Scientific method


The scientific method is not a step by step, linear process. It is an intuitive process, a
methodology for learning about the world through the application of knowledge. Scientists
must be able to have an "imaginative preconception" of what the truth is. Scientists will
often observe and then hypothesize the reason why a phenomenon occurred. They use all
of their knowledge and a bit of imagination, all in an attempt to uncover something that
might be true.


A typical scientific investigation might go like so:

You observe that a room appears dark, and you ponder why the room is dark. In an attempt to find explanations to this curiosity, your mind unravels several different hypotheses. One hypothesis might state that the lights are turned off. Another hunch might be that the room's lightbulb has burnt out. Worst yet, you could be going blind. To discover the truth you experiment. You feel your way around the room and find a light switch and turn it on. No light. You repeat the experiment, flicking the switch back and forth. Still nothing. That means your initial hypothesis, the room is dark because the lights are off, has been rejected.

You devise more experiments to test your hypotheses, utilizing a flashlight to prove that you are indeed not blind. In order to accept your last remaining hypothesis as the truth, you could predict that changing the light bulb will fix the problem. If all your predictions succeed, the original hypothesis is valid and is accepted. 

In some cases, however, your predictions will not occur in which you'll have to start over. Perhaps the power is off.

Scientists first make observations that raise a particular question. In order to explain the observed phenomenon, they develop a number of possible explanations, or hypotheses.

This is the inductive part of science, observing and constructing plausible arguments for  why
an event occurred.


Experiments are then used to eliminate one of more of the possible hypotheses until one hypothesis remains. Using deduction, scientists use the principles of their hypothesis to make predictions, and then test to make sure that their predictions are confirmed. After many trials (repeatability) and all predictions have been confirmed, the hypothesis then may become a theory.


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