Research and Technology

Defining a Problem

A scientific problem is one that can be solved through use of experimentation and the Scientific Method. Many problems and questions can be approached scientifically; it's really the process itself that makes something a part of science. When approaching a scientific problem background research should be done to check how to best find a solution and a hypothesis should be made - a prediction as to what you think will happen. When doing this sort of experiment it's important to change as little as possible between trials since we want to be sure of what causes something to happen. The variable you change between each trial is called the independent variable since it changes based on the experimenter's choice, independently of any other changes. All variables that change based on how the independent variable was changed are known as dependent variables.

The Scientific Method

Experiments generally follow the full scientific method in one form or another and you have probably seen some form of the scientific method before yourself. There are many ways that both the Scientific Method and Experiments are used to analyze evidence. and the full breakdown of different sections of scientific texts is as follows:

Title Page: The title page tells someone what the topic of the experiment is, when it was published, and who did the experiments.
Abstract: A short summary of the rest of the text. This section is important for scientists to know if they want to continue reading an article.
Background: Within the background portion of the scientific method is any information the experimenter goes into the experiment with. This includes the purpose of the lab (what the problem is), what they expect to see, any research they've done, and any other knowledge that may be important.
Hypothesis: The Hypothesis section should show a specific prediction from the scientist. Within this prediction independent and dependent variables should be mentioned to get measurable results.
Materials: Either a list or paragraph of the materials needed for the lab goes into this section, including how much of each thing is needed.
Methods: The methods section can also be called the procedure. This should provide explicit step-by-step instructions so anyone can replicate exactly what was done in the lab. This is very important - if something isn't stated exactly it's easy for your work to not be repeatable.
Results: Sometimes this section is called data or graphs. Any calculations, graphs, charts, or diagrams from running the lab go here. This section should have some writing in it as well to explain what each of these diagrams show and how they were gotten - not how you interpret them.
Discussion: The discussion section is the most important section, explaining what the results mean, any errors that happened, and any suggestions for following up on the experiment.
Conclusion: The conclusion ties back to the problem and hypothesis; it's one sentence that states what the answer to the problem is (if possible).
Citations: Any sources used should be fully cited here. Remember, the source is almost never Google! Click the link to find where the information actually comes from before citing a source.

Digital Citizenship

In today's Internet driven society it's becoming more and more important to be aware of what your digital footprint looks like - everything you post, view, and use has data and information. This data can be tied to you and influence what you search for as well as how you are advertised to.

Not everything on the Internet is true either - many articles and posts on social media can be false and used to either entertain people or convince people of something regardless of what data says about a topic. A guide to finding bad scientific data can be found below:

Sources and Citations

To more easily find credible and useful sources, there are a few tricks to help out:

Wikipedia - Wikipedia is a good first source of information (in spite of what many would say). While it can be edited by anyone it has links to references at the end of the article. Those sources are often credible and can be used in place of Wikipedia itself.
Know your Resources - When looking at a source keep in mind who made it, why it was made, and who the intended audience is. It's easy to be taken in by click bait and the like.
Advanced Search - Google has an advanced search function, found here. This allows you to better narrow down results compared to the basic search bar, even searching specific file formats or languages!
Image Refining - When doing a Google Image Search, clicking the word Settings or Tools gives extra ways to search for images. This includes advanced searching, filtering by color, and looking for specific types of images. You can also upload a picture or paste a URL by clicking the camera icon; this lets you find where that image is being used on the Internet so you can cite it properly.
Google Scholar - Google has a special search engine for scholarly articles that can be found here. This lets you see research and experiments others have already published.

When using sources, it's important to Cite where they came from to show the credibility of the information being used and presented, plus to give credit to those that compiled that information. Google Docs has a citation maker built in within the Tools section of its toolbar.

