8127/frame/fm

 
b.
Science Is Dynamic
Another common misconception about science is that it embraces immutable
truths. In fact, nothing could be further from reality. At any point in time,
* Much confusion and misunderstanding exists around the idea of the null hypothesis. The
most useful working definition is that the null hypothesis must be falsifiable (Stark, 2000).
When the null hypothesis is disproved by experimentation, we must accept one or more
alternative hypotheses. 
8127/frame/ch01 Page 6 Friday, July 21, 2000 11:32 AM

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Introduction
7
science provides us with our best estimate of how the universe works. But
soon enough, an idea or discovery comes along either to refine or to refute
what we once “knew to be true.” This is simply the nature of scientific
discovery; our understanding changes with new information. This revelation
can be somewhat disconcerting to the layperson who perceives that science
can provide hard and fast, black and white, irrefutable answers to questions
about the physical realm. All science can provide is the best answer based on
all the information available at that point in time. This concept becomes
excruciatingly clear in forensic science when newer, more discriminating
techniques are able to distinguish between two items that were previously
indistinguishable using older techniques. One of the best examples of this
concept at work is that of convictions that have been overturned with the
advent of DNA testing. Barring the exceptional case in which an accidental
or malicious error has been committed, the previous work would not be
considered wrong; it is simply that two individuals with, for example, blood
type “O” will likely show different DNA profiles.
 
c.