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Identify the goal of any scientific method


What is the scientific method and how does it work?

By

  • Gavin Wright
  • Tréa Lavery, Editorial Assistant

What is the scientific method?

The scientific method is the process of objectively establishing facts through testing and experimentation. The basic process involves making an observation, forming a hypothesis, making a prediction, conducting an experiment and finally analyzing the results. The principals of the scientific method can be applied in many areas, including scientific research, business and technology.

Steps of the scientific method

The scientific method uses a series of steps to establish facts or create knowledge. The overall process is well established, but the specifics of each step may change depending on what is being examined and who is performing it. The scientific method can only answer questions that can be proven or disproven through testing.

Make an observation or ask a question. The first step is to observe something that you would like to learn about or ask a question that you would like answered. These can be specific or general. Some examples would be "I observe that our total available network bandwidth drops at noon every weekday" or "How can we increase our website registration numbers?" Taking the time to establish a well-defined question will help you in later steps.

Gather background information. This involves doing research into what is already known about the topic. This can also involve finding if anyone has already asked the same question.

Create a hypothesis. A hypothesis is an explanation for the observation or question. If proven later, it can become a fact. Some examples would be "Our employees watching online videos during lunch is using our internet bandwidth" or "Our website visitors don't see our registration form. "

Create a prediction and perform a test. Create a testable prediction based on the hypothesis. The test should establish a noticeable change that can be measured or observed using empirical analysis. It is also important to control for other variables during the test. Some examples would be "If we block video-sharing sites, our available bandwidth will not go down significantly during lunch" or "If we make our registration box bigger, a greater percentage of visitors will register for our website than before the change."

Analyze the results and draw a conclusion. Use the metrics established before the test see if the results match the prediction. For example, "After blocking video-sharing sites, our bandwidth utilization only went down by 10% from before; this is not enough of a change to be the primary cause of the network congestion" or "After increasing the size of the registration box, the percent of sign-ups went from 2% of total page views to 5%, showing that making the box larger results in more registrations. "

Share the conclusion or decide what question to ask next: Document the results of your experiment. By sharing the results with others, you also increase the total body of knowledge available. Your experiment may have also led to other questions, or if your hypothesis is disproven you may need to create a new one and test that. For example, "Because user activity is not the cause of excessive bandwidth use, we now suspect that an automated process is running at noon every day."

Diagram illustrating using the scientific method to confirm a hypothesis

Using the scientific method in technology and computers

The scientific method is incredibly valuable in technology and related fields. It is obviously used in research and development, but it is also useful in day-to-day operations. Because almost everything can be quantified, testing hypotheses can be easy.

Most modern computer systems are complicated and difficult to troubleshoot. Using the scientific method of hypothesis and testing can greatly simplify the process of tracking down errors and it can help find areas of improvement. It can also help when you evaluate new technologies before implementation.

Using the scientific method in business

Many business processes benefit when using the scientific method. Shifting business landscapes and complex business relationships can make behaviors hard to predict or act counter to previous history. Instead of using gut feelings or previous experience, a scientific approach can help businesses grow. Big data initiative can make business information more available and easier to test with.

The scientific method can be applied in many areas. Customer satisfaction and retention numbers can be analyzed and tested upon. Profitability and finance numbers can be analyzed to form new conclusions. Making predictions on changing business practices and checking the results will help to identify and measure success or failure of the initiatives.

Using the scientific method in business

The scientific method is a powerful tool. Like any tool, though, if it is misused it can cause more damage than good.

The scientific method can only be used for testable phenomenon. This is known as falsifiability. While much in nature can be tested and measured, some areas of human experience are beyond objective observation.

Both proving and disproving the hypothesis are equally valid outcomes of testing. It is possible to ignore the outcome or inject bias to skew the results of a test in a way that will fit the hypothesis. Data in opposition to the hypothesis should not be discounted.

It is important to control for other variables and influences during testing to not skew the results. While difficult, not accounting for these could produce invalid data. For example, testing bandwidth during a holiday or measuring registrations during a sale event may introduce other factors that influence the outcome.

Another common pitfall is mixing correlation with causation. While two data points may seem to be connected, it is not necessarily true that once is directly influenced by the other. For example, an ice cream stand in town sees drops in business on the hottest days. While the data may look like the hotter the weather, the less people want ice cream, the reality is that more people are going to the beach on those days and less are in town.

