The idiosyncratic specificity of the methods of physical experimentation

Abstract

Both the philosophy of science and the philosophy of social science research methods stress the application of methodic procedures to ensure the objectivity of the findings of scientific research. In contrast, the examination of the practices of physical experimentation indicates that the work of an experiment involves the cultivation of idiosyncratic methods specific to that particular experiment. Rather than exhibiting the adequacy of findings through the use of a scientific method, experiments, as their achievement, reveal the adequacy of the methods used for their own analysis.