See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/378032916

The Scientific Method

Presentation · February 2024

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.32041.36962

CITATIONS READS

0 2,170

1 author:

Mike Kazuo Yoshida

The Pyran Environmental Organization Malaysia.(TPEOM) (NGO ~NPO)
103 PUBLICATIONS 34 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Mike Kazuo Yoshida on 07 February 2024.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 2/3/2021@11:42:34 AM
1st Compiled as of the above date and time

Scientific Method

Last Updated: November 6, 2020: Then 2/7/2024 23:02:46 PM

Definition
The scientific method is a series of processes that people can use to gather knowledge about
the world around them, improve that knowledge, and attempt to explain why and/or how
things occur. This method involves making observations, forming questions, making
hypotheses, doing an experiment, analyzing the data, and forming a conclusion. Every
scientific experiment performed is an example of the scientific method in action, but it is
also used by non-scientists in everyday situations.

Scientific Method Overview

The scientific method is a process of trying to get as close as possible to the objective
truth. However, part of the process is to constantly refine your conclusions, ask new
questions, and continue the search for the rules of the universe. Through the scientific
method, scientists are trying to uncover how the world works and discover the laws that
make it function in that way. You can use the scientific method to find answers for almost
any question, though the scientific method can yield conflicting evidence based on the
method of experimentation. In other words, the scientific method is a very useful way to
figure things out – though it must be used with caution and care!

The Scientific Method

Scientific Method Steps

Page 1 of 4
The exact steps of the scientific method vary from source to source, but the general
procedure is the same: acquiring knowledge through observation and testing.

Making an Observation

The first step of the scientific method is to make an observation about the world around
you. Before a hypotheses can be made or experiments can be done, one must first notice
and think about some sort of phenomena occurring. The scientific method is used when one
does not know why or how something is occurring and wants to uncover the answer. But,
before you can form a question you must notice something puzzling in the first place.

Asking a Question

Next, one must ask a question based on their observations. Here are some examples of good
questions:

 Why is this thing occurring?

 How is this thing occurring?

 Why or how does it happen this way?

Sometimes this step is listed first in the scientific method, with making an observation (and
researching the phenomena in question) listed as second. In reality, both making
observations and asking questions tend to happen around the same time.

One can see a confusing occurrence and immediately think, “why is it occurring?” When
observations are being made and questions are being formed, it is important to do research
to see if others have already answered the question or uncovered information that may help
you shape your question. For example, if you find an answer to why something is occurring,
you may want to go a step further and figure out how it occurs.
Forming a Hypothesis

A hypothesis is an educated guess to explain the phenomena occurring based on prior

observations. It answers the question posed in the previous step. Hypotheses can be specific
or more general depending on the question being asked, but all hypotheses must be testable
by gathering evidence that can be measured. If a hypothesis is not testable, then it is
impossible to perform an experiment to determine whether the hypothesis is supported by
evidence.

Performing an Experiment

After forming a hypothesis, an experiment must be set up and performed to test the
hypothesis. An experiment must have an independent variable (something that is
manipulated by the person doing the experiment), and a dependent variable (the thing
being measured which may be affected by the independent variable). All other variables
must be controlled so that they do not affect the outcome. During an experiment, data is
collected. Data is a set of values; it may be quantitative (e.g. measured in numbers) or
qualitative (a description or generalization of the results).
Scientists gather samples for an experiment.
For example, if you were to test the effect of sunlight on plant growth, the amount of light
would be the independent variable (the thing you manipulate) and the height of the plants
would be the dependent variable (the thing affected by the independent variable). Other
factors such as air temperature, amount of water in the soil, and species of plant would have

Page 2 of 4
to be kept the same between all of the plants used in the experiment so that you could truly
collect data on whether sunlight affects plant growth. The data that you would collect would
be quantitative – since you would measure the height of the plant in numbers.

Analyzing Data

After performing an experiment and collecting data, one must analyze the data. Research
experiments are usually analyzed with statistical software in order to determine
relationships among the data. In the case of a simpler experiment, one could simply look at
the data and see how they correlate with the change in the independent variable.
Forming a Conclusion

The last step of the scientific method is to form a conclusion. If the data support the
hypothesis, then the hypothesis may be the explanation for the phenomena. However,
multiple trials must be done to confirm the results, and it is also important to make sure
that the sample size—the number of observations made—is big enough so that the data is
not skewed by just a few observations.

If the data do not support the hypothesis, then more observations must be made, a new
hypothesis is formed, and the scientific method is used all over again. When a conclusion is
drawn, the research can be presented to others to inform them of the findings and receive
input about the validity of the conclusion drawn from the research.

The Scientific Method Is An Ongoing Process That Repeats Itself

The Scientific Method Is An Ongoing Process That Repeats Itself
The Scientific Method Is An Ongoing Process That Repeats Itself

Scientific Method Examples

There are very many examples of the use of the scientific method throughout history
because it is the basis for all scientific experiments. Scientists have been conducting
experiments using the scientific method for hundreds of years.
One such example is Francesco Redi’s experiment on spontaneous generation. In the
17th Century, when Redi lived, people commonly believed that living things could
spontaneously arise from organic material. For example, people believed that maggots were
created from meat that was left out to sit. Redi had an alternate hypothesis: that maggots
were actually part of the fly life cycle!

The Francesco Redi Experiment

He conducted an experiment by leaving four jars of meat out: some uncovered, some
covered with muslin, and some sealed completely. Flies got into the uncovered jars and
maggots appeared a short time later. The jars that were covered had maggots on the outer
surface of the muslin, but not inside the jars. Sealed jars had absolutely no maggots
whatsoever.

Redi was able to conclude that maggots did not spontaneously arise in meat. He further
confirmed the results by collecting captured maggots and growing them into adult flies. This
may seem like common sense today, but back then, people did not know as much about the
world, and it is through experiments like these that people uncovered what is now as
common knowledge.

Page 3 of 4
View publication stats

Scientists use the scientific method in their research, but it is also used by people who aren’t
scientists in everyday life. Even if you were not consciously aware of it, you have used the
scientific method many times when solving problems around you.
Conclusions from the scientific method can lead to new hypotheses

For example, say you are at home and a light bulb goes out. Noticing that the light bulb is
out is an observation. You would then naturally question, “Why is the light bulb out?” and
come up with possible guesses, or hypotheses. For example, you may hypothesize that the
bulb has burned out. Then you would perform a very small experiment in order to test your
hypothesis; namely, you would replace the bulb and analyze the data (“Did the light come
back on?”).

If the light turned back on, you would conclude that the light bulb had, in fact, burned out.
But if the light still did not work, you would come up with other hypotheses (“The socket
doesn’t work”, “Part of the lamp is broken,” “The fuse went out”, etc.) and test those.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\//////////////////////////////////////////

Dr. Prof. Yoshida, Mike Kazuo... PhD, BA, Bsc, Phys, MBA, MD GP, CNC & IT, HTML
Environmental Science Physicist
Practical & Theoretical Physics Science Researcher R & D (PTPSRD
ORCHID ID: 0000-0003-3394-9135
DUNS # 659308259
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Page 4 of 4