This is an Educational blog maintained by SABARISH P, (MSc Physics, MEd, NET), Assistant Professor in Physical Science Education. Contact : pklsabarish@gmail.com

Monday 3 November 2014

Falsification

The Conceptual Meaning of Falsification
Prepared by
SABARISH-P
M.Sc., M.Ed., JRF & NET
Assistant Professor in Physical Science, Arafa Institute for Teacher Education
Attur, Thrissur.

Science and philosophy work towards revealing the truth about the world and the universe around us.  Both are essential for the development of the human society and the advancement of knowledge.  Scientists design experiments and propose a hypothesis; the results of the experiments either proves or disproves the hypothesis.  The nature of science is that any scientific hypothesis or the experimental designs should be inherently falsifiable. Falisifiability, though, not accepted universally, it still remains to be the basis on which the scientific experiments are designed.

What is Falsifiability?

Karl Popper defines falsifiability as “the inherent testability of any scientific hypothesis[1].”  In other words, the claims are framed in such a way that the tests can be constructed and proved to be false, provided the claims are false. The hypothesis is framed such that it can be subjected to empirical (practical) investigations and is also open to rejection by those investigations. Thus, in order to have credibility, any hypothesis should be inherently disprovable before it is accepted as a scientific hypothesis or theory.
For example, if a scientist asks, "Does God exist?" then this can never be science because it is a theory that cannot be disproved.  Therefore, no theory is completely correct, however , if it is not falsified, it may be accepted as truth.
Popper viewed falsifiability as a straightforward definition, that if a theory is falsifiable, it is scientific, and if not, then it is unscientific.Popper observed that a statement such as  ‘there is a white swan’ cannot be used to confirm a universal statement. The observation of one black swan can prove the statement false.  When one notices a white swan, it can be said that “At least one swan is white.” However, it is not possible to observe all the swans in the world and prove that all swans are white. Thus, the statement all swans are white is testable and therefore it is falsifiable.
Let us take an another example of Newton’s laws. Newton’s law of motion was considered to be scientific and believed to be true as objects do not randomly float away from the earth. Though it was observed to be true as per the experimentation and research results, but was always subject to testing.Newton’s laws were useful to make specific predictions regarding trajectories of artillery shells or the orbits of planets. The predictions were found to be true most of the time. However in the case of the orbit of Mercury, the observations were found to contradict the prediction. Instead of being completely rejected, this led to modification of the theory and was replaced by the theory of relativity, which was a clarification and refinement and was still found to be true for a greater range of observable circumstances. Because Newton’s law made specific predictions, which were falsifiable. Hence, it was possible for the scientist to test them and finally replace them.
Both Einstein’s theory of relativity and Newton’s laws are correct. Newton’s theory is used in many of the engineering projects, including space project, as Newtonian calculations are simpler. At the same time, Einstein's theory is preferred for GPS (Global Positioning System).

Concerns Regarding the Concept of Falsifiability

There are a few considerations that should be taken into account before proving a theory to be correct.
[1]               If there is no effort to moderate or constrict the tendency of falsifiability, those involved in the experiments will generally be biased towards proving the theory correct ratherthan otherwise.
[2]               Confirmations should be accepted only if they were tested under risky predictions, i.e., a false hypothesis will not pass in a test.
[3]               ‘Good’ scientific hypothesisstates that certain things are not allowed to happen; hence, the more that an hypothesis forbids, the clearer will be any indication of validity.
[4]                If a hypothesis cannot be refuted  (disproved) by any possible event, then it fails to be a scientific hypothesis.
[5]               In order to prove a hypothesis false, genuine effort should be made to prove it false.
[6]               Confirming evidence should be taken into account only if it is the result of complete verification of the hypothesis, though unsuccessful attempts have been made to falsify the hypothesis.
[7]               Introducing unplanned assumptions or re-interpreting the hypothesis may make the hypothesis as non-falsifiable but may destroy the scientific character of the hypothesis.

Conclusions

The concept of falsifiability helps in creating theories that can be tested and made realistic. If the falsifiable theory is accepted as scientific truth once a theory is tested producing significant results. At the same time, the accepted truth can be falsified based on the availability of more resources and resources. This is the main advantage of Popper’s idea. For example, the well-established theories like evolution, relativity, gravity, etcare being challenged and undergoes continuous change.  Since Popper defines falsifiability in strict black and white terms, the idea of falsifiability does not consider that most of the time science is observational and descriptive, which may be considered as the main disadvantage of the falsifiable theory.


[1]Hypothesis is an idea or explanation that you then test through study and experimentation. a concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain facts or phenomena.