History of the scientific method

The discovery of the scientific method is not credited to any single person, but there are a few notable figures who contributed to its development.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle is considered to be one of the earliest proponents of logic and cycles of observation and deduction in recorded history. Ibn al-Haytham, a mathematician, established stringent testing methodologies in pursuit of facts and truth, and he recorded his findings.

During the Renaissance, many thinkers and scientists continued developing rational methods of establishing facts. Sir Francis Bacon emphasized the importance of inductive reasoning. Sir Isaac Newton relied on both inductive and deductive reasoning to explain the results of his experiments, and Galileo Galilei emphasized the idea that results should be repeatable.

Other well-known contributors to the scientific method include Karl Popper, who introduced the concept of falsifiability, and Charles Darwin, who is known for using multiple communication channels to share his conclusions.

See also: falsifiability, pseudoscience, empirical analysis, validated learning, OODA loop, black swan event, deep learning.

This was last updated in April 2022

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Steps of the Scientific Method

Scientific Method

What is the Scientific Method?

The scientific method is a process for experimentation that is used to explore observations and answer questions.

Do all scientists follow the scientific method exactly? No. Some areas of science can be more easily tested than others. For example, scientists studying how stars change as they age or how dinosaurs digested their food cannot fast-forward a star's life by a million years or run medical exams on feeding dinosaurs to test their hypotheses. When direct experimentation is not possible, scientists modify the scientific method. But even when modified, the goal (and many of the steps) remains the same: to discover cause and effect relationships by asking questions, carefully gathering and examining the evidence, and seeing if all the available information can be combined into a logical answer. New information or thinking might also cause a scientist to back up and repeat steps at any point during the process. Understanding the steps of the scientific method will help you focus your scientific question and work through your observations and data to answer the question as well as possible.

The interactive diagram below may help you understand the scientific method and how it is applied to an experiment. You can click on parts of the diagram to learn more. Use the "return to top" button to return to the diagram for more exploration.

Steps of the Scientific Method

1. Ask a Question

The scientific method starts when you ask a question about something that you observe: How, What, When, Who, Which, Why, or Where?

For a science fair project some teachers require that the question be something you can measure, preferably with a number.

For detailed help with this step, use these resources:

  • Your Question
  • Laboratory Notebook

2. Do Background Research

Rather than starting from scratch in putting together a plan for answering your question, you want to be a savvy scientist using library and Internet research to help you find the best way to do things and ensure that you don't repeat mistakes from the past.

For detailed help with this step, use these resources:

  • Background Research Plan
  • Finding Information
  • How to Write a Bibliography in APA and MLA styles With Examples
  • Research Paper

3. Construct a Hypothesis

A hypothesis is an educated guess about how things work. It is an attempt to answer your question with an explanation that can be tested. A good hypothesis allows you to then make a prediction:
"If _____[I do this] _____, then _____[this]_____ will happen. "

State both your hypothesis and the resulting prediction you will be testing. Predictions must be easy to measure.

For detailed help with this step, use these resources:

  • Variables
  • Variables for Beginners
  • Writing a Hypothesis for Your Science Fair Project

4. Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment

Your experiment tests whether your prediction is accurate and thus your hypothesis is supported or not. It is important for your experiment to be a fair test. You conduct a fair test by making sure that you change only one factor at a time while keeping all other conditions the same.

You should also repeat your experiments several times to make sure that the first results weren't just an accident.

For detailed help with this step, use these resources:

  • Experimental Procedure
  • Materials List
  • Conducting an Experiment

5.

Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion

Once your experiment is complete, you collect your measurements and analyze them to see if they support your hypothesis or not.

Scientists often find that their predictions were not accurate and their hypothesis was not supported, and in such cases they will communicate the results of their experiment and then go back and construct a new hypothesis and prediction based on the information they learned during their experiment. This starts much of the process of the scientific method over again. Even if they find that their hypothesis was supported, they may want to test it again in a new way.

