02-04-2016, 10:38 PM
To answer the scientist/researcher question.
A Scientist is someone who uses scientific theories in their work. A scientists can be a researcher. However many researchers are referred to as scientists, even though they do not, in fact, use legitimate scientific theories.
For instance if I study the history of Japanese weapons by using anecdotal theories and reading contemporary sources to see what they tell me...I am a researcher, but I am not a scientist. I did not come up with a hypothesis and test it to see if my theories were correct. I just jumped into a book and drew a conclusion. I would be a researcher.
Likewise, if I propose the hypothesis that Japanese samurai of the 15th century did not, in fact, use the katana in battle...but rather they used soap-soaked wands and blew bubbles at each other. And I then delved into research sources and tested the applications of such 'weapons'. I could be considered a scientist, doing research. I would also be wrong, by the way...
A Scientist is someone who uses scientific theories in their work. A scientists can be a researcher. However many researchers are referred to as scientists, even though they do not, in fact, use legitimate scientific theories.
For instance if I study the history of Japanese weapons by using anecdotal theories and reading contemporary sources to see what they tell me...I am a researcher, but I am not a scientist. I did not come up with a hypothesis and test it to see if my theories were correct. I just jumped into a book and drew a conclusion. I would be a researcher.
Likewise, if I propose the hypothesis that Japanese samurai of the 15th century did not, in fact, use the katana in battle...but rather they used soap-soaked wands and blew bubbles at each other. And I then delved into research sources and tested the applications of such 'weapons'. I could be considered a scientist, doing research. I would also be wrong, by the way...