The Inquiry Wheel,an Alternative to the Scientific Method

摘要

For many years I have felt that the scientific method as presented in many textbooks was not how my colleagues in chemistry did research.Even so,when I wrote a general chemistry text I was told to put in a description of the scientific method because it was expected.Now,Reiff,Harwood,and Phillipson have developed a more satisfactory model of scientific inquiry,the inquiry wheel,based on information gathered from practicing scientists.This model is described in their paper "A Scientific Method Based upon Research Scientists'Conceptions of Scientific Inquiry"(1)based on interview data described in "Scientists'Conceptions of Scientific Inquiry:Voices from the Front"(2).