Observation

For other uses, seeObservation (disambiguation).

Observing the air traffic inRõuge,Estonia

Observationin thenatural sciencesis an act or instance ofnoticingor perceivingand the acquisition ofinformationfrom aprimary source.In living beings, observation employs thesenses.Inscience,observation can also involve theperceptionand recording ofdatavia the use ofscientific instruments.The term may also refer to any data collected during the scientific activity. Observations can bequalitative,that is, the absence or presence of a property is noted and the observed phenomenon described, orquantitativeif a numerical value is attached to the observedphenomenonbycountingormeasuring.

Science

Thescientific methodrequires observations ofnatural phenomenato formulate and testhypotheses.It consists of the following steps:

1. Ask aquestionabout a naturalphenomenon
2. Make observations of the phenomenon
3. Formulate ahypothesisthat tentatively answers the question
4. Predictlogical, observableconsequencesof the hypothesis that have not yet been investigated
5. Test the hypothesis' predictions by anexperiment,observational study,field study,orsimulation
6. Draw aconclusionfromdatagathered in the experiment, or revise the hypothesis or form a new one andrepeatthe process
7. Write adescriptive methodof observation and theresultsor conclusions reached
8. Have peers with experience researching the same phenomenonevaluatethe results

Observations play a role in the second and fifth steps of the scientific method. However, the need forreproducibilityrequires that observations by different observers can be comparable. Humansenseimpressions aresubjectiveandqualitative,making them difficult to record or compare. The use ofmeasurementwas developed to allow recording and comparison of observations made at different times and places, by different people. The measurement consists of using observation to compare the phenomenon being observed to astandard unit.The standard unit can be an artifact, process, or definition which can be duplicated or shared by all observers. In measurement, the number of standard units which is equal to the observation is counted. Measurement reduces an observation to a number that can be recorded, and two observations which result in the same number are equal within theresolutionof the process.

Human senses are limited and subject to errors in perception, such asoptical illusions.Scientific instrumentswere developed to aid human abilities of observation, such asweighing scales,clocks,telescopes,microscopes,thermometers,cameras,andtape recorders,and also translate into perceptible form events that are unobservable by the senses, such asindicator dyes,voltmeters,spectrometers,infrared cameras,oscilloscopes,interferometers,Geiger counters,andradio receivers.

One problem encountered throughout scientific fields is that the observation may affect the process being observed, resulting in a different outcome than if the process was unobserved. This is called theobserver effect.For example, it is not normally possible to check the air pressure in an automobile tire without letting out some of the air, thereby changing the pressure. However, in most fields of science, it is possible to reduce the effects of observation to insignificance by using better instruments.

Considered as a physical process itself, all forms of observation (human or instrumental) involveamplificationand are thus thermodynamicallyirreversible processes,increasingentropy.

Paradoxes

In some specific fields of science, the results of observation differ depending on factors that are not important in everyday observation. These are usually illustrated with apparent "paradoxes"in which an event appears different when observed from two different points of view, seeming to violate" common sense ".

• Relativity:Inrelativistic physicswhich deals with velocities close to thespeed of light,it is found that different observers may observe different values for the length, time rates, mass, and many other properties of an object, depending on the observer's velocity relative to the object. For example, in thetwin paradoxone twin goes on a trip near the speed of light and comes home younger than the twin who stayed at home. This is not a paradox: time passes at a slower rate when measured from a frame moving concerning the object.In relativistic physics, an observation must always be qualified by specifying the state of motion of the observer, itsreference frame.
• Quantum mechanics:Inquantum mechanics,which deals with the behavior of very small objects, it is not possible toobserve a systemwithout changing the system, and the "observer" must be considered part of thesystembeing observed. In isolation, quantum objects are represented by awave functionwhich often exists in asuperpositionor mixture of differentstates.However, when an observation is made to determine the actual location or state of the object, it always finds the object in a single state, not a "mixture". The interaction of the observation process appears to "collapse"the wave function into a single state. So any interaction between an isolated wave function and the external world that results in this wave function collapse is called anobservationormeasurement,whether or not it is part of a deliberate observation process.

Biases

The human senses do not function like a videocamcorder,impartially recording all observations.Human perception occurs by a complex, unconscious process ofabstraction,in which certain details of the incoming sense data are noticed and remembered, and the rest is forgotten. What is kept and what is thrown away depends on an internal model or representation of the world, called by psychologists aschema,that is built up over our entire lives. The data is fitted into this schema. Later when events are remembered, memory gaps may even be filled by "plausible" data the mind makes up to fit the model; this is calledreconstructive memory.How much attention the various perceived data are given depends on an internal value system, which judges how important it is to the individual. Thus two people can view the same event and come away with entirely different perceptions of it, even disagreeing about simple facts. This is whyeyewitness testimonyis notoriously unreliable.

Several of the more important ways observations can be affected by human psychology are given below.

Confirmation bias

Main article:confirmation bias

Human observations are biased toward confirming the observer's conscious and unconscious expectations and view of the world; we "see what we expect to see".In psychology, this is calledconfirmation bias.Since the object of scientific research is thediscoveryof new phenomena, this bias can and has caused new discoveries to be overlooked; one example is the discovery ofx-rays.It can also result in erroneous scientific support for widely held cultural myths, on the other hand, as in thescientific racismthat supported ideas of racial superiority in the early 20th century.Correct scientific technique emphasizes careful recording of observations, separating experimental observations from the conclusions drawn from them, and techniques such asblindordouble blind experiments,to minimize observational bias.

Processing bias

Modern scientific instruments can extensively process "observations" before they are presented to the human senses, and particularly with computerized instruments, there is sometimes a question as to where in the data processing chain "observing" ends and "drawing conclusions" begins. This has recently become an issue withdigitally enhancedimages published as experimental data inpapersinscientific journals.The images are enhanced to bring out features that the researcher wants to emphasize, but this also has the effect of supporting the researcher's conclusions. This is a form of bias that is difficult to quantify. Somescientific journalshave begun to set detailed standards for what types ofimage processingare allowed in research results. Computerized instruments often keep a copy of the "raw data" from sensors before processing, which is the ultimate defense against processing bias, and similarly, scientific standards require preservation of the original unenhanced "raw" versions of images used as research data.

Philosophy

Main article:Philosophy

InCosmologythe origins of observation are related with the origins ofevolutionsin our cosmos.

Process philosophyis the changingrelationshipsof oursenses,mindsandexperiencestoourselves.

"Observe always that everything is the result of a change, and get used to thinking that there is nothingNatureloves so well as to change existing forms and to make new ones like them. "

— Meditations. iv. 36. –Marcus Aurelius

See also

• Deixis
• Extrospection
• Introspection
• List of cognitive biases
• Metaphysics of presence
• Naturalistic observation
• Observation unit
• Observational astronomy
• Observational error
• Observational learning
• Observational study
• Observable quantity
• Observations and Measurements
• Observatory
• Observer effect
• Noumenon
• Present
• Self
• Theory ladenness
• Uncertainty principle
• Unobservable