Analyze the Data.Scientistsare
interestedinfactsandhowtheyfittogether
toexplainaphenomenon.Inascientific
study,eachresponseorobservedbehavior
isapieceof datatobeanalyzed.Scientists
oftenusestatisticalteststoanalyzethese
data.Whenusingobservationsor
conductinganexperiment,scientistsmake
carefulinterpretationstofindregularities
inthedata.Suchanalysisgivesabetter
understandingof thebehaviorbeing
studied.
Inmarriagesandfamilies,itistempting
forfamilymemberstothinksomethingis
highlyunusualorcannotbeexplained.But
scientistslookforpatternsorregularitiesin
familybehavior.Inthisrespect,familiesare
notasuniqueastheymightthink.This
meansmostfamilymembersarenotalone
inhavingtofaceaparticular“problem”ina
maritalorfamilysituation.
Draw Conclusions.Allscientific
conclusionsaretentative.Forexample,in
thehypotheticalsituationsabove,scientists
alreadyhavestudiedeachof these
hypothesesindetail.Inthefirstsituation,
manystudieshaveconcludedthatboth
marriedmenandmarriedwomenare
healthierthantheirsinglecounterparts.A
reportreleasedin2004bytheCDCshowed
marriedadultsarelesslikelytobeinfairor
poorhealth,andarelesslikelytosuffer
fromconditionssuchasheadachesand
seriouspsychologicaldistress(Schoenborn,
2004).Canwedrawfromthisconclusion
thatoneof thebenefitsof marriageisits
positiveeffectsonhealth?Isthisconclusion
applicabletootherpartsof theworld?To
cohabitingcouples?
From the second hypothesis we have
learned that couples in the United States
who marry in their teens tend to have a
higher divorce rate than couples who
marry at an older age.Is this hypothesis
true or“supported”in other cultures?Was
it true in earlier centuries? Regarding the
third hypothesis,scientists have found
contradictory data related to birth order
and the personality of children.Thus,the
conclusions are tentative.
We cannot know the whole truth
through science.Only God knows the
complete truth.Short of a right
understanding of and relationship with
God,we are at best speculating about factsWhy Marriage and Family?- Ascientistoftencollectsdataby
systematicobservation.Inthecaseof
thethirdhypothesis—testingthe
relationshipbetweenbirthorderand
shyness—thescientistcouldusea
two-waymirrortoobservechildren
atplay.Orthescientistmightsetup
anexperimentinalabornatural
setting.Suchanexperimentwould
involvetheintroductionofa
stimulustoanexperimentalgroup
andacontrolgroup.Thescientist
wouldthencomparethedifferences
inresponsesbetweenthetwogroups.