Five Steps In The Scientific Method

Research Methods
Shawn Huntington
CJ 499 Bachelors Capstone in Criminal Justice
Prof: Lacey Martz
August 26, 2014

Abstract
There are 5 different steps in the scientific method of research. The scientific method can be defined in many different ways, but primarily it involves observing the world around you, arriving at an explanation for what you witness, testing your reasoning to see if it could be legitimate, and then either rejecting your explanation or accepting the explanation then possibly coming up with a better one. Step number 1 is to determine a scientific problem to solve or make an observation. This basically means that you have to decide how or why something works or how it occurs.
A good example would be “How does alcohol affect a fetus?” The next step is to develop a hypothesis. This part is simply a decent speculation or a guess as to why or how something occurs. Often, a person can foresee the outcome of a particular experiment based upon the hypothesis. Step 3 is the testing of the hypothesis. An experiment is needed to examination the hypothesis. This step is crucial because the facts have to be tested to make sure the end result is correct. Along with testing the hypothesis is recording it. Once your experiment is complete, you collect your measurements and analyze them to see if your hypothesis is true or false. Drawing a conclusion is the 5th and final step. This step shows the results of the experiments that were performed. These results will show whether or not your original prediction is conclusive. If the results match then this will support your hypothesis and you will be able to confirm your prediction. In Criminal Justice, officers use all kinds of investigative approach when dealing with crime. They use the inductive, deductive, and axiomatic approach in solving a homicide situation. Without these factors, the officers, and the lab technician in a crime situation would not be able to solve the case. Deductive is that it could be possible that a statement is true, but you may find in the end that the conclusion is not true. It could be a conclusion drawn maybe without evidence. Inductive is a statement that is supposed to be correct, and support the conclusion in a way that if by any chance the statements are true, it is likely that the conclusion would be false. Axiomatic is a statement that could be accepted as the truth, or it could be an Idea, that cannot be proven; and sometimes it could be taken for granted. It could be a accepted rule, or principal, or logic. In the criminal justice system, an officer is faced with decision every day. With his training, sometimes he has to make quick decision, especially in a crime situation. He has to look at the evidence based on reason, the facts, and it has to be reliable evidence, and he must use common sense. In my opinion, grounded would be more valid than the rest of them because it requires the truth and evidence, and being able to use good sense by having an explanation of research; the investigation to prove a phenomenon theory that may not even have any proof. The scientific method is so commonly used for coming up with solutions to a variety of issues that you probably use it on a day to day basis without even realizing it.
For example before I starting writing this paper I had to identify the point I was going to attempt to make and then conducting research to find information that supported the points I was going to make. From the information gathered I formed and tested my hypothesis and then drew my conclusion on exactly what the scientific method is. The scientific method is the key component to majority off all science experiments. When dealing with the scientific method, there could be many different people researching one specific topic, but each of them can come up with completely different information on the topic/subject. The scientific method is broken down into two different forms, but requires the same steps and objective reasoning. The first method is experimental and uses numerical data and graphs to draw conclusion, while the descriptive method uses the information that was gathered from the steps of interviewing and using visual observation. The scientific method is a tool that can be used to solve problems and get answers to questions in an understandable manner and helps to provide general instruction to help us come up with solutions and solve many problems. The scientific method is used as a guideline for conducting scientific research and is the main source of answering questions and solving problems and
answer questions in a scientific way. The scientific method has been around for a long time and even though we may not be aware of it everything we do in our daily lives involves using the scientific method.
Developing our thoughts to help us find the most effective and efficient answer to everything we do in everyday situations can be attributed to the scientific method. Simply put, the main principle behind the scientific method is observation, which is the foundation of science. Scientists gather information and collect data which can be statistical or social, measureable or qualitative. Scientists analyze these observations and make generalizations regarding a specific topic. This is called inductive reasoning. The guesses they make are then tested over and over again if necessary to substantiate their accuracy. The entire process involves asking questions, making hypotheses and testing the hypotheses before coming to a conclusion. When a hypothesis is confirmed, it becomes a theory. (Buddies,
2002-2003)

References
Biology Department. Introduction to the Scientific Method. Retrieved from http://web.colby.edu/biology/statistics-and-scientific-writing/introduction-to-the-scientific-method/

Buddies, S. (2002-2013). Steps of the scientific method. Retrieved from
http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_scientific_method.shtml