to determine whether arguments are effective or not.
It is also important to realize that the use of argument is not by any means confined to the scientific context. In fact, arguments are exchanged in all domains of life: in the various academic disciplines, in the workplace, in the law courts, in ordinary, daily conversation. Whenever we want to prove a point, to convince someone of an opinion held, and we provide information to support that point or opinion, then we are engaged in argument. In this sense, an argument is not a fight or disagreement, but rather an effort to reason with someone. In every argument information already known or agreed upon is used to prove a point not yet known or accepted. In an argument the known information is expressed as premise statement(s), and the point to be proved is the conclusion statement.
There are well-defined rules for argumentation. These rules and this area of study is often called logic. This section will introduce you to some of the rules and terminology of basic logic, show you how to write simple arguments in a specific logic form, and give instruction for writing papers from the simple arguments.