scientific methods
Systematic inquiry approaches
Scientific methods are the systematic approaches used to investigate phenomena, acquire knowledge, and test hypotheses through observation and experiment.
The term encompasses various procedures—forming hypotheses, designing experiments, collecting data, and drawing conclusions—rather than a single rigid sequence.
The plural acknowledges that different fields employ different techniques: The scientific methods used in psychology differ from those in chemistry.
What unifies them is reliance on empirical evidence and reproducibility.
- biomedical researchScientific study of health
- microscopeInstrument for viewing minute objects
- observationAttentive watching or remark
- data collectionSystematic accumulation of facts
- rationalismReason as knowledge source
deductive reasoning · empiricism · spectrometer · experimentation · test tube · control group · double blind · hypothesis · null hypothesis · falsifiability · paradigm shift · data integrity · reproducibility · prediction · causality · skepticism · peer review · analysis
scientific methodsfaith
Trust without proof
intuition · superstition · guesswork · magical thinking · pseudoscience
scientific methodsgut feeling
Instinctive sense about something
hunch · instinct · snap judgment · conjecture · whim
scientific methodsanecdotal evidence
Support from individual accounts
hearsay · appeals to authority · confirmation bias · cherry-picking · truthiness
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