Tradition Authority Inaccurate Observation Overgeneralization Selective Observation Made-Up Information Illogical Reasoning Ego-Involvement in Understanding Mystification To err

is to human Dogmatism First of all, your own mind. By education, upbringing, cultural mores, etc you have tended to see the world in a framework familiar to you. Scientific inquiry requires that you do not carry any preconceived notions before setting out to answer questions. Subsequently, there's peer pressure. You might have a plausible answer or idea, but social and emotional pressure brought to bear by having to conform might lead to abandon your line and train of thought. Samantha Mitchell answered There are eleven hindrances to Scientific Inquiry. They include: Tradition, authority, inaccurate observation, overgeneralization, selective observation, made up information, illogical reasoning, ego involvement in understanding, human error, mystification, and dogmatism.

Understanding Hindrances

From the list you can see there are a couple of interesting ones listed. For example mystification and dogmatism are something you may not have thought of. They do apply as there are some who will use "science" to display magic and there are certain areas of science that are still mystifying because we have yet to discover the truth behind them. Dogmatism is a tendency to state something as the truth, incontrovertible, without evidence or listening to opinions of others.

Tradition

Tradition is another good hindrance to speak about. It comes about in Anthropological studies quite often. Anthropology studies human beings and cultures. It will examine the effects that other cultures can have on one culture that has been isolated. A good example can be found in certain African villages. There are some cultures that believe ailments such as headaches are the result of possession rather than of illness. We have

seen evidence of this in history as well. These traditional practices of these cultures limit their ability to adapt to a more modern world wherein science can cure a headache. Likewise a person studying such a culture may be held back by their own traditions unable to believe that possession can truly exist.

Authority

Authority is perhaps one of the best examples of how scientific inquiry can be hindered. Authorities that do not want the full truth to be provided can hold back an inquiry from being made or from the whole truth being exposed. Authorities have the power to decide what goes into an inquiry and what stays out.

Why tradition is hindrance in scientific inquiry? Answer: It is because everybody believe the pratices that they see other people do, for example, there is a belief among women that is they eat black food like black berries, their offspring will also be black in skin tone. So, because women are nervous to try it to find out if it is true, no proper investigation can be done. dogmatism /dgmtizm/ Noun The tendency to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true, without consideration of evidence or the opinions of others.
mystification Web definitions bewilderment: confusion resulting from failure to understand. wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn