2.8: Form Your Conclusions

The grand finale of the scientific method—forming your conclusions—proves to be the most challenging for many scientists. This is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. A scientist must now make sense of their data. They must extract meaning and significance. They must use the evidence of their observations, measurements, and experiments to tell a story. And they must tell that story in a way that other scientists and even the public can understand. Most often, this story forms the basis of a scientific discussion, the presentation in oral or written form of the conclusions of a particular scientific study. Though forming conclusions differs depending on the nature of the research, in general, four steps are crucial (e.g., Heard 2016):

1. How do the results shed light on (i.e., answer) your original research questions?
2. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your results in answering your research questions?
3. How do your conclusions build upon, extend, or contradict previous work on this topic?
4. What questions and considerations arise for future research on this topic?

Here’s where science most often tests the modesty of a scientist. After all, if you designed and carried out the research, you’re naturally (and forgivably) inclined to think it’s brilliant! Yet a scientist’s interpretation of their results may be subject to bias, a less-than-objective, partial, and sometimes distorted view of scientific evidence. Scientific bias almost certainly stems from a worldview formed as a result of years or decades of experience in the field. There’s nothing intentional or malevolent about it. Scientists are human, after all, but they must always remain aware of the inherent biases in their work. As Milroy (2016) puts it:

Regardless of the strength of your hypothesis or the veracity of your data, as human beings we are always prone to making errors in our analyses. In the context of science, this almost always occurs because we have some preconceived notion of how our experiments should turn out, and if our data seem to support our original hypothesis, it is difficult to step back from all of your hard work and look at the results with a truly cynical eye. Results can be easily misinterpreted unless you are very careful to devise an experiment where the results can only be construed in one way.

The scientific method embodies a set of checks and balances that guard against this very thing, a system called peer review, which may be defined as the feedback on a scientist’s work by other scientists or experts. A scientist may meet with or Zoom with a trusted colleague and ask them what they think, or present preliminary conclusions to gain feedback. Scientific papers undergo scrutiny by anonymous reviewers, a formal peer review process that further ensures the validity of the data and the veracity of a scientist’s conclusions. Of course, errors, misstatements, and, on rare occasions, deliberate misrepresentation of results may occur. But science rests on the accumulation of evidence from multiple studies and multiple scientists. The self-correcting nature of science is what makes it one of the most valuable tools ever invented by humans. Scientists don’t always get it right the first time, but eventually, through the scrutiny of the ages, after decades to centuries, the truth emerges. Truths become well-established scientific theories, and the extent of our knowledge and understanding progresses.