The Scientific Method

The Scientific Method What is the Scientific Method? “The Scientific Method is a logical and rational order of steps by which scientists comes to conclusions about the world around them that helps to organize thoughts and procedures.”1 The process of the Scientific Method is used by making an observation, forming a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, analyzing data and then coming up with a conclusion. Scientists use the scientific method to search for cause and effect relationships in nature. 2 When a scientist is trying to solve a problem with the Scientific Method they first start by doing research about the subject and what other scientists and scholarly officials have come up with. The more information they gather, the more likely they are to come out with a better conclusion. Based on the information they know and found, they form a hypothesis which is known as "a possible solution to a problem, based on knowledge and research."1 The hypothesis is used to test the observation they have made a problem or subject. The scientists will then test the hypothesis they came up with by experimentation. The experiment will test whether or not your prediction is true or not. Many times the results are not accurate and so they will have to start the process over by constructing a new hypothesis. Sometimes the information is accurate but the scientists will still come up with a new hypothesis to gather more information and be more accurate. The last and final step is concluding the information you have gotten out of the experiment. They gather the information to communicate their results with others. Typically they will either presents their results on a poster at a meeting or put it into a scientific journal including the results of the experiment and how it matches up with their hypothesis. The Scientific Method is something that has solved many problems and answered numerous questions about the scientific world. It is the way hundreds of thousands of