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Scientific Method
The principles and empirical processes of discovery and demonstration
considered characteristic of or necessary for scientific investigation, generally involving the observation of phenomena,
the formulation of a hypothesis concerning the phenomena, experimentation to demonstrate the truth or falseness of the hypothesis,
and a conclusion that validates or modifies the hypothesis.
It also involves mathematical and experimental techniques employed
in the natural sciences. Many empirical sciences, especially the social sciences, use mathematical tools borrowed from probability
theory and statistics, together with such outgrowths of these as decision theory, game theory, utility theory, and operations
research. Philosophers of science have addressed general methodological problems, such as the nature of scientific explanation
and the justification of induction. See also Mill's methods.
The scientific method may be summarized as the following sequence
of steps: identification of a knowledge problem; precise formulation or reformulation of the problem; examination of the background
knowledge in a search for items that might help solve the problem; choice or invention of a tentative hypothesis that looks
promising; conceptual test of the hypothesis, that is, checking whether it is compatible with the bulk of the existing knowledge
on the matter; drawing some testable consequences of the hypothesis; design of an empirical (observational or experimental)
test of the hypothesis or a consequence of it; actual empirical test of the hypothesis, involving a search for both favorable
and unfavorable evidence (examples and counterexamples); critical examination and statistical processing of the data (for
example, calculation of average error and elimination of outlying data); evaluation of the hypothesis in the light of its
compatibility with both the background knowledge and the fresh empirical evidence; if the test results are inconclusive, design
and performance of new tests, possibly using different special methods; if the test results are conclusive, acceptance, modification,
or rejection of the hypothesis; if the hypothesis is acceptable, checking whether its acceptance forces some change (enrichment
or correction) in the background knowledge; identifying and tackling new problems raised by the confirmed hypothesis; and
repetition of the test and reexamination of its possible impact on existing knowledge.
The scientific method is not a recipe for making original discoveries
or inventions; it does not prescribe the pathway that scientists must follow to attain success. The goal of the scientific
method is to ascertain whether a hypothesis is true to some degree. Indeed, the nucleus of the scientific method is the confrontation
of an idea (hypothesis) with the facts it refers to, regardless of the source of the idea in question. In sum, the scientific
method is a means for checking hypotheses for truth rather than for finding facts or inventing ideas. See also Science.
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