> > >1. Gather data >2. Form hypothesis >3. Devise experiments to test hypothesis >4. Compare results >5. Revise hypothesis >6. Repeat previous three steps until confident you're right >7. Publish so other scientists can try to reproduce your >results and find holes in your assumptions and chain of >logic, etc. > as a 'real' scientist, i will tell you that 1 and 2 are most often reversed. i come up with a cool question then design experiments then gather data----the first two are the easiest--it is getting the data and figuring out what the hell it means that takes up so much time--actually it is just the last that is time consuming. JAA -- Stanford University Department of Biological Sciences Hopkins Marine Station Blinks Oceanview Blvd Pacific Grove, Ca 93950 jalipaz at stanford.edu phone: 831-655-6210 Often statistics are used as drunken men use lampposts... for support rather than illumination. Albert Einstein