Asking good questions

(First of two parts)

At the end of a lecture I gave at the UP Visayas in Miagao, Iloilo, last July, an insightful student asked: “What is a good question (in science)?” I had said in my talk (and in some articles published previously in The Philippine STAR) that it is important to ask good questions in doing scientific research. But the student’s question requires a somewhat complicated answer.

In his seminal work entitled “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions,” Thomas Kuhn explains that scientists, at most times in history, do “normal science” in the context of existing conceptual frameworks or ways of thinking, called “paradigms,” Today, inheritance is understood in terms of DNA sequences encoding the traits in all living creatures that are handed down from one generation to the next. The diversity of living things is understood in terms of the mechanisms underlying evolution. The earth is understood in relation to the solar system and the rest of the universe in terms of astrophysics. But heredity was once a complete mystery, the idea that species evolve was heretical, as was the suggestion that the earth orbits around the sun. So in the past, existing paradigms were different from the ones now accepted, and “paradigm shifts” result from new observations and new ideas that lead to the abandonment of old ones, fundamentally transforming our view of the natural world. Paradigm shifts are often turbulent processes because communities often prefer to remain stuck in old ways of thinking even when confronted with empirical observations contrary to them, and violently resist alternative perspectives. Galileo, for example, was forced to retract his writings on astronomy when presented with an invitation to a church barbeque.

Today, doing normal science means applying the scientific method, as defined by existing paradigms, to test hypotheses experimentally or to analyze existing patterns in nature. It means subjecting results and observations to peer review by submitting manuscripts to scientific journals. To support the endeavor requires the writing of research grant applications that are scrutinized by other scientists who determine if the applicant and the project are of a quality worthy of public funds. This is all done in the context of existing paradigms which define what it means to do good or bad science in a current historical context.

So to ask good questions requires an understanding of the scientific method, as defined by current paradigms. It requires an awareness of the current state of the field the scientist is in. These requirements make it much more challenging to ask good questions when doing science in isolation, as compared with doing it as part of an active, prolific scientific community with a well-developed scientific culture, well-versed in the current literature. Doing science as part of such a community makes it possible to identify new and exciting questions and to distinguish them from those that may be considered boring and a waste of time. But even in communities in the mainstream of scientific culture, learning to ask good questions is not easy. In response to hearing research ideas from students, my late Ph.D. supervisor was known to say, “Why would you ever want to do that? This is like hypothesizing that the sun will rise tomorrow morning!” 

Given all this, readers can easily imagine why scientific communities that do not have easy access to international scientific journals, are unable to engage in active, large-scale participation in international scientific meetings, do not receive constant feedback from international journal referees and editors concerning the quality of their work, and do not get a regular dose of research seminars, can be severely disadvantaged and “left behind.” In their evolution, they may develop their own cultural practices that may deviate from the mainstream culture of “normal science” of the time. 

(To be concluded)

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Raul Kamantigue Suarez is a professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology of the University of California, Santa Barbara, California and an editor of the Journal of Experimental Biology, Cambridge, UK. E-mail him at [email protected].