For detailed help with this step, use these resources:

  • Data Analysis & Graphs
  • Conclusions

6. Communicate Your Results

To complete your science fair project you will communicate your results to others in a final report and/or a display board. Professional scientists do almost exactly the same thing by publishing their final report in a scientific journal or by presenting their results on a poster or during a talk at a scientific meeting. In a science fair, judges are interested in your findings regardless of whether or not they support your original hypothesis.

For detailed help with this step, use these resources:

  • Final Report
  • Abstract
  • Display Board
  • Science Fair Judging

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the six steps of the scientific method?

The six steps of the scientific method include: 1) asking a question about something you observe, 2) doing background research to learn what is already known about the topic, 3) constructing a hypothesis, 4) experimenting to test the hypothesis, 5) analyzing the data from the experiment and drawing conclusions, and 6) communicating the results to others.

What is a scientific method example?

A simple example of the scientific method is:

  • Ask a Question: Why does Greenland look so large on a map?
  • Background Research: Learn that Greenland is a quarter the size of the United States in land mass. Also learn that Mercator projection maps are made by transferring the images from a sphere to a sheet of paper wrapped around the sphere in a cylinder.
  • Hypothesis: If I make a Mercator projection map, then the items in the middle of the map will look their true size and the items at the poles will look larger than they really are.
  • Experiment: Use a sphere with 1-inch by 1-inch squares at each pole and the equator to make a Mercator projection map. Measure the squares on the Mercator projection map.
  • Analyze Data and Make Conclusions: The middle-of-the-map squares average 1 inch per side while the squares at the poles average 3 inches per side. In conclusion, the projection process used to make Mercator projection maps creates distortion at the poles, but not at the equator. This is why Greenland, which is close to the North Pole, looks larger than it is.
  • Communicate: Make a video, write a report, or give a presentation to educate others about the experiment.

Who invented the scientific method?

The scientific method was not invented by any one person, but is the outcome of centuries of debate about how best to find out how the natural world works. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle was among the first known people to promote that observation and reasoning must be applied to figure out how nature works. The Arab Muslim mathematician and scientist Hasan Ibn al-Haytham (known in the western world as Alhazen) is often cited as the first person to write about the importance of experimentation. Since then, a large number of scientists have written about how science should ideally be conducted and contributed to our modern understanding of the scientific method. Those scientists include Roger Bacon, Thomas Aquinas, Galileo Galilei, Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, John Hume, and John Stuart Mill. Scientists today continue to evolve and refine the scientific method as they explore new techniques and new areas of science.

Do scientists actually use the scientific method?

Scientists do use the scientific method, but not always exactly as laid out in the organized steps taught in the classroom. Just like a chef might make a few changes to a recipe because of the ingredients at hand, a scientist may modify the scientific method by skipping steps, jumping back and forth between steps, or repeating a subset of the steps because he or she is dealing with imperfect real-world conditions. But scientists always strive to keep to the core principles of the scientific method by using observations, experiments, and data to support or reject explanations of how a phenomenon works. While experimenting is considered the best way to test explanations, there are areas of science, like astronomy, where this is not always possible.

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Determining the purpose and objectives of scientific research

  • What is the purpose and objectives of research?
  • The purpose of the study: isolate and describe
  • Research tasks and their compilation
  • Examples of the purpose and objectives of the study

What is the purpose and objectives of the study?

The purpose and objectives of the study are two obligatory points when writing any scientific work. When writing an introduction in a term paper or diploma, the goal and objectives should be reflected in it. If an introduction is not expected in a scientific work, for example, this is an article or an essay, then the goal and objectives should be located in the first paragraphs, only relevance can get ahead of them.

The goal determines the expected result of the work, it is always aimed at the object of study, and the tasks are the algorithm for achieving this goal. Already when describing the relevance of the study, it is necessary to decide what the goal of future work is.

As for the objectives of the study, each of them, together with others, should lead to the achievement of the expected result. The easiest way to define research objectives is to rewrite paragraphs from the work plan. This option often suits teachers, however, if when writing a term paper or diploma you are urged not to confuse tasks with the content of the work, it will be better if you meet 1-2 theoretical tasks “to study literature, concepts, analyze the situation”, and do the rest of the tasks more specific. This may be the development and testing of methods for solving a problem, the search and formulation of a new hypothesis, the choice of research methods, etc.

