Introduction

Accounts of the work performed by practical scientists, combined with the thoughts and writings of scientific philosophers, have provided with a methodological framework within which one can conduct rigorous biological investigations. This chapter introduces these basic principles of investigative methods with their various processes and components, illustrating their application in the biosciences. It demonstrates the importance within this methodological framework of quantifying these observations. The chapter also introduces the principles of hypothesis testing, which also apply throughout science. The null hypothesis is challenged and, if it is rejected, the alternative hypothesis is accepted. If the outcome of the investigation is that the null hypothesis is not rejected, then the null hypothesis still stands, but it is not proven; then it is accepted as the currently best description of the system under examination. The chapter explains how different types of biological problems may be addressed by particular quantitative methods.