The first scientific method acronym I was ever taught was: SHE-OC. This was middle school.
State the Problem.
Hypothesis.
Experiment.
Observation.
Conclusion.
It seems pretty straightforward, and I didn’t know it at the time.
But that fourth one?
That’s a doozy.
Contemplate this classic story… when a tree falls in the forest with nothing or no one
around, does it make a sound?
It would seem so, but if no one can hear it does it matter?
What if I’m standing next to it?
What if I put a camera or a microphone nearby?
Surely a falling tree makes sound!
Right?
Sure, it probably does.
But there’s really no answer, it’s just a thought experiment.
It really exists to illustrate a really huge problem with science.
The act of observation changes whatever you observe!
Famous chimp researcher Jane Goodall -- lived among chimpanzee tribes for years, providing
food and learning about their behavior.
Her observation and presence affected her results -- and yet, what she learned taught
us heaps about chimps, and ourselves.
So, does it matter that she affected them?
Yes.
Did it affect the science?
YES, for sure!
Did we still learn a lot?
Abso-chimpin’-lutely.
We still do these chimp studies, even knowing we’re changing their behavior.
A new study found even if researchers stay away from them, just knowing they’re being
watched will change chimp hunting behavior.
We’re not saying observation is negative!
It’s just -- out there.
The act of doing it changes what you’re observing.
In the 1920s, American factories wanted workers to be more efficient and productive.
At one Hawthorne, Illinois factory, sociologists were testing different rest periods, working
hours, lighting in the work areas… and every change made workers more productive.
Even if they changed something, and then changed it back --- both increased productivity!
It turned out, it wasn’t the changes, but simply observing the workers changed their
behavior.
They felt someone was interested in their well-being, and that was enough.
Sociologists have dubbed this the Hawthorne Effect.
And this exist throughout science…
In computer science, the problem with observation is called a Heisenbug.
Basically if a programmer tries to figure out where the bug is in their software, it
won’t show up because they’re looking for it.
In physics they call this problem the Observer Effect – and it’s super obvious: because
light is both a wave and made of photons, but depending on how you observe it it will
only behave as one or the other!
So frustrating.
And, this might have you wondering, how can observation be part of science if the act
of observing changes the results?!
Can we really know what a black hole, amoeba or atom does when it’s alone?
We can’t …but…
NASA says on their website, “The ideal observer is one who causes no unnecessary perturbations
to the system being observed.”
Observation is a big deal, but less so if we know there’s an effect.
In knowing the Observer Effect exists, we can try to account for it.
For example, researchers watching chimps have tried using drones -- so there are no humans
around!
And… well, I’ll just let you see what happened.
The chimp prepared ahead of time, and used a stick to take out the drone invader.
No really, that’s what happened.
We changed its behavior… even in trying not to.
In the end, there’s no “do this and the observer effect goes away” instead, scientists
learn what the observer effect is for their discipline, and then try and design experiments
to minimize it.
That’s why double-blind studies are important, and repeatability, and coming at problems
from different angles.
There are even studies of the observer effects in studies!
The SHEOC scientific method requires we get information from the source, to draw conclusions,
and ask new questions.
Even though some problems can be solved without ever going into the field, if we don’t observe,
how will we know?
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Observer Effects also come into play if you could travel significant portions of speed
of light.
This handsome devil here has a video all about time dilation!
Watch it!
You’ll like it.
How do you think we could get around the observer effect?
Take a crack at it, why not?
Let us know in the comments, tell me on twitter, and subscribe for more Seeker.