The main thing is that the resulting list of actions should be not just an automatic list of tasks completed by the student, but also be a guide to action. That is, it is necessary to strive to ensure that the results of the research can be applied in practice - used in production, resolve a difficult economic situation, etc.

Determining the purpose of the study its writing, that is, the final predicted result of the work. It affects all the accompanying sections of the introduction to the course or graduation project, especially the relevance of the topic. At the time of setting the goal, you may not even know how achievable it is.

What can serve as a goal:

  1. Development of methods for solving a problem in any area.
  2. Set dependencies between scientific concepts.
  3. Search for causal relationships between phenomena.
  4. Identification of patterns in the course of processes.
  5. The study of the characteristics of a phenomenon.

Usually the goal is consonant with the title of the work - this should be taken into account when highlighting it. If, nevertheless, difficulties arise, it is worth discussing the goal with the supervisor in advance so that you do not have to rewrite the already finished work. The work is quite voluminous and the formulation of the goal becomes cumbersome? Break it down into specific subtasks and highlight the main one - it will be the overall goal. Move the remaining sub-items to the research tasks section - this way you will be able to kill two birds with one stone. Nobody can accuse you that such approach is wrong as in any case tasks are defined proceeding from the purpose.

The definition of purpose begins with the phrase “The purpose of the study is…” or “The purpose of the work is to…”. These are generally accepted formulations that should not be deviated from when writing any scientific text. Use keywords like “define”, “highlight”, “develop”, “clarify”, etc.
The resulting goal can be both final and intermediate - it all depends on the subject of the course or diploma project, as well as its depth. A superficial analysis of the situation can serve as a goal for theoretical research, but the development of recommendations can serve as the basis for further practical actions.

Research objectives and their compilation

Research objectives are the steps that need to be taken gradually until the goal of the same research is achieved. In other words, tasks are sometimes sub-items into which the overall goal of the work is divided.

When writing a list of tasks, remember the typical mistakes that many students make:

  • Tasks are isolated from the structure of the entire document and are not confirmed in any way in the text.
  • One or more tasks is simply a different way of expressing the purpose of the work.
  • Instead of a list of tasks, a plan for conducting a scientific study was written: “to parse the thematic literature, conduct a check, draw conclusions, etc. ”

    • As already mentioned, the abstract, term paper or thesis should be a single whole, united in one structure and connected by a common theme. At the same time, it is desirable that the results of writing a term paper or diploma are not just a set of well-known facts about the chosen branch of knowledge, but bring something new to theoretical science or be used in practice. Therefore, one of the tasks of the work should be to identify links with real production or already ongoing research.

    Coursework or WRC usually have sufficient volume, so at least 3 tasks should be identified in the course of work. They can refer both to analytical activity or systematization of already studied phenomena (theory), and to the study and development of a problem (practice).

    If, after writing a thesis (WQR), it turns out that the tasks set cannot lead to the goal of the study in any way, we can conclude that the means used in the work were ineffective and irrelevant. In other words, a negative result is also a result.

    Read also: How to increase the level of originality of the text in the term paper, thesis

    Sample 1

    The purpose of the master's work is to develop and evaluate the real possibilities of organizing the production of plastic windows on the basis of the operating enterprise Okna+ LLC.

    The goal determined the solution of the following tasks:

    • to study the essence of the proposed project for the production of plastic windows;
    • to calculate and justify the efficiency of the organization of the production of plastic windows.

    Sample 2

    The purpose of the work is to analyze the institution of exemption from punishment, its types and features of their application.
    To achieve this goal, the following tasks were set:

    • to consider the concept and essence of release from punishment;
    • to consider the history of formation and the current state of the legal regulation of this institution;
    • identify the characteristics of individual widows of exemption from punishment.

    Sample 3

    The purpose of the study is to analyze the problems and prospects for improving the internal environment of the local government, using the example of the Financial Department of the Blagoveshchensky District Administration of the Amur Region.
    Tasks to be solved in the course of practice:

    • to analyze the influence of internal factors on the efficiency of the municipal government, on the example of the Financial Department of the Blagoveshchensky District Administration of the Amur Region;
    • to propose directions for improving the internal environment of the Financial Department of the Blagoveshchensky District Administration of the Amur Region.