Artificial Intelligence

One of the emerging technologies that can help with public service is artificial intelligence (AI). The multiple different AI programs use thousands of sources of information from the Internet to perform tasks that have typically required human intelligence to do in the past. It takes an input, then generates an output based on that input, trying to predict what response to give that best responds to that input (including context from previous inputs) based on data and patterns from the information it's been fed. While this information is useful, AI responses can be flawed in multiple ways:

It has trouble with abstract thought and concepts, usually not giving answers to big questions or not taking sides in an argument unless forced to. Information it grabs can be taken out of context as well due to how it finds and uses this data.
Since it has to come up with a response to a question it will make things up, regardless of whether its answer is true or not.
It doesn't understand its own biases (being written by humans it will always have some based on how it's coded and what information they block it from saying) and cannot be used to mimic your own voice or opinions on a subject perfectly since it doesn't understand your biases either.
While it can help with creativity it often uses pieces of text created by others for that creativity, making it difficult for it to truly come up with something entirely new.
It can unintentionally have you violate copyright laws based on where its data is coming from.
The data it uses isn't completely up to date; whenever it's been trained on data it knows things only up to that point.

When using AI to assist you, some important things to consider on top of the above flaws are the following:

Is using AI to answer the question you're asking it explicitly against the law or causing an issue of copyright? Does it violate company or professional policies for what you're using it for?
What if everyone used AI to answer questions similarly to the ones I'm asking it? How would I feel if someone used it to respond to a question I asked in a similar fashion?
Am I sacrificing potential long term benefits for short-term gains? Am I using AI to avoid my own thinking or am I using it to enhance my own knowledge base and content creation?

As we move towards the future, knowing how and when to use AI will become more and more important. For us this means finding how to properly create good and useful prompts for AI to use to gain meaningful feedback and assistance no matter what we plan on using it for.

Engineering Practices

When looking at a problem that can be solved scientifically engineering is often part of the solution, applying the scientific method with additional steps. For example, once a problem is defined engineers will use their background research to come up with multiple solutions as well as potential limitations in implementing these solutions (such as cost or availability). Instead of a procedure leading to an experiment it leads to a prototype (sample product) or model that can be tested and redefined. After data is gathered from these models or prototypes any of the previous parts of the design process can be revisited and improved upon further until the problem is finally solved. Engineering and science is often a collaborative process as well, with many companies or people working together to solve the major problems of the world.

Engineering can be broken down into a few major categories with a lot of overlap (and subcategories) between them:

Chemical: Solving problems through the use of chemicals
Civil: Solving problems related to infrastructure and construction
Electrical: Solving problems related to electronics
Mechanical: Solving problems related to machining and shaping materials

All of these categories also overlap with part of public service as well, such as when making pharmaceuticals, building safer structures, and using emerging technology systems as well as robotics.

Public Service and Media (PSA)

First responders and those in public service professions also may have to speak to media about something that happened. There are certain facts that cannot always be disclosed in situations where an ongoing investigation may be happening or where it would breach the privacy of those at the scene (such as breaking the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, HIPAA). When dealing with media, try to do the following:

Be prepared as much as possible. Think of potential tough questions that me be asked of you so you are not caught off guard.
Develop and deliver a few key messages. Make your answers brief, simple, and concise.
If a question is asked that you are not allowed to answer, explain why you cannot answer it or offer to track down someone who can answer it in the chain of command at a scene.
Try not to use acronyms, words the public may not know, act in hostility, speak for an entire agency without permission, guess or speculate on camera as to what happened or why something happened, or exaggerate a situation.
Be honest, personable, professional, and presentable as much as possible. All normal presentation skills you learn apply here as usual! Also look at the reporter, not the camera!

Emerging Technologies (PSA)

Another emerging technology for public service is the use of virtual reality or augmented reality (VR or AR). These are used for things like trainings, hands on simulations, and even can be used to recreate crime scenes!

Some other emerging technologies include jetpacks, drones, robots, clothing with built in sensors, and more! As technology advances, so do our options for helping others!

Additional Resources

Interesting Links

Page updated

Report abuse