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Five Steps In The Scientific Method

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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.
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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 …show more content…
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,

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