Scientific method

== Overview ==
There are different ways of outlining the basic method used for scientific inquiry and they are better considered as general principles than a fixed sequence of steps.{{sfnp|Gauch|2003|p=3}} The [[scientific community]] and [[philosophers of science]] generally agree on the following classification of method components. These methodological elements and organization of procedures tend to be more characteristic of [[experimental science]]s than [[social science]]s. Nonetheless, the cycle of formulating hypotheses, testing and analyzing the results, and formulating new hypotheses, will resemble the cycle described below.{{anchor|epistemicCycle|Process}} The scientific method is an iterative, cyclical process through which information is continually revised.{{efn-lg|name=unifiedMethod|1= The topics of study, as expressed in the vocabulary of its scientists, are approached by a "single unified method".<ref name= cowles />{{rp|pp.8,13,33–35,60}} A topic is [[Unification of theories in physics|unified]] by its [[Predicate variable|predicate]]s, which describe a [[system]] of mathematical [[Expression (mathematics)|expression]]s.<ref name=Knight1989 >Kevin Knight (1989) [https://kevincrawfordknight.github.io/papers/unification-knight.pdf Unification: A Multidisciplinary Survey] ACM Computing Surveys, Vol. 21, No. 1, March 1989 </ref>{{rp|93-94,113-117}} The values which a [[Predicate (mathematical logic)|predicate]] might take, then serve as [[Witness (mathematics)|witness]] to the validity of a predicated expression (that is, ''true'' or ''false''; 'predicted but not yet observed'; 'corroborates', etc.).}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Godfrey-Smith |first1=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k23egtSWrb8C |title=Theory and Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science |date=2009 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-30062-7 |location=Chicago |author-link=Peter Godfrey-Smith |access-date=2020-05-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129112726/https://books.google.com/books?id=k23egtSWrb8C |archive-date=2023-11-29 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Brody-1993">{{harvp|Brody|1993|p=10}} calls this an ''[[#epistemicCycle|epistemic cycle]]''; these cycles can occur at high levels of abstraction.</ref> It is generally recognized to develop advances in knowledge through the following elements, in varying combinations or contributions:<ref name="Fixation">{{cite wikisource|title=The Fixation of Belief|first=Charles Sanders|last=Peirce|year=1877|wslink=The Fixation of Belief|volume=12|pages=1–15|journal=Popular Science Monthly}}.</ref><ref name="Vital">Peirce, Charles S., ''Collected Papers'' v. 5, in paragraph 582, from 1898: "...&nbsp;[rational] inquiry of every type, fully carried out, has the vital power of self-correction and of growth. This is a property so deeply saturating its inmost nature that it may truly be said that there is but one thing needful for learning the truth, and that is a hearty and active desire to learn what is true."</ref><!--ref>{{cite book|last1=Kuhn |first1=Thomas S.|title=The Structure of Scientific Revolutions 50th Anniversary Edition|date=2012 |publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=978-0-226-45811-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3eP5Y_OOuzwC|access-date=29 January 2018}}{{pn|date=August 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Galison |first1=Peter|title=How Experiments End|date=1987|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=978-0-226-27915-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DN-9m2jSo8YC |access-date=29 January 2018}}</ref-->
* Characterizations (observations, definitions, and measurements of the subject of inquiry)
* Hypotheses (theoretical, hypothetical explanations of observations and measurements of the subject)
* Predictions (inductive and deductive reasoning from the hypothesis or theory)
* Experiments (tests of all of the above)
Each element of the scientific method is subject to [[peer review]] for possible mistakes. These activities do not describe all that scientists do but [[#Beliefs and biases|apply mostly to experimental sciences]] (e.g., physics, chemistry, biology, and psychology). The elements above are often taught in [[education|the educational system]] as "the scientific method".{{efn-ua|name= aQuestion| In the [[Inquiry-based learning|inquiry-based education]] paradigm, the stage of "characterization, observation, definition, ..." is more briefly summed up under the rubric of a Question. The question at some stage might be as basic as the [[5Ws]], or ''is this answer true?'', or ''who else might know this?'', or ''can I ask them?'', and so forth. The questions of the inquirer spiral until the goal is reached.}}

The scientific method is not a single recipe: it requires intelligence, imagination, and creativity.<ref>{{harvp|Einstein|Infeld|1938|p=92}}: "To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science."</ref> In this sense, it is not a mindless set of standards and procedures to follow but is rather an [[#Evaluation and improvement|ongoing cycle]], constantly developing more useful, accurate, and comprehensive models and methods. For example, when Einstein developed the Special and General Theories of Relativity, he did not in any way refute or discount Newton's ''Principia''. On the contrary, if the astronomically massive, the feather-light, and the extremely fast are removed from Einstein's theories – all phenomena Newton could not have observed – Newton's equations are what remain. Einstein's theories are expansions and refinements of Newton's theories and, thus, increase confidence in Newton's work.

{{anchor|aGuideline}}An iterative,<ref name="Brody-1993" /> pragmatic<ref name="truthSought4sake" /> scheme of the four points above is sometimes offered as a guideline for proceeding:<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Crawford S, Stucki L |year=1990 |title=Peer review and the changing research record |journal=Journal of the American Society for Information Science |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=223–228 |doi=10.1002/(SICI)1097-4571(199004)41:3<223::AID-ASI14>3.0.CO;2-3}}</ref>

# Define a question
# Gather information and resources (observe)
# Form an explanatory hypothesis
# Test the hypothesis by performing an experiment and collecting data in a [[Reproducibility|reproducible]] manner
# Analyze the data
# Interpret the data and draw conclusions that serve as a starting point for a new hypothesis
# Publish results
# Retest (frequently done by other scientists)

The iterative cycle inherent in this step-by-step method goes from point 3 to 6 and back to 3 again.

While this schema outlines a typical hypothesis/testing method,{{sfnp|Gauch|2003|loc=esp. chapters 5–8}} many philosophers, historians, and sociologists of science, including [[Paul Feyerabend]],{{efn|name= descartes| "no opinion, however absurd and incredible, can be imagined, which has not been maintained by some of the philosophers". —Descartes<ref name= discourseOnMethod >[[René Descartes]] (1637) [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Discourse_on_the_Method/Part_2 Discourse on the Method/Part 2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901150801/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Discourse_on_the_Method/Part_2 |date=2021-09-01  }} Part II</ref> }} claim that such descriptions of scientific method have little relation to the ways that science is actually practiced.
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