According to Introduction to The Scientific Method (n.d), scientific methods refers to a process whereby scientists provide the world’s representation in a reliable and consistent way collectively, over some period of time. It involves asking questions scientifically and performing experiments after making several observations.
There are several steps involved in the scientific methods. They include initial objectives after making observations, constructing a workable hypothesis, recording the collected data, testing the hypothesis by performing an experiment, analyzing and summarizing results, drawing discussions and conclusions and communicating results (Spellman & Price-Bayer, 2012, p. 230).
Observation is where the chosen problem is first understood. A thorough research about the program is where information may be obtained from several resourceful sources like books. The hypothesis which is the next stage tries to provide the solution to the problem. It is usually what the researcher thinks will be the result after doing the experiment. When enough helpful information is obtained from sources, an experiment is usually done to test the formulated hypothesis. It is only fair that the designed experiment to test the formulated hypothesis. This is normally the most important part of the scientific methods. According to the experiment was done, the obtained results are usually analyzed after being tabulated, then summarized. The last stage which is the conclusion tries to show the relationship between the results and the hypothesis that was formulated. There are only two available options as per the results. The hypothesis can be termed as either being true or false.
It’s important to note that one experiment is not enough to prove a hypothesis, as there may be possibilities that errors may have errors somewhere (Kaps & Lamberson, 2009, p.63). The best way to address this is by saying that the results of the experiment support the hypothesis or do not. Failure in an experiment does not necessarily mean that the formulated hypothesis is not correct. This only means that there was a flaw in the experiment variables or question not answered sufficiently.
References
Introduction to the Scientific Method. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://teacher.nsrl.rochester.edu/phy_labs/appendixe/appendixe.html
Kaps, M., & Lamberson, W. R. (2009). Biostatistics for animal science. Wallingford, Oxfordshire: CABI.
Spellman, F. R., & Price-Bayer, J. (2012). The handbook of nature. Lanham: Government Institutes.
