Topic summary
Observations
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Observation.
Science
Observations play a role in both the second and fifth steps of the scientific method. However, the principle of reproducibility requires that observations made by different individuals be comparable and consistent. Human sense impressions are subjective and yield qualitative data, which are difficult to standardize, record, or compare across observers. To address this limitation, the use of measurement was developed as a means of producing objective, quantitative observations.