As we explore why science matters, we have to start with the question. But, what is the question? Well, the question is anything you want! You explore what you know and figure out what you don’t know. Then, if you have a particular interest in something and you want to learn more, you ask yourself questions. If you want to find answers to your questions, then you have started your march down the path of research. The first step of research is generating a hypothesis. But, what is a hypothesis?
A hypothesis is a proposed statement of explanation to a question that you asked. But, you have limited information to support that statement. So, you need to research the statement and find out if it is true or false. Focusing on the area of the health sciences, research can be based in the basic sciences in a lab to studying behaviors of subjects in a social setting to comparing how medications work in the clinical setting. There are many avenues to performing research in healthcare, but the research strategy is the same and follows the scientific method.
The scientific method has a number of steps. The first step is making an observation. Next, a question is asked, based on the observation. A hypothesis is then formed or a testable explanation is made. A prediction is made and, subsequently, the prediction is tested. Finally, the results are used to make a new hypothesis or prediction. So, as you ask questions and find answers, you ask yourself more questions and explore answers to those questions. It is a cycle based on curiosity and a desire to learn more.
As an example, there was a particular study looking to see how the length of a physician trainee’s work shift affected their work performance. There has always been concern that the longer a shift, the more it impairs the performance of physician trainees at work and adversely affects the safety of their patients. So, this study aimed to assess the impact of a work schedule intervention designed to minimize extended duration work shifts by using a measure of performance, the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (reaction time testing), and to examine the relationship between the Psychomotor Vigilance Task performance and medical error rates.
So, someone had a question. There was concern that physician trainees were working too many consecutive hours. The assumption was that working too many consecutive hours is not a good thing. But, why is it not a good thing? It has been reported that sleep deprivation can affect mood, increase anxiety, increase depression, increase irritability, and increase impatience. It can also worsen physical performance, memory, and makes mistakes more likely to happen. If the physician trainees’ work shifts were too long, would reducing the length of the shifts improve work performance and reduce medical errors? The study set out to answer this question and found that physician trainees’ performance impairment, due to extended work shifts, was indeed improved by limiting shift duration.
However, this research question could not have been asked, if it were not for research performed to see what sleep deprivation caused. Someone asked what sleep deprivation caused and found that it adversely affected mood, increased anxiety, increased depression, etc. Research of the present is built on research of the past and research of the present will lay the foundation for research in the future. This is why science is always evolving and why continuing to ask questions is so important. The more questions we ask, the closer we come to the truth. It is not that science failed when we find historical facts to be incorrect. It is that we learned more. This is why the hypothesis is such an important starting point for why science matters.
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