The fundamental method
All research of any kind depends upon observation.
- Astronomy - observation by many means
- Physics - observation by instruments
- Botany - direct observation of plants
- Sociology - direct and indirect observation of social groups, etc.
- History - using the records of observations
Notes:
The initial claim is that all research methods, in all disciplines are based upon observation - astronomy began by people looking at the starts, then using optical telescopes to do the same thing, then using radio telescopes and other devises to see what the naked eye could not. In physics, what cannot be observed by the eye, is observed by instruments - cloud chambers to show up the collision of particles, for example. In botany, close observation of plants gave Linnaeus his ides for a classification scheme of plants - now we are using DNA links to do the same thing… And so on - we could go through every discipline in the university and find that the original method of data collection on the relevant phenomena was observation - all that has changed, over time, is the sophistication of the instruments used to make observations where the naked eye cannot do so.