Science as a Process: The Question of Bee "Language"

Scientists normally receive very little formal training in scientific method or in the philosophy, sociology and psychology of science. Consequently, individual scientists tend to become committed to hypotheses as end products rather than as entities that will be replaced. Competing hypotheses espou...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bios (Madison, N.J.) N.J.), 1993-09, Vol.64 (3), p.78-83
Main Author: Wenner, Adrian M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aircraft maneuvers
Bee dances
Bees
Biology
Experiment design
Honey bees
Inference
Null hypothesis
Philosophical psychology
Scientific method
The Biologists' Forum
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Summary:Scientists normally receive very little formal training in scientific method or in the philosophy, sociology and psychology of science. Consequently, individual scientists tend to become committed to hypotheses as end products rather than as entities that will be replaced. Competing hypotheses espoused by others then may lead to confrontation (controversy), and application of the scientific method becomes a collective and inefficient process. The on-going 25-year controversy about the honey bee "dance language" hypothesis serves as a good example of how scientific progress is a process instead of a series of accomplishments.
ISSN:0005-3155