CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD AND SELF-IDENTITY AMONG GEOSCIENCE GRADUATE STUDENTS

We have characterized the conceptualizations of the scientific method held by scientists-in-training, i.e., masters- and Ph.D.-level graduate students. The focus of our study was on the phenomenology of how the scientific method informs, or fails to inform, their everyday experiences as graduate level thinkers and researchers.

We conducted semi-structured interviews and a focus group in order to identify emergent themes among the participants. Emergent themes are defined as ideas, statements or concepts with multiple occurrences in the course of interviews and focus groups. “Raw data” are in the form of direct quotes and constructed meanings. Each theme therefore represents a summary of common experiences. These themes provide an “illustrative flavor,” shedding light on shared experiences within a peer group. We report on two specific emergent themes generated by our graduate student participants: (1) dissonance between the formalized scientific method as a theoretical ideal and the scientist's “real world”; and (2) a reticence to view themselves as scientists.

Our participants appeared to be struggling with dissonance between the highly prescriptive and linear theoretical scientific method that they have been taught, and the more fluid, intuitive and recursive approach to the method they apply and/or learn from their mentors. This appears to undermine their ability to see themselves as scientists participating in a larger enterprise; instead, they have a tendency to view themselves more as “kids” involved in a “pretend” process required to earn credentials. In this respect, they are more similar to introductory students than practicing scientists, even at the Ph.D.-candidate level.

Our findings raise questions in our minds about how we as a profession train our scientists. Despite having consciously chosen science as a career, our participants lack confidence in themselves and their scientific abilities. This may be attributable in part to the way the scientific method is taught. Emphasis on the theoretical method to the exclusion of the real life of the scientist may undermine the professional development of otherwise able and interested scientists-in-training.