Earth Science

• Research


  A systematic investigation that requires data to be collected, analyzed, and interpreted
• Inductive reasoning


  • Aims to infer theoretical concepts and patterns from observed data; also known as Theory Building research
• Deductive reasoning


  • Aims to test concepts and patterns known from theory using new empirical data; also known as Theory Testing research
• Qualitative research


  Often referred to as inductive research; aims to understand or make sense of the world based on the experiences and perceptions of individuals
• Quantitative research


  Often referred to as deductive research; aims to understand the world by generalizability using controlled, value-neutral processes
• Basic research


  Also known as theoretical research; aims to test existing or generate new theories to advance knowledge or understanding; often identified when the research discovers new phenomena or new ideas of general interest
• Applied research


  Aims to use the acquired knowledge in order to contribute directly to the understanding or resolution of practical issues; often identified when the research contributes to the solution of specific practical problems
• Empirical knowledge


  Information gathered through experience and direct data collection
• Nonempirical knowledge


  Roots from introspection, vicarious experiences, and people's analysis of events
• Scientific knowledge


  A generalized body of laws and theories that explains a phenomenon acquired using the scientific method
• Exploratory research


  Often conducted in new areas of inquiry where it intends to scope out the magnitude of a particular phenomenon, problem, or behavior, to generate new ideas, and also to test the feasibility of undertaking an extensive study regarding the phenomenon; seeks to investigate and under-researched aspect of life
• Explanatory research


  Provides explanations of an observed phenomenon by answering the 'why' and 'how' questions; attempts to correct the dots by identifying causal factors and outcomes of the phenomenon; and often seeks to explain an aspect of social life
• Descriptive research


  Often used to describe an aspect of life richly. This is related to explanatory research but instead answers the 'who', 'what', 'when', and 'where' questions
• Research design


  A strategic plan of how to go about answering the research questions. It touches on all parts of the research and acts as a blueprint
• Research methodology


  The rationale for the research design and is broader in terms of concepts on which it touches. It justifies one's choice of data collection, analysis method, and procedures
• Research methods


  Specific set of tools that a researcher uses throughout the study. These are the details that will be based on the methodology
• Characteristics of a good qualitative research problem

  • Feasibility - adequate number of subjects to be interviewed and at the same time
  • Novelty - the newness of a topic, either to confirm or refute previous finding or to extend a new finding to previous studies
  • Ethics - the assurance of giving due respect to the participants of the research in making sure they only experience minimal harm, and without intruding into their privacy
  • Relevance - the significant contributions of the investigation to scientific knowledge, and in the development of some policies and actions intended for future research directions
• Three basic components of a good qualitative research problem

  • The ideal situation - where you provide the history of the issue and the ideal scenario that can exist
  • The main problem - where you not only inform what the problem is, but also answer what the problem is, and where, why, and when it occurs
  • The scope of the problem - where you define the extent of your study and give a brief overview of the kind of methodology
• Steps in developing a research problem

  1. Selection of the research topic

  2. Contemplating the ideas

  3. Narrowing the topic

  4. Reviewing the related literature

  5. Writing the statement of the research problem
• Six elements in qualitative research statement

  • Literature on the research topic that can provoke the research
  • Scope of the problem
  • Importance and relevance of the problem
  • Discipline that can be influenced by the study
  • General characteristics or profile of the participants of the study
  • Overall goal or aim of the study or the question to be answered
• Principles for instructing a research paper

  • Chronological - the chronological pattern explains each of the steps in a time-order process
  • Comparison and Contrast - the pattern of comparison and contrast presents the similarities and/or differences between two (2) or more persons, places, or things
  • Spatial Pattern - develops the physical layout or geographical dimensions of a topic
  • Cause and Effect - a cause-and-effect paper presents the events or forces that produce certain results, speculates about how things might have turned out of if conditions had
  • Analysis - some subjects can best be understood by an examination of their component parts. analysis is the process of dividing a subject into its parts and classifying them
• Ethics of writing literature

  • Fabrication - is making up data or results and recording or reporting them
  • Falsification - is manipulating research materials, equipment, or processes, or changing or omitting data or results such that their search is not accurately represented in the research record
  • Plagiarism - is using another person's ideas, processes, results, or words without giving proper credit
  • Redundant publication - is a special type of plagiarism that invokes copyright infringement. It is defined as a duplicate publication of a paper that overlaps substantially with one already published
  • Unauthorized authorship - is another nagging issue, especially in student researches, where advising is the usual contribution of the research adviser
• Age of the Universe

  13.7 billion years
• Diameter of the observable universe

  At least 93 billion light years
• Big Bang Theory


  The best-supported theory of our universe's origin. The expansion has apparently continued, but much more slowly, over the ensuing billions of years. Before, the universe was compressed into a hot, dense mass just a few millimeters across. A massive blast caused the universe to expand.
• After the Big Bang

  1. Universe is composed of HOT, TINY PARTICLE mixed with LIGHT and ENERGY

  2. As the universe expanded, it cooled down

  3. Particles slow down and grouped together forming light elements (Hydrogen and Helium)

  4. Atoms grouped together forming stars and galaxies
• Georges Lemaitre


  Formulated the big bang theory. Said that the universe began from a single primordial atom. The universe keeps on stretching and expanding.
• Edwin Hubble


  States that if the universe is constantly expanding and growing now, that means it was smaller before–and likely the size of an unimaginably small particle at the beginning.
• Arno Penzias & Robert Wilson

  Detected the Cosmic Microwave Background. Evidence suggests that this is leftover radiation from the energy of the Big Bang.
• Oscillating Theory


  Agrees with the Big Bang Theory. Suggests a period of expansion and contraction, Big Crunch.
• Steady State Theory


  Suggests that the universe is unchanging and has no beginning or end. No expansion/contraction. Failed to explain the Cosmic Microwave Background.
• Solar System


  The gravitationally bound system of the sun and the objects that orbit it. It consists of planets, moons, comets, asteroids, and other objects that orbit around the sun.
• Terrestrial Planets


  • Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
• Jovian Planets


  • Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
• Geocentric Model


  Proposed by Claudius Ptolemy. The earth is at the center of the cosmos or universe, and the planets, the sun and the moon, and the stars circles around it.
• Heliocentric Model


  Developed by Nicolaus Copernicus. An astronomical model in which the Earth and planets move around the Sun at the center of the Solar system.
• Nebular Hypothesis


  Suggests that the solar system formed from a spinning cloud of gas and dust known as nebula.
• Planetisimal Theory


  The Planetesimal Theory supposed that the planetary system was formed from materials removed from the sun by tidal action caused by a passing star.
• Dust Cloud Theory


  States that interactions of gas molecules produced swirls, forming lumps in the nebula that grow to become planets and satellites. The Dust Cloud or nebula was originally 10% of the sun's mass.
• Protoplanet Theory


  The current working model about the Solar System's formation. Based on the nebular hypothesis incorporated with new ideas about fluid mechanics and states of matter. The cloud shrank and it accumulates in the middle forming the sun. A fraction of the substances in the cloud created a giant plate-like disc around the Sun. In the disc, mass accumulated in multiple whirlpools due to friction, eventually developing into moons and planets.