    Sample 4

    The purpose of the work is to consider the features of oral folk art and study its role in shaping the child's personality.
    Tasks:
    1. Consider the concept of folklore, determine its essential characteristics;
    2. To analyze the role of folklore in shaping the child's personality;
    3. To study the classification of genres of children's folklore.

    Examples of the goals and objectives of the study

    Example 1. The purpose and objectives of the course work "Development of cognitive activity of older preschoolers through elementary experiments"

    Example 2. The purpose and objectives of the course work topic "Types of sales contract"

    Example 3. Purpose and objectives of the theme of the thesis "Loan capital"

    Example 4. Purpose and objectives of the theme of the thesis "Analysis of the financial condition of the organization"

    How to prove that this is a scientific article?

    What is scientific article A scientific article is a publication in which the author sums up his research work. The data obtained should be presented as clearly, logically and specifically as possible, in compliance with the generally accepted rules for constructing research reports and scientific style texts.

    How to prove that an article is scientific?

    Scientific article is a concise but sufficient report on the study and to determine its significance for the development of this field of science. It should contain enough information and references to its sources so that colleagues can evaluate and verify the results of the work themselves.

    How to write the relevance of a scientific article?

    In order to correctly reveal the relevance of scientific work, you need to follow certain rules:

    1. You need to choose the topic closest to you.
    2. Volume relevance with all attachments should not exceed one or two pages, be brief.
    3. Be sure to indicate the existence of the problem in your relevance .

    What is considered a scientific article?

    A scientific article is a research conducted by a scientist studying some problem using a certain scientific method. It should describe the relevance of the work, its goals and objectives. The scientist creates an innovative vector in the study of the issue, securing the copyright for the idea.

    How to plan a scientific article?

    Scientific article has a clear structure and, as a rule, consists of the following parts.

    1. Title (title).
    2. Abstract.
    3. Keywords.
    4. Introduction.
    5. Literature review.
    6. Main part (methodology, results).
    7. Conclusions and further perspectives of the study.
    8. References.

    How to determine the scientific style of the text?

    Scientific style is characterized by a logical sequence of presentation, an ordered system of communication between parts of the statement, the desire of the authors for accuracy, conciseness, unambiguity while maintaining the saturation of the content.

    What must be in a scientific article?

    The main part of should include an analysis of sources and literature on the subject of the study; formulation of the research hypothesis, the research itself, its results, practical recommendations, concretization of the results of the research and their explanations.

    How to justify the relevance of the chosen topic?

    Relevance can be formulated using the following phrases:

    1. “The topic studied is relevant for the reason…”,
    2. " Topic is of theoretical and practical interest because...",
    3. “The study is considered debatable not only in Russia, but also abroad…”,
    4. “ the relevance of the topic is indicated by such factors as…”,

    What to write in the relevance of the article?

    Relevance course work should reveal the need to study the proposed topic. This is the answer to the question: “Why should I study the topic?” In other words, the student must prove that his research can affect modern society, science, and how this will happen.

    How to formulate the purpose of a scientific article?

    The purpose of scientific research is to answer the question why this experiment is being carried out. The scientist must formulate the significance of the result that he hopes to obtain after the completion of the work. In fact, the goal follows from the research problem, and the problem is determined by the topic.

    How does a scientific article differ from others?

    Feature scientific article is that it includes a significant number of facts that must be supported by references to primary sources or to the results of their own research.

    What is the difference between a scientific article and an ordinary one?

    A scientific article is a logically completed study of a problem, carried out by applying a scientific method. This is the concept of scientific article in its most simplified form. Any publication of this kind describes the relevance of the study, the goals and objectives of the study, as well as the essence of the innovation of the ideas presented.

    Who has the right to write scientific articles?

    Scientific articles are written by students, graduate students and accomplished scientists. Publication of scientific articles is an obligatory part of the dissertation work.

    How to make a plan for writing an article?

    Checklist for writing an article plan :

    1. Determine the purpose of the text.
    2. Analyze the target audience.
    3. Select subject and format article .
    4. Collect abstracts and key phrases in a single table.
    5. Consider the target action.
    6. Write down the points of your article : introduction, body and conclusion.

    How to plan the study correctly?

    It includes:

    1. Introduction.
      Learn more