The Scientific Method
Scientific Method
The Scientific Method is a system devised to allow scientists to gain insight, or knowledge, on a wide range of questions about one’s behavior and other points of interest. The first step in this process is to identify a question that deserves an explanation or answer to. For example, a good indentifying question that one could use would be why did the chicken cross the road? This is a specific behavior that can be addressed and quantified. Once the individual has the question at hand, the formation of a theory is next. A theory is the best guess that one has as to why the action took place. In the example of the chicken crossing the road, a theory would be because there was food over there. Another theory would be just to get to the other side in general. Once you have the theory down, you need to create a hypothesis to test it. A hypothesis is a best guess stated in a way that you can measure the results of the claim. Referring back to the example of the chicken crossing the road, a hypothesis would be because it was hungry. A hypothesis must be restated as an Operational Definition (testable procedures that can be quantified) before testing can take place. The example of this would be: If food were visible on the other side, the chicken will cross the road to eat it.
Now one must figure out which method of research will best help them out in their quest for the answer. There are several ways one can go about doing this. Archival research, naturalistic observation, and descriptive research are to name a few. Referring back to the example of the chicken, the approach that I would have used would Naturalistic observation because the answer that is sought would be one of natural instinct in my opinion. Once the research has been done, one must analyze and determine if the Hypothesis was true. If not, then one must ask what could be done different to obtain better results. The final step in the process is to communicate the findings for others to
The Scientific Method is a system devised to allow scientists to gain insight, or knowledge, on a wide range of questions about one’s behavior and other points of interest. The first step in this process is to identify a question that deserves an explanation or answer to. For example, a good indentifying question that one could use would be why did the chicken cross the road? This is a specific behavior that can be addressed and quantified. Once the individual has the question at hand, the formation of a theory is next. A theory is the best guess that one has as to why the action took place. In the example of the chicken crossing the road, a theory would be because there was food over there. Another theory would be just to get to the other side in general. Once you have the theory down, you need to create a hypothesis to test it. A hypothesis is a best guess stated in a way that you can measure the results of the claim. Referring back to the example of the chicken crossing the road, a hypothesis would be because it was hungry. A hypothesis must be restated as an Operational Definition (testable procedures that can be quantified) before testing can take place. The example of this would be: If food were visible on the other side, the chicken will cross the road to eat it.
Now one must figure out which method of research will best help them out in their quest for the answer. There are several ways one can go about doing this. Archival research, naturalistic observation, and descriptive research are to name a few. Referring back to the example of the chicken, the approach that I would have used would Naturalistic observation because the answer that is sought would be one of natural instinct in my opinion. Once the research has been done, one must analyze and determine if the Hypothesis was true. If not, then one must ask what could be done different to obtain better results. The final step in the process is to communicate the findings for others to