Scientific method

For broader coverage of this topic, see Research and Epistemology. For other uses, see Scientific method (disambiguation).

For notable practitioners in previous centuries, see History of scientific method.

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The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has been referred to while doing science since at least the 17th century. The scientific method involves careful observation coupled with rigorous scepticism, because cognitive assumptions can distort the interpretation of the observation. Scientific inquiry includes creating a testable hypothesis through inductive reasoning, testing it through experiments and statistical analysis, and adjusting or discarding the hypothesis based on the results.[1][2][3]

Although procedures vary between fields, the underlying process is often similar. In more detail: the scientific method involves making conjectures (hypothetical explanations), predicting the logical consequences of hypothesis, then carrying out experiments or empirical observations based on those predictions.[4] A hypothesis is a conjecture based on knowledge obtained while seeking answers to the question. Hypotheses can be very specific or broad but must be falsifiable, implying that it is possible to identify a possible outcome of an experiment or observation that conflicts with predictions deduced from the hypothesis; otherwise, the hypothesis cannot be meaningfully tested.[5]

While the scientific method is often presented as a fixed sequence of steps, it actually represents a set of general principles. Not all steps take place in every scientific inquiry (nor to the same degree), and they are not always in the same order.[6][7] Numerous discoveries have not followed the textbook model of the scientific method and chance has played a role, for instance.[8][9][10]

  1. ^ Newton, Isaac (1999) [1726 (3rd ed.)]. Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica [Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy]. The Principia: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. Translated by Cohen, I. Bernard; Whitman, Anne; Budenz, Julia. Includes "A Guide to Newton's Principia" by I. Bernard Cohen, pp. 1–370. (The Principia itself is on pp. 371–946). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. 791–796 ("Rules of Reasoning in Philosophy"); see also Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica#Rules of Reason. ISBN 978-0-520-08817-7.
  2. ^ "scientific method", Oxford Dictionaries: British and World English, 2016, archived from the original on 2016-06-20, retrieved 2016-05-28
  3. ^ Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2014. Archived from the original on 2023-11-29. Retrieved 2018-05-31 – via OED Online.
  4. ^ Peirce, Charles Sanders (1908). "A Neglected Argument for the Reality of God" . Hibbert Journal. 7: 90–112 – via Wikisource. with added notes. Reprinted with previously unpublished part, Collected Papers v. 6, paragraphs 452–85, The Essential Peirce v. 2, pp. 434–450, and elsewhere. N.B. 435.30 'living institution': Hibbert J. mis-transcribed 'living institution': ("constitution" for "institution")
  5. ^ Popper (1959), p. 273.
  6. ^ Gauch (2003), p. 3: "The scientific method 'is often misrepresented as a fixed sequence of steps,' rather than being seen for what it truly is, 'a highly variable and creative process' (AAAS 2000:18). The claim here is that science has general principles that must be mastered to increase productivity and enhance perspective, not that these principles provide a simple and automated sequence of steps to follow."
  7. ^ William Whewell, History of Inductive Science (1837), and in Philosophy of Inductive Science (1840)
  8. ^ Krauss, Alexander (28 March 2024). "Redefining the scientific method: as the use of sophisticated scientific methods that extend our mind". PNAS Nexus. 3 (4): pgae112. doi:10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae112. PMC 10981393. PMID 38560527.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference DunbarLuck was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Merton, Robert King; Barber, Elinor; Barber, Elinor G. (2006). "Accidental Discovery in Science". The Travels and Adventures of Serendipity: A Study in Sociological Semantics and the Sociology of Science. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 0691126305.