Analysis: Why Dr. E Did Not Follow The Scientific Method

The scientific method is a systematic method of observation that involves asking a question, doing research on said question; developing a hypothesis and testing it by experimentation and drawing and reporting conclusions made by the experiment. Overall, Dr. E did not follow the scientific method. He didn’t do any research into his question; other than his own exercise habits and his discussions with his maternal grandmother he didn’t know a lot about health research and hadn’t worked with older adults. He did formulate a hypothesis - that adults over the age of 65 who exercised regularly and ate healthy diets would live longer because they had a healthier lifestyle. He tested his hypothesis, although his experiment was deeply flawed, and was unable to draw any conclusions from his research. Dr. E’s study had aspects of both correlational and experimental designs but overall was an experimental design. In a correlational study, variables are not manipulated but rather observed with the purpose of identifying …show more content…
E encountered in his study was one of validity. Among the tests Dr. E used for data collection were the food diaries and the Exercise Observation Sheet. The former had a good reputation but as far as Dr. E. knew the test had never previously been used among older adults as he used it in this study. The Exercise Observation sheet also had previously been widely used, however prior to this study it was used as a self-report, whereas in this study the staff filled out how often the participants exercised over the thirty days of the study. Moreover, the study was meant to examine how diet and exercise impacted lifespan among older adults but neither these nor the demographics sheet given to the participants measured effect on lifespan. In redoing this experiment, Dr. E might look for a test which more accurately assesses lifespan changes as well as use a test or data collection method which has typically had its application among older