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Instruction for Extension Service Personnel in the Philosophy and Interpretation of Agricultural Research 1
Author(s) -
Scarsbrook C. E.
Publication year - 1961
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1961.00021962005300050025x
Subject(s) - agricultural experiment station , citation , service (business) , agriculture , chemist , agricultural education , library science , agricultural science , interpretation (philosophy) , engineering , mathematics , political science , management , agricultural economics , geography , business , computer science , marketing , economics , environmental science , archaeology , philosophy , chemistry , linguistics , organic chemistry
IT HAS been my privilege to design and teach a course with the objective of giving students a better understanding of agricultural research. Nearly all of the students are full-time employees of the Auburn University Agricultural Extension Service. They are graduate students in the Master of Agriculture program. Having mature students in class who have experienced a need for the information that the course title promises has been a pleasure, indeed. The courses required for the degree of Master of Agriculture are offered at five centers geographically ocated so as to minimize travel distances for personnel located in the counties. Classes of four hours duration are held once a week in the evening. Three, quarter hours of credit are given for successful completion of each course. Most extension workers in Alabama have had no training or experience in scientific research. A basic premise for this course is that the students can more effectively explain and disseminate the results of agricultural research if they understand the principles of scientific research. Accordingly, this instruction is required for all students in the Master of Agriculture program. At the sacrifice of some accuracy, the language used in the course is usually limited to that which is familiar to most of the students. They are told that this will be done and that this inevitably means ome truth is lost in the simplification. Since it is necessary to introduce some new terminology, some definitions are required. This is avoided, when possible, by giving descriptions and examples. The introductory material describes the activities of science and differentiates between scientific and nonscientific research. The differences and similarities among scientific research, testing, and demonstrations are described. Student experience with the latter is utilized. Scientists often feel that the public appreciates practical research but has little appreciation for basic research. It was anticipated that it would be necessary to "sell" the students on the importance of pure science. Such was not the case. While not too familiar with the activities of basic research, they had through some means learned to appreciate its importance in the advancement of science. The students were universally surprised that "the language of science is mathematics," and that advanced science could not exist without both mathematics and technical language. Examples are given of how a table, graph, or summary of a technical article that contains no mathematical symbols (other than numbers) can be put in mathematical form. The students were amazed with the statement; "one of our major weaknesses in science is that our language is not technical enough for the scientist to express what they observe." There are numerous ways in which the scientific method can be expressed. The following outline was selected for