Scientific method
A diagram variant of scientific method represented as
an ongoing process
Scientific research involves using the scientific method, which seeks to objectively explain the events
of nature in a reproducible way.[178] Scientists usually take for granted a set of basic assumptions that are
needed to justify the scientific method: there is an objective reality shared by all rational observers; this
objective reality is governed by natural laws; these laws were discovered by means of
systematic observation and experimentation.[2] Mathematics is essential in the formation
of hypotheses, theories, and laws, because it is used extensively in quantitative modelling, observing,
and collecting measurements.[179] Statistics is used to summarise and analyse data, which allows
scientists to assess the reliability of experimental results.[180]
In the scientific method an explanatory thought experiment or hypothesis is put forward as an
explanation using parsimony principles and is expected to seek consilience – fitting with other accepted
facts related to an observation or scientific question.[181] This tentative explanation is used to
make falsifiable predictions, which are typically posted before being tested by experimentation. Disproof
of a prediction is evidence of progress.[178]: 4–5 [182] Experimentation is especially important in science to
help establish causal relationships to avoid the correlation fallacy, though in some sciences such as
astronomy or geology, a predicted observation might be more appropriate.[183]
When a hypothesis proves unsatisfactory it is modified or discarded. If the hypothesis survives testing, it
may become adopted into the framework of a scientific theory, a validly reasoned, self-consistent model
or framework for describing the behaviour of certain natural events. A theory typically describes the
behaviour of much broader sets of observations than a hypothesis; commonly, a large number of
hypotheses can be logically bound together by a single theory. Thus, a theory is a hypothesis explaining
various other hypotheses. In that vein, theories are formulated according to most of the same scientific
principles as hypotheses. Scientists may generate a model, an attempt to describe or depict an
observation in terms of a logical, physical or mathematical representation, and to generate new
hypotheses that can be tested by experimentation.[184]
While performing experiments to test hypotheses, scientists may have a preference for one outcome
over another.[185][186] Eliminating the bias can be achieved through transparency, careful experimental
design, and a thorough peer review process of the experimental results and conclusions.[187][188] After the
results of an experiment are announced or published, it is normal practice for independent researchers
to double-check how the research was performed, and to follow up by performing similar experiments
to determine how dependable the results might be.[189] Taken in its entirety, the scientific method allows
for highly creative problem solving while minimising the effects of subjective and confirmation bias.
[190]
Intersubjective verifiability, the ability to reach a consensus and reproduce results, is fundamental to
the creation of all scientific knowledge.[191]
